Re: Possible Mutant Resource - tame silver foxes
Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:52 am
I saw a TV documentary about those foxes a few weeks ago. They toured the rows and rows of cages in which they were kept and interacted with the foxes; I instantly thought 'possible ATB source material'. One thing not mentioned in the previous post is that they also bred specimens of the exact opposite type of silver foxes - those that have been bred to exhibit the most aggressive traits. They were nasty little buggers, I can tell you. They were conducting 'nature vs. nurture' type experiments: taking 'nice' pups and having them raised by 'nasty' mothers and vice-versa. In this case, it turns out that the aggressive foxes were still complete b*****ds despite their 'upbringing'. Here are my ideas for purbred versions of these two types. Enjoy:
Silver Fox: Domesticated [Purebreed]
Original Animal Characteristics
Description: Siberia’s small population of ‘domesticated’ Silver foxes owe their origins to an extensive experiment in selective breeding carried out by Russian scientists in the 20th Century. Geneticists trying to unlock the mysteries surrounding the domestication of modern dogs selected breeds exhibiting the least aggressive and most passive traits, and the friendliest attitudes towards humans. At the time of the Crash, the end result was an almost completely tame dog-like breed of fox, exhibiting not only a submissive temperament, but many other dog-like traits, such as tail wagging, floppy ears, and changes in colouration. The purebred mutant communities that survived in the times following Crash are characteristically peaceful societies, living in makeshift villages in the wilderness or amongst the ruins of old human towns (they seem to gravitate towards vacant human settlements), eking out an existence as best they can. Buildings are often sunk partially under the ground or partially buried beneath raised earthworks as a defence against the harsh Siberian weather.
Size level: 7 (Minimum six, maximum eight)
Length: 1.5-1.7 m (5.0-5.5 ft)
Weight: 35-50 kg (77-110 lb)
Build: Medium
Mutant Changes and Costs
Total BIO-E: 15
Attribute Bonuses: +1 IQ, +2 MA, +2 PE, +2 Spd.
Human Features
Hands: Full
Biped: Partial
Speech: Partial
Looks: None. Triangular head and pointed snout, thick fur patterned with irregular patches of black and white, floppy ears, shorter legs than normal foxes and bushy, curly tails (which they wag like dogs). Domesticated silver foxes also bark like dogs.
Natural Weapons
Automatically has 1D6 damage teeth
Automatically has 1D4 damage running claws
Mutant Animal Powers
Automatically has Advanced smell
Automatically has Advanced hearing
Automatically has Digging
5 BIO-E for Extra IQ
10 BIO-E for Extra ME
10 BIO-E for Extra MA
10 BIO-E for Extra PP
10 BIO-E for Extra PB
15 BIO-E for Brute Strength
10 BIO-E for Extraordinary speed
Vestigial Disadvantages
Automatically has Reptile brain: Prey
Automatically has Domestication
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial tail
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial ears
-10 BIO-E for taking Subservience
Note: perhaps the original compound where the foxes were first bred is still inhabited by their descendants. It is possible that the remote location survived the Crash unharmed, and that some or all of the humans also survived. Today, their sons and daughters live on, holed up in the safety of the compound (still conducting experiments in genetics and selective breeding?), their survival dependent on their obedient silver fox community, whose genetic makeup means that they follow their masters’ orders without question. Every day, subservient silver foxes pander to the humans’ every whim, risking their lives to provide food and shelter for their masters and treated like slaves in return. In recent months, attacks and raids from gangs of aggressive ‘feral’ silver foxes have become frequent.
Silver Fox: Aggressive/Feral [Purebreed]
Original Animal Characteristics
Description: As the Siberian geneticists created their perfect ‘tame’ version of the silver fox, by breeding from the most docile of their stock, they simultaneously bred the polar opposite animal, selecting the most aggressive animals of each subsequent generation for breeding. The intention was for use in ‘nature vs. nurture’ type experiments; to see whether the genes in the domesticated or aggressive foxes were the predominant reason for their behaviour, or whether exposure to ‘parents’ of the other type would alter their temperament. These aggressive purbreeds proved violent and uncontrollable to the extreme, regardless of their environment. This may be why their mutant descendants have fared so well in the harsh world of post-Crash Siberia, despite competition from larger, stronger and often better organised mutant carnivores such as bears and wolves. Tribes or gangs of purebred ‘feral’ silver foxes roam the forests north of the old city of Novosibirsk, attacking and usually killing all who enter their territory, and making frequent raids beyond their range. These ‘tribes’ are often no more than a disorganised rabble, with constant bickering and in-fighting. Lone and/or urban silver foxes of this type are notoriously belligerent, picking fights at every opportunity. They harbour an overwhelming hatred for their ‘cousins’: the gentle, domesticated silver foxes, and will prey on them whenever possible, sometimes toying with domestic silver fox communities for days or even weeks before making the killing blow, just for fun. They traditionally refer to their weak cousins as ‘Dmitri’s whelps’, though who or what Dmitri may be has been lost to most modern silver foxes. (Note that these are NOT the same as ‘wild’ silver foxes. These purebreds have been bred beyond the normal wild behaviour.)
Size level: 7 (Minimum six, maximum eight)
Length: 1.5-1.8 m (5-6 ft)
Weight: 35-50 kg (77-110 lb)
Build: Long
Mutant Changes and Costs
Total BIO-E: 10
Attribute Bonuses: +1 IQ, +3 ME, +1 PE, +3 Spd.
Human Features
Hands: Full
Biped: Partial
Speech: Partial
Looks: None. Fully fox-like, triangular head, with a sharp, pointed snout; a thick coat of fur, mostly black or blue-grey, with tips of white, especially on the ears and tail, raised, pointed ears, long legs and long, straight bushy tails.
Natural Weapons
Automatically has 2D6 damage teeth
Automatically has 1D6 damage running claws
Mutant Animal Powers
Automatically has Advanced smell
Automatically has Advanced hearing
Automatically has Predator burst
5 BIO-E for Extra IQ
10 BIO-E for Extra ME
10 BIO-E for Extra PP
5 BIO-E for Brute Strength
20 BIO-E for Beastly Strength
10 BIO-E for Extraordinary speed
10 BIO-E for Digging
Vestigial Disadvantages
Automatically has Reptile brain: Predator
Automatically has Diet: Carnivore
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial tail
-5 BIO-E for taking Musk glands
Silver Fox: Domesticated [Purebreed]
Original Animal Characteristics
Description: Siberia’s small population of ‘domesticated’ Silver foxes owe their origins to an extensive experiment in selective breeding carried out by Russian scientists in the 20th Century. Geneticists trying to unlock the mysteries surrounding the domestication of modern dogs selected breeds exhibiting the least aggressive and most passive traits, and the friendliest attitudes towards humans. At the time of the Crash, the end result was an almost completely tame dog-like breed of fox, exhibiting not only a submissive temperament, but many other dog-like traits, such as tail wagging, floppy ears, and changes in colouration. The purebred mutant communities that survived in the times following Crash are characteristically peaceful societies, living in makeshift villages in the wilderness or amongst the ruins of old human towns (they seem to gravitate towards vacant human settlements), eking out an existence as best they can. Buildings are often sunk partially under the ground or partially buried beneath raised earthworks as a defence against the harsh Siberian weather.
Size level: 7 (Minimum six, maximum eight)
Length: 1.5-1.7 m (5.0-5.5 ft)
Weight: 35-50 kg (77-110 lb)
Build: Medium
Mutant Changes and Costs
Total BIO-E: 15
Attribute Bonuses: +1 IQ, +2 MA, +2 PE, +2 Spd.
Human Features
Hands: Full
Biped: Partial
Speech: Partial
Looks: None. Triangular head and pointed snout, thick fur patterned with irregular patches of black and white, floppy ears, shorter legs than normal foxes and bushy, curly tails (which they wag like dogs). Domesticated silver foxes also bark like dogs.
Natural Weapons
Automatically has 1D6 damage teeth
Automatically has 1D4 damage running claws
Mutant Animal Powers
Automatically has Advanced smell
Automatically has Advanced hearing
Automatically has Digging
5 BIO-E for Extra IQ
10 BIO-E for Extra ME
10 BIO-E for Extra MA
10 BIO-E for Extra PP
10 BIO-E for Extra PB
15 BIO-E for Brute Strength
10 BIO-E for Extraordinary speed
Vestigial Disadvantages
Automatically has Reptile brain: Prey
Automatically has Domestication
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial tail
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial ears
-10 BIO-E for taking Subservience
Note: perhaps the original compound where the foxes were first bred is still inhabited by their descendants. It is possible that the remote location survived the Crash unharmed, and that some or all of the humans also survived. Today, their sons and daughters live on, holed up in the safety of the compound (still conducting experiments in genetics and selective breeding?), their survival dependent on their obedient silver fox community, whose genetic makeup means that they follow their masters’ orders without question. Every day, subservient silver foxes pander to the humans’ every whim, risking their lives to provide food and shelter for their masters and treated like slaves in return. In recent months, attacks and raids from gangs of aggressive ‘feral’ silver foxes have become frequent.
Silver Fox: Aggressive/Feral [Purebreed]
Original Animal Characteristics
Description: As the Siberian geneticists created their perfect ‘tame’ version of the silver fox, by breeding from the most docile of their stock, they simultaneously bred the polar opposite animal, selecting the most aggressive animals of each subsequent generation for breeding. The intention was for use in ‘nature vs. nurture’ type experiments; to see whether the genes in the domesticated or aggressive foxes were the predominant reason for their behaviour, or whether exposure to ‘parents’ of the other type would alter their temperament. These aggressive purbreeds proved violent and uncontrollable to the extreme, regardless of their environment. This may be why their mutant descendants have fared so well in the harsh world of post-Crash Siberia, despite competition from larger, stronger and often better organised mutant carnivores such as bears and wolves. Tribes or gangs of purebred ‘feral’ silver foxes roam the forests north of the old city of Novosibirsk, attacking and usually killing all who enter their territory, and making frequent raids beyond their range. These ‘tribes’ are often no more than a disorganised rabble, with constant bickering and in-fighting. Lone and/or urban silver foxes of this type are notoriously belligerent, picking fights at every opportunity. They harbour an overwhelming hatred for their ‘cousins’: the gentle, domesticated silver foxes, and will prey on them whenever possible, sometimes toying with domestic silver fox communities for days or even weeks before making the killing blow, just for fun. They traditionally refer to their weak cousins as ‘Dmitri’s whelps’, though who or what Dmitri may be has been lost to most modern silver foxes. (Note that these are NOT the same as ‘wild’ silver foxes. These purebreds have been bred beyond the normal wild behaviour.)
Size level: 7 (Minimum six, maximum eight)
Length: 1.5-1.8 m (5-6 ft)
Weight: 35-50 kg (77-110 lb)
Build: Long
Mutant Changes and Costs
Total BIO-E: 10
Attribute Bonuses: +1 IQ, +3 ME, +1 PE, +3 Spd.
Human Features
Hands: Full
Biped: Partial
Speech: Partial
Looks: None. Fully fox-like, triangular head, with a sharp, pointed snout; a thick coat of fur, mostly black or blue-grey, with tips of white, especially on the ears and tail, raised, pointed ears, long legs and long, straight bushy tails.
Natural Weapons
Automatically has 2D6 damage teeth
Automatically has 1D6 damage running claws
Mutant Animal Powers
Automatically has Advanced smell
Automatically has Advanced hearing
Automatically has Predator burst
5 BIO-E for Extra IQ
10 BIO-E for Extra ME
10 BIO-E for Extra PP
5 BIO-E for Brute Strength
20 BIO-E for Beastly Strength
10 BIO-E for Extraordinary speed
10 BIO-E for Digging
Vestigial Disadvantages
Automatically has Reptile brain: Predator
Automatically has Diet: Carnivore
-5 BIO-E for taking Vestigial tail
-5 BIO-E for taking Musk glands