Stars Without Number Actual Play Session (Drawing comparisons and contrast to Traveller, White Star and Savage Worlds)

For the Wednesday night game we had some absent players (it being Valentine's Day and all, and some players have actual lives, or romances, or whatever!) and so it was that the hardcore, the jaded, the misanthropic, and also my family decided to enjoy the holiday with a one-shot.

The purpose of this one-shot was to exercise a chance to try out Stars Without Number. Before going in to this game you can see my general feelings on it in in prior articles, but I'll sum it up like this:

--Wonderfully quick character generation

--numeric old school simplicity

--A very Traveller-esque skill mechanic

--brilliant "tag" structure for world/adventure generation

--seems to have enough equipment/vehicles/ships/augments to support robust campaigning

After playing, I now feel this way about SWN:

--We all agreed, char gen is quick and efficient

--the numeric old school simplicity was at time "too simple." This will sound weird, but I found myself not enjoying the core conceit of SWN as much as I do it's close cousin, White Star, nor the game to which it pays direct homage, Traveller

--The Traveller-esque skill mechanic felt more shallow and less fulfilling than Traveller's own skill mechanic. Indeed, it made me wonder why it even bothered, given how slender the SWN system is, when Traveller's core conceit is exactly the same yet manages to provide a more robust and interesting experience....the only "lite skill" system I really enjoy/tolerate is Savage Worlds, I guess

--the tag structure is still a great mechanic for inspiration, but SWN does not support the interesting "technical" elements of design that Traveller does. Traveller in turn lacks the "stuff to do" element that SWN's tag system offers. SWN is a clear "win" on this.

--SWN has enough interesting equipment, vehicles and ships. It's not a problem. 

But! Throughout the course of play as well as over the last few days designing material to run, I realized that SWN is most definitely a "one world" system by default. Arguably Traveller is the same way, as is White Star, but both of those games give you a "starting point" which makes few real assumptions about the universe....well, maybe White Star's Galaxy edition is different (it assumes not just star knights but talking squirrel star knights, for example) but Traveller's only real conceit is that you use Jump Drive, and that gets you from point A to point B a certain way, and that the setting is humanocentric. Traveller in the past has expanded on this to let you customize how and why technology works to handle other universes of play, but it's only real conceit is a universe of humans, mostly. 

SWN has a lot of Traveller's conceits, but it also bakes in some default assumption about FTL drives, the "scream" as a defining point of the setting, and other features that are fairly baked in to the setting's presentation, tags, core assumptions, and much of its infrastructure. This is not a problem if you want a ready to go setting, not at all. But it does pose issues when you don't want to use that setting, and during play we thought about this issue on several occasions.

In the end, the problem wasn't that SWN wasn't fun, or even that it wasn't a setting I wanted to use (I could easily see accepting its default assumptions for any extended campaign easily). It was the fact that it felt like it was a homebrew homage to Traveller, and one which only left me feeling like Traveller has been here, done this, and done it maybe with a bit more depth and support than SWN does. Traveller does not have a Tag System for enhancing world generation, though, and SWN definitely beats the other games hands down.

But for designing my own setting, with no fuss? I'm afraid that Savage Worlds remains firmly on that throne. 

Anyway, other comments on SWN in actual play:

Combat was pretty smooth, but the veteran players in the group found at level 1 that charging in with a melee weapon against armed combatants was a preferred strategy. This felt...off....to me. 

Melee weapons do shock damage against targets under a certain Armor Class on a miss. I did not like this rule at all, it felt like something out of D&D 4E, especially since it was pretty much a guarantee to make melee weapons much deadlier than expected, at least at low level, and was defying my understanding of what was happening that, in essence, under a certain AC you could never avoid damage in melee. Yes, games like 13th Age do this....but the very core of those games support different basic expectations. SWN is very OSR, and if I were playing White Box and suddenly started dealing auto-damage on a miss I would feel like maybe the shark had just been jumped, y'know?

I did not like how melee weapons are given a very short, non-descriptive list of "primitive/advanced" and light, medium and heavy with damage but vague suggestions as to what that meant. I wanted more depth here, and the game provides that depth in so many other areas that it seemed weird to simply avoid putting any effort into detailed futuristic (and primitive) melee weapons.

The skills felt like their name tags were trying to be too hard to be short and simple despite so many of them feeling like call-backs to Traveller skills. I feel that the game, for what it is, does itself a disservice by having so few skills even as it has just enough specific skills. Lacking multiple "shipboard" skills for example meant that the only person with a "useful on the spaceship" skill was the guy with pilot. Why no gunnery, engineering, sensors or other interesting SF skills? Claiming the "Work" and "Know" skills could cover such elements if desired is both an inadequate fix (for a system which rewards very few skill points to start) and maybe a bit lazy (as any halfway decent skill system, I now realize, deserves more than 1-2 pages to detail).

Now, on the major plus side, like most OSR systems gameplay is fast and I was miraculously able to plow through the entire one-shot in the alloted time, including lots of role-play, encounters, and some combat. This would not likely have happened in Starfinder without some serious effort to speed things along, I admit. However, the pacing would have been the same for Traveller, Savage Worlds and White Star, easily. 

Okay, so my final take: Stars Without Number is perfectly serviceable, and I think it would be fun to play again, but I don't think it's going to scratch all of the itches for me that Traveller, Savage Worlds SF and White Star manage. I can use White Star for gonzo Space Opera Crazy. I can use Traveller for my "starship owner procedurals." I can use Savage Worlds SF for literally any sci fi world I want, just so long as its a universe that likes fast, furious fun. SWN's strength may well be in hardcore scifi sandbox play in the default setting. Unfortunately, I don't have interest in the setting and I don't have time in my schedule to explore the sandbox elements of the game, at least not without losing patience with the rules, that constantly reminded me that I like the way Traveller does it all just a little bit better. 

I'm not done with the Sine Nomine system, though. I am still keen to try out Other Dust, and see if maybe it might not scratch that particular post-apocalyptic itch. The only two games to come close in the last couple of years are a two-part Wasteland GURPS game I ran (which would be better if GURPS had more Wasteland support than a couple anemic supplements), and Precis Intermedia's Earth A.D. 2 which was an interesting (if convoluted) but fairly detailed post-apoc experience that I enjoyed but was still frustrated with after running it. I could see Other Dust being a good choice for the genre....we shall have to see.

So, final verdict:

SWN is not a good replacement for Traveller; it is not simpler, mechanically; just different, in a "homebrew" sort of way. If you like Traveller, this feels like a cruder homage. If you think Traveller is too complex, SWN is as complex as Traveller, just in a different way. If you think Traveller is too simple...then you will also think such of SWN. What I'm trying to say is, it's not a good replacement for Traveller if you don't have any problems with Traveller in the first place, and if you do, SWN doesn't "fix" anything, really. As a contrast with Traveller I give it a B to Traveller's more well conceived mechanical cohesion.

SWN is superior with its tag system, and everyone should check that part out. This part is A+.

SWN lacks the toolkit elements of Savage World SF Companion, or even the free-for-all madness of White Star, so you have to revise and back out a lot of baked-in core assumptions in the game if you want to design your own universe. Indeed, I sort of felt like the core conceits of SWN were more pervasive in its underlying assumptions than normal (by contrast, Traveller's only two core conceits are human dominance and jump drives, and that's it). Oddly, the bonus content of SWN is interesting but expands in weird ways, with transhumanism ideas followed by sorcery and magic options. For this it's a C, but gets a B+ for touching on transhumanism and AI in ways an OSR game usually wouldn't.

If you don't play games all that much, but love tinkering with them and writing up rules stuff (as I often do on this blog) SWN has a lot to offer, though, as most OSR systems do...Good A here.

SWN does provide a solid core package if you are not familiar with Traveller but like the concept of a rules-lite hexbox themed scifi game, and need a system that provides you that core underlying setting to riff from. If you fit this category this game is a good solid A, with the Tag System still A+.

Afterthought: the SWN playtest vs. the Starfinder Playtest

These two games really are different beasts. That said, it was interesting because after finishing Starfinder I was frustrated with elements of the experience, and my efforts to impose my will on the game's implied setting (which is strongly implied, moreso than SWN's setting is), but I still enjoyed it...the experience was very solid. With SWN I found the rules to be rather comfortable (within limits; e.g. my telekinetic in the party was rank 1 but she wanted to throw a guard around...and by the book that was a no-no for some reason but I thought that was stupid so invoked handwavium and made it happen...repeatedly). But from a purely mechanical perspective I really did feel like playing Starfinder was like experiencing a carefully designed machine that was riddled with a ton of testing and input, with subtle but wide-ranging designs that would impact the play experience over time. SWN felt like (what I think it is) the brainchild of one person who is very good at OSR design and made his homebrew baby lovechild of OD&D and Classic Traveller something others could enjoy...but it's not a team design, and it's not built with inherent synergies in mind. SWN is a naked tree waiting for ornaments. Starfinder is the Times Square Xmas Tree, ready to blind you with carefully decorated radiance. 

Savage Space: The Hakatic Union (Savage Worlds and White Star)

The Hakatic Union is founded by a species of intelligent coleoptera, collectively known as the hakatics, a name given to them by a species called the ethrixia, which was very nearly rendered extinct in a brutal galactic conflict with the bugs. In their own language, which is a mix of clicks, whistles and pheromone-like protein chains emitted in a fine particulate mist, the actual name of this species is unpronounceable by most humanoids with conventional speech.

The Hakatics developed primitive space travel early on but did not advance beyond simple vacuum tubes and nuclear power for centuries, as their collective hive seemed to be incapable of anticipating the value of anything more than computational power for basic calculations. This is likely due to the fact that females of the species seemed to have impeccable minds for mathematical calculation....they were, in a manner of speaking....superior to any computers they could devise.

The hive of the hakatics is constructed around a rigid, biologically enforced caste system which places the females in administrative, support and intellect roles, while the male hakatics are reserved exclusively for what outsiders call the "warrior caste," though the actual role seems to encompass leadership, exploration and defense as well as the fundamentals of combat. To most outsiders this is hard to identify, due to the inherently xenophobic nature of the Hakatics, who seem at best able to tolerate the other "caste-clans" of their society as they engage in regular warfare with other hive collectives of their own kind. The appearance of outsiders was beyond their comprehension....abominations beyond their ability to assimilate into their cultural range.

Despite being a hive collective, the hakatics are not a "hive mind." They are comprised of individuals, and can function --within limits-- away from their collective. The problem is that the hakatics are biologically locked into behavioral patterns that give them limited ability to function outside of their birth-station. There is some evidence that hakatics can transmogrify, under the rigth conditions, developing the capacity to fill another role in their hive collective when a need arises, but the phenomenon has only been inferred, not directly observed.

A recent encounter with the Hakatic Union on a intersellar "light ship" owned by a Eidolon of Cenotaph named Susuros led to a revelation that there may be a hive collective which has been influenced...possibly even uplifted....by a rogue ASI* from the center of the galaxy. This rogue ASI seems to have provided the hakatics with advanced technology, including enormously more effective fifth dimensional space slipdrive engines, as well as nanophage tech used as highly destructive weaponry. Despite these specific advancements there is no evidence the hakatics have developed advanced electronic capabilities, or at least nothing close to modern standards in computing. The threat of hakatics being manipulated by an unpredictable rogue ASI remains a troubling issue for Aegis and the Commonwealth, however.

Savage Worlds Stats:

Hakatic Warrior Caste (male)

Attributes: Agility D8, Smarts D4, Spirit D4, Strength D10, Vigor D10

Skills: Climbing D8, Fighting D8, Shooting D8, Tracking D6

Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 7 (15)

Racial Traits: Brawny, Claws (STR+D8), natural carapace (armor +4)

Hindrances: Vow (major) to collective; xenophobia (major); nonverbal communication 

Armor: hakatic battle gear (+4); vacuum-ready

Weapons: Typically armed with flak guns (3D6+2) or flechette guns (2D4+1)

Hakatic  Worker Caste (females)

Attributes: Agility D10, Smarts D8, Spirit D4, Strength D4, Vigor D6

Skills: Climbing D8, Knowledge (any one) D8, Repair D8, Stealth D6

Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 5 (7)

Racial Traits: Brawny, Claws (STR+D4), natural carapace (armor +2)

Hindrances: Vow (major) to collective; Vow (major) pacifism; nonverbal communication 

Armor: vacuum suits (harness/inflating) (no armor value)

Weapons: female caste workers only fight in last-ditch self-defense. They are also prone to following the orders --even from aliens-- if the method of order delivery is emitted as if a warrior caste member delivered the directive.

*Artificial Super Intelligence; the godlike machine intelligences that manifest, usually with a singularity that annihilates or existentially transforms/assimilates its creators when it appears.

White Star Stats:

Hakatic Warrior Caste (male)
Armor Class: 4 (15)
Hit Dice: 4
Total Hit Bonus: +4

Attacks: 1D6+2 claws; flak gun 2D6; flechette pistol 1D6-1

Saving Throw: 15

Special: hive collective mentality, xenophobic, nonverbal communication

Movement: 15

Armor: vacuum-ready (and pressurized and armored) suits designed for arthropods

HDE/XP: 4/120

Hakatic  Worker Caste (females)

Armor Class: 5 (14)
Hit Dice: 2
Total Hit Bonus: +2

Attacks: 1D6 claws

Saving Throw: 17

Special: hive collective mentality, pacifists, nonverbal communication

Movement: 16

Armor: vacuum suits (harness/inflating) (no armor value)

HDE/XP: 2/30

Notes: female caste workers only fight in last-ditch self-defense. They are also prone to following the orders --even from aliens-- if the method of order delivery is emitted as if a warrior caste member delivered the directive.

Ships of the Hakatic Union that have been seized intact reveal that the hakatics actually have no central "hive leader" in the manner humans might imagine, either. It appears to be a biologically enforced community, and the males will choose from 1-6 females as mates, and entire incubator systems run through their ships where eggs are harvested. It appears that only a handful of any egg clutch comes to fruition....possibly due to poor shielding from cosmic radiation on the ships....but the dozen or so eggs that do insure a healthy species' turnaround.

Six Reasons your Sci Fi Setting Might Require Cold Sleep During FTL Travel

We've seen and read it countless times: our protagonists, be they Ellen Ripley or Richard Riddick, need to go in to some sort of deep sleep, either by means of stasis, cryosleep or "other" until they arrive at their remote destination light years away. Sometimes it's a rather formal process and lots of wires, diodes and catheters are involved. Other times it involves being frozen in some substance or even locked in to some sort of "between time" state. Or maybe it just involves a wrist-attached device pumping you full of stasis-inducing fluids. Who knows!

The question though is....why?

Sure, space is ridiculously big, and it is often the case that SF writers realize this enough to decide that concepts like cryosleep make sense when your implied universe requires a journey lasting months or decades. Maybe the ship needs to keep its resources to a minimum, and hauling ten months' of supplies for a live crew is precious weight that the ship can do without, so locking everyone into a dreamless sleep where they don't wake up, die, or even age is a good idea from the point of view of the bean counters. But.....maybe there's some other, possibly more unusual, even sinister explanation....

Here's six I can think of:

1. Hyperspace Warps the Brain

When you tavel at FTL speeds the human mind can't take it. The technology for FTL travel might put you into another higher dimensional space, or maybe it cuts corners through a neighboring universe. Either way, the implication is that humans can't handle the trip awake, and maybe not even physicially. Something bad would happen to them if even one of the human woke up in the middle of hyperspace....

2. FTL Travel would Cripple or Crush You out of Stasis

Advancing faster and faster to travel into FTL space could take time. Maybe the actual "journey" from point A to point B takes mere minutes, but it's the first light year out and the last light year in where the steady acceleration and sudden deceleration are most taxing. Once you're in hyperspace it's nearly instant....but the before and after would leave a person not in stasis a smear on the wall.

3. The Hyperspace Parasites Will Get You

Long ago space travelers figured out that the dominion of Hyperspace, wherever it is, is rife with mysterious alien parasites that latch on to wakened human minds and ride back in to "normal space" to start zombie apocalypses, wars, or just become serial killers. To solve this issue, everyone has to be locked in stasis for the duration of the journey.

4. Event Horizon and Doom were Right

It turns out there is a parallel dimensional space that makes FTL travel fast...but bad news! It's the dimension which has lent our collective memories to the concept of hell, and hideous entities exist over there which seek to infiltrate our minds (sort of like the parasites, but demons) and ride back to normal space to start the End Times. Your friendly Megacorporation realizes this is not in their profit margin, so they figured out that a dreamless passenger in stasis does not attract the attention of the demons in hell. Usually. Don't worry, they've got specialist cleaners for the "special exceptions."

5. Actual FTL travel Leads to Quantum Displacement

Actual FTL travel in this case is a bit like quantum teleportation....where you "destroy" the entity in one region and remake it in an exact duplicate somewhere else. Hyperspace is just the "journey" through which the quantum process takes effect. No one like experiencing utter destruction and reconstitution, so stasis is the only solution. That, and even moving around slightly during this process can lead to you're particulate matter being stretched out over a few light years' distance so everything, passengers included, has to be locked down for the ride.

6. FTL Travel really does Take a Long Time

Turns out your universe's FTL travel still takes enormously long times. Moving at twice the speed of light might let you imagine ways that relativity is ignored or bypassed, but 2Xc. is still a 2+ year journey to our nearest neighbor star, Alpha Centauri. In a case like this, it may just be that the resources for such a journey are at a premium, and stasis is far preferable to an aging crew arriving years later.

Alternative Concept: The Bioformation Process

It's been suggested that realistic space travel, especially at STL speeds, would need to be conducted over decades or centuries. Even in a matter of years, it might make sense for a future transhumanist society to send out AI-controlled ships with the digital recordings of human explorers ready to upload into freshly grown bodies on the other end, tailored specifically for the environment they will soon be facing. And when those explorers are done? They can retire those bodies (or leave them to their fate), and move on to the next destination, with uploads in the next new bodies....

Savage Space - The Cyndaar Arrive, Hard Light Technology and more on the Eidolons

It finally happened....the Cyndaar made their first official appearance in the Savage Space campaign over the weekend. An ordinary Cyndaar of no special import kept six heavily armed and armored adventurers occupied quite nicely, as they learned that the only reason they could harm the Cyndaar at all was thanks to special bullets provided to them by their enigmatic benefactor, the Eidolon guardian named Susuros. These "Fibonacci Bullets" or "F-Bullets" apparently created a micro-singularity in the fabric of space and time, hemorrhaging normal matter into the fifth dimensional space from which the Eidolons pull their hard-light technology.

In honor of this event, here's some new details for Savage Space on the various and sundry wondrous technologies of the Eidolons, as well as some new details on the Cyndaar coming soon....

Hard Light Technology (gear property; ultra-tech invention)

This property converts ordinary gear in to hard light technology, and is only available through ultra-tech civilizations. In principle hard light technology is a matter-energy conversion process that seems to defy a few physical laws, but those who have mastered it (such as the Eidolons) claim that they have found a property of fifth dimensional space (one of the folded dimensions) which allows them to create objects which are simultaneously in a state of energy and matter....superpositioning of matter and energy almost as if it were a quantum effect (comparable, perhaps, to the quantum state of being both a particle and a wave). In the 28th century of Savage Space's Commonwealth the best physicists in the galaxy do not buy this explanation....but that's also why the Commonwealth has no super ultra-tech beyond the examples the Eidolons demonstrate.

For game purposes hard light tech is a trapping you can apply to gear, including weapons and armor. The object changes from its normal properties in to a hard-light creation. Such devices are represented as small disks, normally incorporated into clothing or a gauntlet (the Eidolon preference), which when activated create the desired object immediately.....including clothing or armor, which manifests around the person almost instantly. While "off" the discs occupy minimal space. As an action the device can be activated, which creates the hard light version of the device....and this version functions exactly as the original, except with half the weight, and an almost unlimited level of customization in terms of appearance and color scheme. One can make the armor look as "normal" or fantastical as you desire....the properties of hard light tech are not limited to looking like ordinary matter.

Hard light devices can be fractured and penetrated but even if broken will be restored within 1 hour after deactivating the disc. Only by actually damaging the disc or being hit with disintigration effects can the hard light gear be permanently damaged. Targeting a disc is equivalent to a called shot to the head, but with no damage bonus; the disc is protected by the armor of the bearer plus a toughness of 10.

Hard light power armor is perfectly feasible. Any power armor with this property is obviously almost priceless, but they still need to be "programmed" to reflect the build/style of the armor (see SF Companion for those rules). Such programmed armor can later be changed (options swapped out) but reconstructing the design takes 1 hour of programming and a Computers skill check.

Unusual Hard Light Applications

Eidolons have created entire starships made out of hard light tech. Such vessels appear to be limited to single-person fighter craft, but the Eidolons utilize hard light GAI (general artificial intelligences) to manipulate larger scale ships; their technology has all but eliminated the need for more than one crewman...the eidolon pilot. With this technology you can literally carry a battlecruiser on your gauntlet.

Hard light technology has been incorporated into the lost tech of the ruins throughout the Eidolon Expanse. Whether it is used for buildings, bridges or even constructed robots and drones, the technology allows almost energy-free creation of all levels of simulated artifacts and constructs. Constructs (robots) created in this manner are treated like normal for purposes of statistics, but they do have the protected "center" which is usually a small hover disk with drone-like properties of self-flight (Pace 8) that can be targeted with a called shot (at -4) to damage directly.

Hard Light Tech Mysteries

Susuros, a guardian Eidolon trapped on an unknown world in the Coreward Expanse has stated that the hard light tech should not be thought of as "machinery" but rather as something grown....almost organically, out of sentient substances from the fifth dimension. He elaborated only to suggest that the hard light tech is manifesting from a fragment of a grander entity in fifth dimensional space, something which appears to violate physical principles of matter and energy conversion in ordinary four dimensional time-space to us, because we are incapable of conceiving of it's existence in any other matter.

Hard light technology is not inherently resistant to the dark matter attacks of the Cyndaar, but it can be used to create psionic dampeners, which can be extremely helpful against such non-baryonic entities. Unfortunately it is extremely susceptible to gravitic weaponry, about which more will soon be revealed....and the Cyndaar in the deep Coreward Expanse worlds have begun to create such weaponry. When hit by weapons with gravitic properties the hard light armor loses all armor points, and is -4 on any vigor rolls if a construct. Even one wound dealt to a hard light creation destroys it.

On the other hand, the aforementioned F-Bullets --Susuros jokingly called them Fibonacci Bullets because he explained that the bullet initiated a form of fibonacci sequence which "dragged the ordinary matter of your universe in to fifth dimensional space, following the principles of Fibonacci's unique sequence." In fact they seem to create a sort of unique singularity which does exactly that, creating a microscopic wormhole which does indeed have a disintegration effect as it's local mass is drawn in to curled fifth dimensional space and presumably destroyed or assimilated.

Mechanically the F-Space bullet can be applied to any ordinary bullet, so the weapon of choice must be some form of slug thrower. The bullet appears to be an unstable hard-light construct infused with a variation of hybrid strange matter. When the bullet hits a target it deals normal damage, but is AP 12 against all normal matter and completely ignores AP from hard light armor. The damage dealt is treated as a disintegration effect, and the target, if it takes even one wound, must immediately make a vigor roll or perish, sucked in to the void of fifth dimensional folded space. These bullets are, needless to say, incredibly rare and only the Eidolons know the alchemy necessary to create them (but more on the arcane talent for Hard Light Tech later....)

Back to Savage Space!

Yeah....despite what I was thinking, our group went with Savage Worlds SF last Saturday. So luckily I had all of that along with me (I came more or less prepared for AS&SH, 13th Age and Savage Worlds) and worked out a scenario while everyone rolled some new PCs.

Savage Worlds is always fun to play. The swingy dice and vital nature of the bennies always surprise me when I return to SW after an absence, but the incredibly swift play mechanics make up for it. I'm not sure I would get any less of an experience out of using --say-- White Star, but as I put it, "Savage Space is a hard space opera setting with a modicum of seriousness swirled in with the action," whereas my White Star campaign was clearly a "let's see what a gonzo anything-goes-kitchen-sink SF campaign looks like.

I was planning to show off "WOIN," the What's Old Is New RPG from EnWorld Publishing but completely forgot to bring it. Next time....definitely. It's a more nuanced system, not necessarily more complex but provides more detail; it's mechanically around D&D 5E in complexity feel, I think. I'll post more about it soon....it's currently in the running for "systems I might actually GM soon."

Anyway, I had done a lot of prep for AS&SH so I was mildly disappointed that the group didn't go that direction.....people in the group had the following reasons not to: 1. and SF option was on the table and they really wanted to try that; 2. selling AS&SH as "a refined and specialized AD&D" was discouraging about 2/3rds of the group who are apparently not as OSR-hip as I might have thought; and 3. No one had a copy of the rules, unlike Savage Worlds, which despite my assurances that ownership wasn't a requisite didn't really work out so well. Ah well, another time.

I'll just say that I really like the Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes module, and plan to run this one way or another....even if I have to adapt it to D&D 5E or 13th Age or something.  Jeff Talanian's writing style is exactly what I like in a published module.

The Last Parsec - Look at all this stuff!

Pinnacle's new setting for Savage Worlds, The Last Parsec, is just about complete and out. You can get a ton of Last Parsec goodness for a nice deal over on Pinnacle's website.  The Last Parsec Core was the last tome in waiting and I just secured my box along with an early copy thanks to Sara Quinn (Pinnacle) and Jim Searcy (Studio 2) who I want to add have excellent and very responsive customer service, some of the best I've experienced online so far.

I've barely done more than crack open the shipping box and start perusing its contents, but if you're curious what it's all about The Last Parsec is a space opera SF style setting aimed squarely at the high concept "real" SF of fiction and film.....unlike other SF offerings for Savage Worlds such as Slipstream this is an actual science fiction setting rather than a pulp space fantasy universe. There are three setting books, one core book, and a ton of extras you can secure to enhance your Last Parsec experience. The complete set (with all options added) includes:

Hard cover core book:
The Last Parsec Core (setting book)

Three hard cover setting/scenario books:
Eris Beta V
Leviathan
Scientorium

Supplemental stuff:
Enigma Equation (module and GM screen)
Two map packs
Last parsec Double Action Deck (two decks of cards)
a pack of Last Parsec dice
A bunch of bennie chips (actual poker chips with Last Parsec art!)
A mess of metal figures and stands - 12 total (my wife shall be assembling/painting them)

I don't think everything listed above is still available....from the looks of it the website is not showing physical copies of the map packs as still available for example. Per Sara they are there, I just failed my Notice roll.

But let me tell you: if you like your Savage Worlds, and you love your hard-hitting science fiction (and especially love stuff with a feel like Mass Effect or Neal Asher's novels), I think this series is a must-buy. I'll be blogging more about it soon, got to spend this weekend absorbing the entire setting.....especially since my Wednesday group is itching to get back to some Savage Worlds Sci Fi soon!

Wanderers - with the words of Carl Sagan

Wanderers is a short film about what our future in the solar system could look like. The narration is straight from Carl Sagan. The graphics derive from constructs and locations (both real and theorized) in our solar system, and it's really quite inspiring. Check it out:


Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.


(Yes I'm taking it easy on the blogging this week, so lots of short posts. If inspiration hits me, wonderful....but sometimes it's nice to just relax and not worry about it....)

Savage Space IV: Yanoh Sutah Biomachines

This is harder than it looks! 28 days of scifi posts for Savage Worlds. Today....aliens!

Yanoh Sutah of the Deneb System

The biomachines that originated at Deneb are well known for their voracious ability to assimilate all machinery and flesh in their wake. The first encounter with the "Yanoh Sutah" as they were originally named by the Haskiren nomads was during an encounter with the early colonial cruiser ISS Hapford, not more than a century after humanity developed FTL drive. A routine survey mission revealed that the Deneb star system, long believed to be too volatile to sustain life, in fact had what appeared to be a thriving stellar society in the dominion of its Kuiper belt. No sooner did the Hapford make contact than it was attacked; the Yanoh Sutah had been clustered on the edge of the star system, creating vast colonial hives of sublight ships; capturing a FTL cruiser would be a major prize.

The Hapford escaped, narrowly avoiding destruction, but unknown to the crew it came back to it's homeport (Alpha Centauri at the time) carrying a trace of the nanovirus that was the real force behind the Yanoh Sutah. The near-total assimilation of the Alpha Centauri Orbital starport and the Hapford was staved off only by virtue of the assistance of the Haskiren who provided the necessary antivirus that they used to keep their own equipment clean of the Yanoh Sutah infestation.

To date the Yanoh Sutah is the only known manifestation of a nanovirus which is specifically designed to absorb, replicate and produce biomechanical machines. The virus is suspected to be a creation of a now dead culture, likely at Deneb, which may have attempted to devise a form of Van Neumann machine culture to assist in escaping their dying world. Unfortunately there is no obvious candidate in the Deneb system for a suitable homeworld; as an alpha-cyngi variable star it is extremely large and luminous, and the "goldilocks" zone for life is too unstable to be a likely candidate.

A second hypothesis is that the Yanoh Sutah arrived at Deneb by slower than light means, and in fact became trapped there, looking for resources on the fringe of the Deneb system to resume their journey when the Hapford conveniently came along. The fact that the Haskiren claim to have encountered this virus on other worlds, and that it actually destroyed their own homeworld generations ago, supports this hypothesis over the Deneb origin theory.

Yanoh Sutah Biomachine Hivemaster (legendary wild card)

The hub of a Yanoh Sutah infestation manifests in the form of a "hivemaster" which is usually very large and designed to produce more biomachines. They are nonetheless formidable entities, being akin to factories and warriors.
Agility D6, Smarts D6, Spirit D8, Strength D12, Vigor D12
Charisma 0, Pace 5", Parry 2, Toughness 19
Hindrances: Size +3, Major Vow (to Hive Expansion), Weakness: Haskiren antivirus
Edges: Immune to Poison and Disease, Regeneration, No Vital Organs,
Skills: Fighting D8, Intimidation D10, Notice D6, Repair D10
Weapons and Armor:
Defensive Claws (STR+D6 and 4 AP; damage dealt means Vigor check at -2 for 1 week or suffer Yanoh Sutah viral infection)
Dermal Plating (+8 armor)

The Yanoh Sutah Virus:

Someone injured by a Yanoh Sutah must make an immediate vigor check at -2. If they fail, they become fatigued. Each day they continue to make checks for one week; each failure reduces Toughness by 1 until they hit 0 at which time the person is now a biomachine of the hive. Being injected with the Haskiran antivirus gives them a +2 on checks, and the first success clears the virus out.

Yanoh Sutah Victims (drones):

A human or other alien who is subsumed into the biomachine hive gains the following traits:

No Free Will: though they can make individual decisions as needed, the hive mind prevents any action that works against the interest of the hive.

Stat Modifications: Drop Spirit to D4. Raise Strength and Agility by two steps.

Defensive Claws: gain these claws (STR+D6 and 4 AP) which inject the virus on a strike that deals damage.

Dermal Plating: gain dermal plating at a +4 for armor protection.

Techno Obsession: Yanoh Sutah victims will voraciously pursue those they believe to have previously undiscovered scientific knowledge, usually to the exclusion of all else, including their well-being.

Savage Space III: Syndirei Cleaner Agents

Savage Space III: time for some villains!

Syndirei armored special forces "cleaner" agent

Syndirei Special Forces "Cleaner" Agent (Seasoned wild cards)

Syndirei special forces agents are part of a special group which engages in long-term therapy to improve their resistance to the species-wide capacity for murder in isolation. These agents are part of a group which works to keep their cultural time bomb a secret. Each agent wears a tight body suit under their armor that will initiate a destructive biofeedback explosion on death to disintegrate their remains. Failing that they also hold subdermal viral implants which will reduce their flesh to a pulpy, unidentifiable mass within seconds should they be caught and killed; it can be triggered with a mental command, as well. Despite their similarity to human physiology these implants only affect syndirei.

Cleaner agents don't just go after nosy xenoanthropologists and Federation Agents looking to make their careers on scrutinizing syndirei; they also take out rogue syndirei, or find and exterminate colonies of their own kind where social order has degenerated into chaos and for which there is risk of discovery.

Aegis Division agents have tangled with the cleaner agents on several occasions, and succeeded in keeping one alive long enough to extract a tissue sample for proper identification. Agent Lu Varn still recalls the horror he saw under the dermaskin armor....the syndirei was physically unidentifiable as any specific humanoid species due to the severe nature of the dermagraft with his armor. It was estimated that it would take 2-4 months of careful therapy to remove such a suit and repair the graft damage. Problem is...when you capture a cleaner agent, you only have seconds before their self-destruct protocols kick in.

Cleaner agents regularly hire clueless mercs and criminals from other species to get jobs done for them. Most agents work behind the scenes, though they always take direct action when it comes to corralling "defective" syndirei.

Typical Syndirei Cleaner Agent
Agility D8, Smarts D8, Strength D6, Spirit D8, Vigor D4
Charisma 0, Pace 6", Parry 6, Toughness 12(4), Strain Cap 6, Current Strain 3
Drawbacks: dependency (culture), Vow (to species survival, major)
Edges: linguist, assassin, Adaptable (combat reflexes), Extraction, Marksman
Skills: Fighting D8, Investigation D8, Notice D8, Piloting D6, Shooting D8, Stealth D8
Weapons and Gear:
Disintegrator Pistol (3D10 damage, RoF 1, Shots 5)
2 EMP grenades, 1 smoke grenade, 1 thermal grenade
Hard Armor Suit (+8)
Cyberware:
Vision Enhancement (+2 notice)
Melee Weapons - Arm blades, molecular (STR+D6+2 damage and 3 AP)
Viral Breakdown Protocol - bodymass destroyed in 1D6 combat rounds on death or by command (1 strain)

Savage Space II: the Syndirei Culture Vampires

Welcome to 28 days in Savage Space round II. This time around, an alien race of notorious space predators....but they don't steal your blood, they steal your culture.

Just a note: for these write-ups I am sticking to the Savage Worlds Deluxe Core plus Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion. I might delve into the Horror Companion on occasion as well...

The Syndirei Culture Vampires

source

Syndirei have a homeworld: it's yours. They have a language, too: yours. They love what you love, eat what you eat (and work out metabolic treatments for digesting local cuisine if necessary) and want what you want. All of it.

The original homeworld of the syndirei is lost to time. Their rapid adaptiveness to other cultures, languages and even ways of thought are regarded as eerily effective by xenogentic researchers, who have worked hard to amass data for the Federation records on this race, which has been working its way in along the edges of the galactic expanse for six centuries now. One belief is that the syndirei are actually a form of artificially engineered species designed specifically for such an effective level of cultural adaptability. Another theory, however, is that they are a weapon.

The syndirei don't just assimilate and take over your culture: they take ownership of it, and then they start to corrupt it from within. Some xenoanthropologists believe that the syndirei are actually the last survivors of a much older civilization toward the galactic core, and that they may have been singularly responsible for the destruction of said civilizations, based on an careful analysis of exctint cultures on the many worlds found toward the core.

The rationalization is this: syndirei are extremely friendly and adaptive, joining a new community in the most placating and friendly way possible, then worming their way in at the lowest levels of society, all while taking on tasks and duties that the native civilization could use cheap labor for. Then, in time, they grow, and expand into every niche above, slowly subsuming the greater percentage of population into their own by sheer numbers, but done in such a manner that only the most carefully engineered cultures will notice the shift over time. It takes generations, but one day the syndirei are in direct control and a majority holder in the local culture. That's when things get....interesting.

Syndirei when left to the own devising (such as the trapped population that was found after two centuries of isolation on Tarterus IV) seem to degenerate into a culture of violent might-makes-right fiends, preying on one another with rapacious intensity. The original researchers on Tarterus IV came to the conclusion that syndirei society on its own was naturally violent and destructive; they need a foreign population as a stabilizer, to help them maintain some sort of social contract; without that foreign society to attach to they degenerate rapidly into the most violent form of barbarism.

The problem arises in those cultures in which the syndirei have been enmeshed, and in which they have grown to become them majority population. There appears to be some sort of breaking point, at which the syndirei scales are tipped and the indigenous alien population is eclipsed so thoroughly that the syndirei now rule supremely. When this happens, social disorder begins to manifest, first in the form of random violence and criminal action, but over a matter of one or maybe two generations it spirals into madness, and the entire syndirei-controlled region collapes into chaos and violence. The xenoachaeologists studying the Coreward Expanse dead worlds think this has happened to multiple planets in the past, and they also suspect that the syndirei know about this problem, because certain prominent researchers have recently been found mysteriously dead after trying to go public with their research.

The current and most widespread advance on syndirei is in the region known as the Hexen Expanse. The cluster of worlds in this area are reaching what is believed to be a tipping point....and some may have gone past it, in terms of syndirei cultural absorption and population. Federation officials observe the region with great concern, wondering if the freeworlds in that area are about to suffer a terminal social collapse thanks to the cultural vampires...behind the scenes, agents of the Aegis Division have already conducted illegal tests on syndirei populations and know exactly what they are capable of.

Physically syndirei are humanoid with dusky gray and greenish skin, curiously weathered features and completely hairless. Syndirei have surprising genetic compatibility with humans and can eat human quisine without any treatments.

Syndirei Profile:

Adaptable - syndirei are very adaptable and may begin play with a free novice edge.

Linguist - Syndirei are able to pick up new languages with alarming accuracy, even languages not spoken in a conventional manner; they gain access to this background edge.

Dependency (culture) - syndirei psychology depends on other cultures. When a syndirei is by itself for a protracted period it (two weeks or more) it must make a Spirit check once per day. So long as it succeeds everything is fine; when it fails the first time the syndirei begins to develop psychotic and self-serving personality traits. When it fails a second time it begins to lose cognitive reasoning skills (-2 on all Smarts checks). When it fails a third time the syndirei stabilizes and regains its reasoning skills (loses the penalty) but now develops an inimical murderous personality akin to a serial killer.

Syndirei who have reached the third stage of their metamorphosis will behave accordingly until introduced to a new culture (not the previous culture; they have psychologically discarded that culture from their minds) at which time they can begin making a new Spirit test with a +2 modifier. One success means they immediately regain mental control and begin earnest efforts to learn the new culture.

The dependency also triggers when syndirei become the dominat population and cultural influence in a region; the exact trigger is not known, but it appears to be when a syndirei population exceeds 70% of the local indigenous aliens. GMs can inform syndirei PCs that they may be making the dependency checks when this threshold is passed locally as well. Large regional populations always trump local events, so a syndirei on an island with ten humans will still feel the degeneration begin to set in if the worldwide population has passed the threshold.

Typical Syndirei Special Forces Agent (Seasoned wild cards)

Syndirei special forces agents are part of a special group which engages in long-term therapy to improve their resistance to the species-wide capacity for murder in isolation. These agents are part of a group which works to keep their cultural time bomb a secret. Each agent wears a tight body suit under their armor that will initiate a destructive biofeedback explosion on death to disintegrate their remains. Failing that they also hold subdermal viral implants which will reduce their flesh to a pulpy, unidentifiable mass within seconds should they be caught and killed; it can be triggered with a mental command, as well. Despite their similarity to human physiology these implants only affect syndirei.

Agility D8, Smarts D8, Strength D6, Spirit D8, Vigor D4
Charisma 0, Pace 6", Parry 6, Toughness 12(4), Strain Cap 6, Current Strain 3
Drawbacks: dependency (culture), Vow (to species survival, major)
Edges: linguist, assassin, Adaptable (combat reflexes), Extraction, Marksman
Skills: Fighting D8, Investigation D8, Notice D8, Piloting D6, Shooting D8, Stealth D8
Weapons and Gear:
Disintegrator Pistol (3D10 damage, RoF 1, Shots 5)
2 EMP grenades, 1 smoke grenade, 1 thermal grenade
Hard Armor Suit (+8)
Cyberware:
Vision Enhancement (+2 notice)
Melee Weapons - Arm blades, molecular (STR+D6+2 damage and 3 AP)
Viral Breakdown Protocol - bodymass destroyed in 1D6 combat rounds on death or by command (1 strain)

Syndirei armored special agent

Savage Space I: Verrin Cormac, Space Merc

Here's the goal: 28 days straight of Savage Worlds in space...ergo, Savage Space. The method? I will find random interesting SF pics and put some story to them. The long term goal: this story remains consistent from image to image, as it builds a mosaic of a galaxy.

I'll start off with an easy one first, a heroic type...

Verrin Cormac

Source

We begin our travel in Savage Space with Verrin Cormac, a middle aged warrior and occasional mercenary who has made a name for himself in the region of Independent Space known as the Hexen Expanse. Verrin is currently employed by a major local power, the cartel overlord called Sabasom Gripsa, a rather loathesome third rate criminal Syndirei, with no sense of style or culture due to it's vampiric race's inability to sustain its adopted culture any longer. Verrin seems to have some tie or bond to Sabasom, or perhaps the cartel overlord has something on the merc, but what is known is that they continue to work together despite the odds.

Verrin also got a reputation as a monster killer. This reputation was cemented three years earlier when he was stuck on the ISS Bellerophon when it was discovered that the cargo of the ship contained bioengineered hypermutational defense organisms. The organisms broke free early on and rapidly grew into large polymorphic predators. Verrin was able to kill them all, including those masquerading as crew, but it scarred his pysche a bit, and made him more prone to violence as a quick response to any question of deep thought.

Verrin carries his signature weapon with him: a monofilament-lined katana that can cut through steel chains in a single strike. His blade is known and feared. Verrin is also suspected of having gone to a cyberdoc chopship on Procyon IX where he was genetically rewire to accept Fadelik implants. It's well known that the neurosystem of the four-eyed aliens is far beyond unaugmented humans, but few are known to survive the process with their mind intact.

Verrin's favorite book is a ragged physical copy of Don Quixote.

Verrin Cormac's Stats (seasoned):
Human Male
Agility D10, Smarts D6, Strength D8, Spirit D6, Vigor D6
Charisma 0, Pace 6", Parry 7, Toughness 7(5), Strain Cap 6, Current Strain 5
Drawbacks: Bloodthirsty, Cautious, Loyal
Edges: Combat Reflexes, No Mercy, Assassin, Sweep, Trademark Weapon (katana)
Skills: Climbing D8, Driving D6, Intimidation D6, Lockpicking D4, Notice D6, Fighting D10, Shooting D6, Stealth D4
Weapons and Gear:
Light Pistol (2D6-1 damage, RoF 1, Shots 12)
Monofilament Katana (STR+D6+4 damage, AP 5; torso only)
Kevlar Vest (+2/+3 AP negation)
Cyberware:
Adrenal Surge
Communicator
Attribute Increase (Agility)

Telescope

What's it about? Not sure....the mystery is in enjoying the sort of very short tale a film short can weave, with a procession of visuals stiched together by a hint of narrative. Anyway...enjoy, it's pretty neat:


TELESCOPE from Telescope on Vimeo.

Notable Tomes: The Disappearing Spoon, Armored, Voice of the Whirlwind, The King's Bastard and Starship

I read a lot, but haven't talked lately about some of the better books I've been enjoying. It's been a bit tougher with a kid lately to find that "quality quiet time" to actually enjoy books, but the Nook Tablet has helped facilitate this a lot.

Among the books I've been reading lately is The Disappearing Spoon, a fantastic bit of science reading in which the author, Sam Kean, takes us through the periodic table in a historical romp through the more entertaining tales of discovery, delight and woe in chemistry. From Madam Curie to mercury he does a great, readable and entertaining job of presenting interesting bits and pieces about the history and evolution of the periodic table. The last time I took a formal class in chemistry was 1989, so this was both engaging and illuminating.

For me a lot of science reads are "chapter here and there over a few months" as time and interest permit....but I plowed through this one quickly, it was hard to put down. I'll be looking for Kean's next work when it comes out later this year.

 

If you have a Nook or just want to pick it up in epub format, Walter John Williams has been re-releasing his vintage SF from the 80's and early 90's in electronic format. I have re-read Voice of the Whirlwind, about a clone of a professional soldier who awakens to find that the last decade of his host's memories didn't make it back with the "awaken when I die" ticket, and the troubling mystery that ensues. Good stuff, and still very readable and relevant today.

I haven't started it yet, but I have Hardwired (one of my all time favorite novels back in the early 90's during my Cyberpunk 2020 phase) scheduled for reading one of these next weekends, sleepy baby permitting.

Anyway, take note that these editions of Williams' books are optmized for e-readers and have some nice new cover art. For example:



Also out at Baen.com is Armored, a collection of tales edited by John Joseph Adams. I'm digging into it now but its got some of my favorite authors in there, including Jack McDevitt and Alistair Reynolds. Anyway, if you like a little high tech military action and heavily armored homages to Starship Troopers running around in your fiction, this is a great collection.



In the category of fantasy fiction, I've been reading and enjoying (oddly enough) Rowena Corey Daniels' Chronicles of King Rolen's Kin trilogy, the first book of which I have plowed through being The King's Bastard. My wife would love this series, I think, and I've been trying to get her to read it. Although on one level it's not the sort of novel I would ordinarily have tried, the fact is that Daniels is a good writer, and her characters quickly came to life for me in a way a lot of heavier fantasy trilogies tend not to, so I've been enjoying it and plowing along. The entire trilogy is available for cheap in ebook format, too.




I stumbled across an old review I had posted online and thought that I could offer up this review of the classic novel Starship by Brian Aldiss once more...but this is one I did read several years ago (and have periodically re-read ever since I first discovered it back in the early eighties).



Written in 1951, Starship is an early science fiction work by Aldiss, featuring the story of a generation ship which loses its roots, degenerating in to a primitive society in space. The tale is told through the perspective of a young hunter, who embarks on a journey that gradually exposes the greater mystery and hidden secrets of the ship. The tale culiminates in a finale in which the primitive societies of the damaged ship are forced in to inevitable change as the vessel fulfills its purpose, more or less.

Aldiss' tale came years before Sputnik, and it holds up well over the years simply because the story, relayed through the eyes of primitive survivors of the unknown cataclysm that befell the ship, are unfamiliar with the technology surrounding them, and so the tale manages to transcend the sometimes troubling problem of antiquated tech in vintage sci fi. Issues of mutation and change are also raised in the book, and an occasional oddity, such as telepathic mice, pop up at odd moments. The story, true to form for the period, remains on track and doesn't tend to get derailed with too many additional details, but more than enough to convey the sense of the strange and unusual.

To enjoy a classic tale of a generation ship gone wrong (maybe even the first, I couldn't say for sure) as well as the novel which was a major inspiration for the role playing games "Metamorphosis Alpha" and "Gamma World," definitely find and read Starship. The later novel, "Hothouse" is even better, and if Starship is your cup of tea, Hothouse will be a gem to find, too.

Isomular: Locust Men!

And with the Locustoids my Isomular Month ends. Perhaps someday in the future I will get a chance to design some more material for it should inspiration hit...or even get to at last run a campaign in this setting! Who knows...

Locustoids (Locust Men)


Type: 2nd level Monstrous Humanoid Expert

Size: Small

Speed: 20 ft, 40 ft Jumping

Str  Dex Con Int Wis Cha
0      +4     -1    0    0    +1

Skills: Notice +4, Stealth +13

Feats: Double Strike

Traits: Armored Carapace +3 Toughness, Darkvision 60’, Amazing Jump ability

Combat: Attack +6, Damage +1 (claws) or weapon (usually swords +2 damage), Defense +16, Grapple +2, Initiative +4

Saves: Tough Fort Ref Will
              +2     -1    +7   +3

Jumping: Locustoids can move by jumping with their powerful hind legs. They are built for landing, and do not sustain damage from a controlled fall of 100 feet in height or less.

Short creatures of about 3 feet in height, locustoids look much like their name (chosen by men long ago) suggests: short, humanoid locust men, with two strong hopping legs and four lean but armored arms, the locustoids lack the ability to do much damage with their limbs, but they become pretty good swordsmen in short order.

Locustoids are fairly intelligence pests, once the throw-away race of the Isomular empire, now a strange mixture of menace and cheap labor. Locustoids breed like flies, literally, and if a Hive queen of the locustoids sets up shop in the area, they can multiply in to the thousands in short order. After enough of them crop up, they start getting grand visions of conquering the world, which is only made impossible by their thorough lack of loyalty to anything save themselves and their queen.

Locustoids which have been neutered so as not to be able to breed (male locustoids are necessary for the queen’s eggs to be fertilized) and female locustoids which have been “snipped” so that they cannot ever transmogrify one day in to a locustoid queen are considered perfectly decent creatures to live with. Most human lands either tolerate them as cheap labor or enforce laws enslaving them. In the wilds, locustoids that are not regulated can quickly get out of hand, and some entire cities have been overwhelmed by enraged locustoids searching for food for their queen.

When not under thrall to a queen, the locustoids are pretty agreeable, friendly folk who often dominate social scenes and take on rapacious, insatiable appetites for entertaining and being entertained. They are also known for their thievery, and some make excellent scouts. Locustoids almost always wear some mark to show that they have been “fixed” so that they are never mistaken for wild locustoids.




Locustoid Queen

Type: 10th level Monstrous Humanoid Adept

Size: Huge

Speed: 20 ft

Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
+6    -2   +4   +4   +1   +5

Skills: Notice +4

Feats: Double Strike, Diehard, Improved Grab, Improved Pin,

Traits: Armored Carapace +3 Toughness, Darkvision 60’, Trample

Combat: Attack +3, Damage +3 (claws) or +5 (trample), Defense +13, Grapple +7, Initiative -2

Saves: Tough Fort Ref Will
            +11   +11  +5   +8

Powers: Each queen has a unique set of powers, of one or two particular foci. Choose 6 powers of Power Rank 13; Save DC 15

The enormous 25 foot long queen of the wild locustoids is an immense, bloated version of her tiny children. She can lay hundreds of eggs a day, and the males can busily fertilize the eggs, which will in about six weeks hatch to create a veritable army of locustoids. The ravenous young need food, which the elders bring to them. Given that locustoids only need about three months to reach full maturity (3 feet tall), it doesn’t take long for a queen to generate a ravenous army of loyal kin.

Most queens live delusional states of fantasy. They are always transmogrified females, which undergo a process wherein a chemical is released in to their body sometime after their fifth year of life (occasionally later). They enter a chrysalis like state and emerge three weeks later as a young queen. After another few weeks, they have eaten enough to gain the mass necessary to begin producing eggs. The queen looks essentially like an enormously bloated version of a normal locustoid.

Most females intentionally cut out the chemical sack which activates their chrysalis stage, but a handful embraces it, seeking to flee in to the wild to become new queens.

Isomular: Octogashi, the Octopus Men

Octogashi (Octopus Men)


Type: 6th level Monstrous Humanoid Adept

Size: Medium

Speed: 30 ft, 40ft swimming

Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
+2   +4   +2   +2   +2   0

Skills: Escape Artist +8, Notice +7, Survival +6, Stealth +8, Swim +14

Feats: Chokehold, Grappling Finesse, Improved Pin

Traits: Darkvision 60’

Combat: Attack +10, Damage +3 (tentacles), Defense +14, Grapple +8, Initiative +0

Saves: Tough Fort Ref Will
              +2     +2    +4    +5

Powers: Water Shaping (Int), Body Control (Wis), Drain Vitality (Wis), Mind Touch (Cha), Pain (Cha), Power Rank 9; Save DC 13

Swimming: +8 racial bonus to swimming

The octogashi appear to be tall, almost creatures with thick legs and a bulging torso. These parts are almost humanoid, except for the head, which is replaced by the body and tentacles of an octopus. The body and head are fused, such that there is no neck and a fair portion of the torso and octopoid component are one and the same. Moreover, the torso has no arms, instead relying entirely on the mass of tentacles to provide manipulative appendages.

Octogashi are a very mysterious race of the aquatic depths, and appear to be venomously hateful of the surface dwellers of Isomular. They worship a strange demon god that they call Ith’quill and will often force other aquatic beings to worship this god. The octogashi are fond of raiding the surface world for possible slaves and general mayhem. They have a unique creature which they breed, called the Chargash Mussel, a sea creature that, when placed along the skin of a human’s throat will bond like a parasite to that person. It simultaneously replaces their own breathing mechanisms, converting water in to breathable filtered oxygen for the land-dwelling host, but that person will not suffocate in open air without a very radical surgery (DC28 Medicine check with surgical tools to succeed) to remove the parasite.

Isomular: Scorponids

Scorponids (Scorpotaurs)


Type: 5th level Monstrous Humanoid Warrior

Size: Large

Speed: 30 ft

Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
+6     0    +2   0    +1    0

Skills: Notice +7, Survival +7

Feats: Improved Critical (Claws 19-20/+3), All Out Attack

Traits: Armored Carapace +3 Toughness, Darkvision 60’, Double Strike (both pincer claws)

Combat: Attack +4, Damage +9 (pincer claws), Defense +14, Grapple +8, Initiative +0

Saves: Tough Fort Ref Will
              +7      +3   +4   +5

These enormous predators are tall, scorpion-like creatures averaging 10-15 feet in length and about 8 feet in height. They are vaguely centauroid, as where a normal scorpion’s head be there is instead an armored torso from which a multi-eyed head, mandibles, and two large pincers on carpaced arms extend.

Scorponids are one of the more fearsome predatory sapient races of Isomular. The Scorponids were once a warrior-thrall caste in the old Isomular empire, said to have been enhanced in intelligence and prowess by alchemical processes. Since the collapse of the Isomular empire and the rise of humans, the Scorponids have been cut free, and those which survived the old wars now wander in large tribes, ravaging the region in to which they seek to settle.

Scorponids have a callous disregard for most human races, but they are strangely in awe of the Isomular, with some scorponids reacting in fear or anger upon encountering their old slave masters. Curiously, scorponids love the myrmidons, and it is not unknown for one or more scorponids to take up guard as protectors of the myrmidons, who they recognize as another slave species freed from Isomulii rule. These scorponids will usually defend the myrmidon families they protect with their life.

Isomular: The Vile Worm

Before I gave up on this campaign, I designed several monsters for it. Actually, a key reason I gave up was the monumental task of monster design, which in D20 3.X era systems is a laborious pain for the time-challenged (plus I just found it tedious and uninteresting). Anyway, no reason to let the ones I did finish go to waste, so first off we have....

The Vile Worm


Type: 20th level Adept Aberration

Size: Colossal (Reach 15’)

Speed: 30 ft, 40 ft burrowing (both earth and stone)

Str   Dex Con Int Wis Cha
+12   +2   +8    0   +4    0

Skills: Notice +14, Search +10, Survival +14, Intimidate +18

Feats: Great Fortitude, Endurance, Run, Track, Diehard, Stunning Attack, Improved Grab, Trample, Tireless

Traits: darkvision 60’, Blindsense, Swallow Whole, Frightful Presence (DC 20)

Combat: Attack +4, Damage +15 (bite), Defense +14 (dodge), Grapple +20, Damage +15 (Swallow), Initiative +2

Saves: Tough Fort Ref Will
             +16  +16  +8  +10

Powers: Variable, but usually all of the Empathy Focus powers (cha), plus Blink (Wis); Power Rank 23; Save DC 20

Vile worms look like immense, heavily carapaced earthworms, with large sucker-like maws and a ring of glimmering eye-like growths along the first several feet of their head region. The worms are lean, usually about 5-10 feet in diameter but are upwards of 150 feet in length.

Dwelling in the deep wastelands of the largest deserts of the Whispering Kingdoms, the Vile Worm is a ferocious species which has terrorized many communities in its time. There are only known to be a few of these immense creatures, and a handful of ascetics have formed a dedicated cult (The Followers of the Worm), following these enigmatic beasts around, seeking to learn the ways of their kind. The known psionic power of these ancient beings makes them especially fascinating to their followers, who believe the worms are actually an ancient, enlightened race, possibly the first progenitor race of Isomular.

Vile worms are usually encountered as solitary creatures, although they often have a flock of dedicated pilgrims following them. On rare occasions they will encounter another of their kind, at which time the worms will usually go in to a curiosu trance as they seem to communicate with one another telepathically. On very rare occasions (once every hundred years) a few dozen of the creatures will converge in one location for some sort of enigmatic gathering. This can be problematic if they choose an inhabited region.

Isomular: Monstrosities

Introducing new Creatures to Isomular


When deciding to include a new creature in Isomular, consider the following: fey creatures, most outsiders, and many magical beasts and aberrations with non-psionic magic effects should be excluded. Any beast which has an effect that can be psionically duplicated, as well as any beast which is sufficiently exotic and alien (reptilian, insectoid, or just weirdly alien) will probably work. Humanoids should be excluded, as the only hominids on Isomular are those who arrived on the Coral Ark (the true humans, transgenics, and mutations). If a humanoid does look like it could be a previously undiscovered or forgotten mutation or transgenic species, then feel free to work it in. The key idea here is to preserve the sense of the alien an exotic about Isomular, and to stay as far away as possible from elves, dwarves, orcs and other classic trappings of fantasy. Some beings can have names derived from fantastic elements, but also bear in mind that much of the ancient lore of earth was lost to the men of the Coral Ark even before they left Earth. Notions of medieval magic did not exist for the founders of the modern Isomular cultures, and so they have never been prone to identifying such notions of fanaticism with their strange world and psionic powers.

One good trick you can always use to borrow a monster for Isomular is simple: make it insectoid or reptilian. The planet’s native flora and fauna are dominated by these two types of life, and making almost any species one or the other will allow it to “fit in.” Ogres, for example, could be revised as Great Lizard Men, hulking two-legged brutes that are giant kin to the Kamodons.

Creature Types of Isomular

Alien: The creature is of alien origin, not native to Isomular, but not necessarily an Astral visitor. Such beings may also have traveled to Isomular from space.

Annunaki: The creature is or has been known to work for the enigmatic Annunaki. It is eminently hostile to humanity and all other beings.

Architect: The creature is a disciple and creation of the Architect and appears at his behest.

Construct: The creature is created through the old clockwork technology of the Isomulii, the animating forces of a psionicist, or is a remnant of the ancient apocalyptic civilizations of a million years ago. Some undead (skeletons) are really psychic constructs.

Exotic: The creature is exotic, and does not seem to fit the normal ecosystem, but is also not obviously a visitor from another realm. Such beings may be remnants of older ecosystems destroyed, or products of genetic or psionic experimentation.

Insectoid: The being is part of the insectoid kingdom of animals on Isomular, and is usually a native animal.

Mechanoid: The creature is mechanical, or robotic. It is usually a relic of a forgotten age, or a product of the Architect (a survivor of the Coral Ark).

Native: The creature is a native of Isomular.

Reptilian: The creature belongs to the animal kingdom of the reptilians, and is likely a native to Isomular.

Subterranean: The creature belongs to the strange ecosystem of the subterranean realms of Isomular.

Terran: The creature is part of the transplanted life created by the Architect when man was brought to Isomular. Many creatures from Terra were recreated, though there are many more that did not survive the times during which the native and imported ecosystems fought for cohabitation. Animals which were most useful to man, or most self-subsistent and quick-breeding did best (dogs, rabbits, etc.)

Undead: The disembodied spirits of psychic energy which linger in the astral or return to animate their corpses. These are psionic undead, and all magic traits are changed to psionic traits.

Isomular: Ecology

The Ecology of Isomular


Isomular is a world with a diversity of strange ecologies. The Isomulii and other insectoid species reflect the most ancient of the ecological niches in the long history of this world, but there are a number of strange, reptilian species which are part of a more contemporary stretch of Isomular evolution, as well. Some Eldaran who are privy to the ancient lore suspect that the reptilians and amphibians of Isomular are part of a transplanted ecology, just like the Terran ecology created by the Architect.

When humans arrived, the machines of the Architect began to convert local materials in to a newly created ecosystem derived from Old Terra. The result was a fairly balanced ecology which immediately sought to insert itself in to Isomular’s own rough, predator-heavy ecology. The smaller mammals and beasts of man were better at avoiding predation, and were quick to spread. The result was a devastating shift in Isomular’s newly blended ecosystem, with a sudden dominance of the transplanted mammals. Many native herbivorous species on Isomular died out as small species such as rabbits, rodents, and birds fought for resources. The new species were cultivated by the Arechitect to be compatible with their new environment, even as the region was also seeded with Terran flora to further advance the terraforming process.

After nearly two-thousand years, few scholars can speak much of what the pre-Terran ecology was like. Isomular is now a blended ecosystem, with a strange balance between the insectoid, reptilian, and mammalian groups throughout the land. Some native beasts have still done well, such as Ankhegs, which are caught as young and raised as beasts of war and burden by both men and Isomulii. Likewise, horses and ponies are prized by both men and myrmidons, as well as other sentient species. A few strange niches have kept to their own. Except for the invasion of the mutated grimlocks, a human variant which survived the great journey of the Coral Ark in the deepest bowels of the vessel as beings hideously mutated by cosmic radiaton leeching through he Ark’s protective armor, most of the underground caverns and subterranean ruins of old still harbor a unique ecosystem unsullied by the presence of Terran lifeforms.

The following is a list of Isomular’s native life, as well as a short list of creatures which manifest that have a clear extraplanar origin, deriving from the Astral Realm. These beings from the astral definitely manifest from other dimensional planes and worlds, and some may even be beings from other civilizations on distant worlds which have discovered the secrets of planar gate travel.

When deciding if you want to use an existing creature for an Isomular campaign, consider that some beings which are of the “magical” type have that changed to the “psionic” type instead, and their special abilities are redefined as psionic abilities. This will mostly prove relevant in a cross-worlds campaign, in which real magic users appear in Isomular. Otherwise, assume all powers are psionic in nature.

Sentient, intelligent species are also note so as to provide a basis for those beings which are tribal, engage in civilization, trade, warfare, and communication. Some of these species are sentient, but due to numbers and interest are extremely isolated, but they are included anyway.

Special types of undead are found on Isomular. The undead are psionic manifestations, beings created when a strong psionic mind dies and retains an impression in the psionic energy which permeates the quantum strata of creation. Undead which are appropriate are listed below, and include both corporeal beings animated by a potent psionic presence (a possessing poltergeist) or incorporeal beings which have found a new level of existence in the Astral (a ghost of spirit). The understanding of psionic energy as a binding force of the universe has led psionic practitioners to identify death with transcendence in to deeper understanding of the universe. The afterlife, if it can be seen as such, is thought of as a form of ascension to an immaterial state, in which one joins with the forces of creation. Reincarnation is the return of that soul if it has not learned enough in its mortal journey, to be reborn as a new life. Undead appear when these spirits are unwilling to ascend or be reborn. A strange, reverse form of undead are called the soulless, mortal beings born without souls or psionic ability. These entities are anathema to psionicists, for they are immune to the powers of the mind and can never manifest such abilities, either. The soulless are strange, driven beings, and often outcast in some societies for their nature as anathema (see more on the feat which can be chosen to reflect a soulless character).

The Unbodied are psionic beings which have made and recalled the transition from death to psionic formlessness, and have learned to control this process to the point that they leave their mortal forms behind. Such beings are technically considered undead according to the description above, but they are also much, much more.

As a rule, any undead which is manifested through its own willpower, hatred, or other strong need or emotion is pemitted and considered a viable psionic entity. Undead which can only manifest through magical means or divine means do not exist on Isomular (mummies and skeletons, for example). A few corporal undead, such as ghouls and ghasts, do exist and are classified as undead by most advernturers, but are in fact human off-shoots who suffer from a terrible mutant disease that forces them to live lives as beast-like cannibals. Such undead are classified as “mutations.”

There are a great many different Terran-analog species among the insectoid fauna. Giant and varied sizes of scorpion, centipede, spider and other insects exist, though they are not biologically the same creatures as their Terran counterparts. Most of the human names for these things stem from their own titles, but the native Isomular name will be listed for such creatures in parentheses. These beings, while superficially similar to earth insects, have some startling differences, including stronger shells, larger brains and fully developed lungs with large mouths that extend proboscides for feeding along with mandibles of all sizes.

A small number of the creatures below are classified as “alien.” These beings are not native to Isomular, and clearly do not belong, but if they arrived by space or by the Astral realm, no one can say. Such beings are usually inimical to other life, have strange or unfathomable purposes and natures, and are often opposed to the Annunaki as well as humans and other native beings.