GURPS: TREK - THE UNAUTHORIZED SOURCEBOOK SECOND EDITION - SECOND PRINTING --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION FIVE C - ALIENS - PART THREE --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- This section includes some Aliens for use in a Trek campaign. These races are all presented as NPC's due to their inclusion in the animated episodes. GM's should be aware that some fans do not consider the animated episodes to be "canon". GM's who do not want to use characters from those stories should ignore this section. In addition, I have included one additional race of my own creation. The "Histah" are included here so that prospective GM's can see an example of how to create new races. The "Histah" should be considered to be copyright by myself. I hereby give permission to use them, provided that credit is given to me as their creator. I reserve the right to use them as a money-making venture. Should anyone desire to use them in this manner, please contact me at the e-mail address below. Any comments about this section should be sent to: tmp_harkins@dirac.physics.jmu.edu "Mr. B." GURPS: Trek - Section Five C - Aliens - Part Three - is Copyright (c) May 1996. See GURPS: Trek - Section One B - General - Part Two - Overview for more information. --------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ------------------ Argoans Aurelians Histah Kaferians Phylosians Saurians =============================================================== ARGOAN (+70 Points) ------------------- Attributes: ----------- ST: +1 (+10) HT: +2 (+20) Advantages: ----------- Amphibious (+10) Dark Vision (+25) Enhanced Move: Swim (+10) Nictating Membrane - One level (+10) Pressure Support - Three levels (+15) Disadvantages: -------------- Appearance: Unattractive (-5) Dependency: Water - Daily (-15) Intolerance: Air Breathers (-10) Quirks: ------- (no racial) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Language: Aquan at IQ (0) Swimming at DX (0) DESCRIPTION: ------------ Natives to the planet Argo (what we call Argoans) call themselves Aquans. They are water breathing humanoid bipeds with webbed hands and feet, several fins, and green hair. They have a prominent dorsal fin which starts on the crown of the forehead and runs back through the scalp and down the back as far as the small of the back. They also have fins on both of their lower legs and both of their lower arms. Their gills are in their necks. They can see very well under the water, having developed nictating membranes that allows them as much visual ability underwater as they had on land. They can live at a reasonably great depth underwater, and can swim like fish. Argoans can live for up to an entire day on land, but must return to water each day for one hour, or they begin to suffer dehydration. This is indicated by their dependency on water once per day. Most Argoans (Aquans) hate airbreathers. The few that do not hate them still dislike them. Argo is not currently a member of the Federation. Argoans are creatures of science. Once their civilization lived on the land, just like Terrans. A planet-wide catastrophe caused virtually all the land to sink under the waves. Aquan scientists developed a serum that would change their race permanently into water breathers, and administered it to all the population in time to save the civilization. This was hundreds, if not thousands of years ago in Aquan history. Now they are all at home in the sea, and blame air breathers (in essence, their ancestors) for the planetary calamity that overtook them. The Federation has had only one contact with Argoans, and have placed a quarantine on the world to protect both the citizens of the world from unwanted contact from air breathers and to protect their world from unscrupulous traders wishing to capitalize on the Argoan's advanced scientific techniques. The Aquans, on their part, are quite glad not to have any unnecessary contact from air breathers. --------------------------------------------------------------- AURELIANS (+51 Points) ---------------------- Attributes: ----------- ST: +1 (+10) DX: +2 (+20) Advantages: ----------- Acute Vision - 2 levels (+4) Polarized Eyes (+5) Winged Flight (+30) Disadvantages: -------------- Fragile (-20) Quirks: ------- (no racial) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Flight at DX (+2) Language: Aurelian at IQ (0) DESCRIPTION: ------------ Aurelians are winged bipedal humanoids from the planet Aurelia in the star system Hercules. Their wingspan extends to about 10 feet, and they are excellent aerialists. Aurelians are very graceful creatures apparently descended from birds. They live in mountainous regions of their world, building their homes in caves that they excavate themselves. They are excellent workers in stone, and some have become famous throughout the Federation for their finely executed sculptures. Aurelians have feathers on their wings as well as their elbows, knees, chest, and lower torso. They are about as tall as an average to tall Terran. Their bones are hollow, with many cavities which serve the dual purpose of making the bones lighter, but stronger. Their bone structure is still considered delicate by Federation standards. They are very interested in history, especially Federation history, and make excellent additions to any corps of scientists and/or historians. --------------------------------------------------------------- HISTAH (+78 Points) -------------------- Attributes: ----------- ST: +2 (+20) HT: +2 (+20) Advantages: ----------- Claws - One level (+2 damage) (+15) Combat Reflexes (+15) Damage Resistance - One level (+1 DR) (+3) Danger Sense (+15) Enhanced Move (+10) Extended Lifespan - One level (+5) Longevity (+5) Nictating Membrane (+5) Peripheral Vision (+15) Strong Will - One level (+1 WP) (+4) Temperature Tolerance - Heat Only (+6) Disadvantages: -------------- Appearance: Unattractive (-5) Code of Honor - Histah (-15) (Protect Family / Honor Tribe / Respect Elders / Defend Clan Honor / Believe their race "better") Enemies: Personal (-10) Odious Personal Habit: Prefers Live Food (-5) Sense of Duty - Family/Tribe/Elders/Clan/Race (-20) Vulnerability (-5) (Psionic use nearby by others causes them mild headaches) Quirks: ------- (no racial) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Language: Histah at IQ (0) DESCRIPTION: ------------ Histah look like an evolved form of the Terran dinosaur, Velociraptor. They are from an Earth-like world on the other side of the Federation from the Klingons and/or Romulans. Their star is slightly larger than Sol, and their planet is virtually all tropical in nature, except at the poles, where the climate is moderate. The gravity is Terran normal. Full grown Histah are about 2.5 meters in height. On their head is a tall, fin-like dorsal ridge that extends through the center of the scalp and down the back to the base of the spine. They have sharp teeth and claws, and a large tail that is longer than their legs. They have three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand, and three claws and one dew claw on each foot. Their reptilian appearance distracts most humanoids. Histah reflexes are sharper than normal Terran reflexes, and they can move quickly for a creature of their size and weight. Their skin provides extra protection from damage. They have nictating membranes to protect their eyes from extremes of light. Their eyes are on opposite sides of their head, giving them peripheral vision in addition to forward vision. They are used to a hot climate, and do not like cold. They have a second sense for dangerous situations. They live much longer than average, and have a very strong will. Despite their Danger Sense advantage, they do not like psionic individuals. They react at -2 to anyone that they know (or find out) has psionic abilities. Their Danger Sense reacts to psionic use with "psychic static" causing mental discomfort. Other crewmembers with psionic abilities can use their powers outside their range of "psychic effects". Their Danger Sense also functions in the regular manner. Histah once had a very violent society, with a lot of fighting between families, tribes, and clans. In addition, they had to overcome other predators on their homeworld. Over time, this feuding was replaced with a desire to excel in fields like science, business, or engineering. This was not an overnight conversion, but started with a single family and spread slowly; first to the rest of their tribe, then to the rest of their clan, and finally to the entire race. This has continued up to the current time. Their Code of Honor devotes them to family first, tribe second, clan third, and race fourth. They still have some clan, tribal, and family feuds, although these have mostly been changed to the "We can do better than you" stage. These feuds are best represented by the Enemy disadvantage. "Enemies" frequently take the form of a different clan, tribe, or family. They also have close ties to the Histah race. Given the choice between anything and another Histah, a Histah always chooses another Histah first. Their Sense of Duty acts to reinforce this. The interrelationships between family, tribe, clan, and race are considered by Federation historians to be similar to Terran Native Americans. Histah society is now exploration/colonization based. They have finally reached the borders of the Federation. They have several dozen systems under their control, called the Collective. Strangely enough, Histah never had encountered any other intelligent races up to the point when their border met the Federation. The Histah and the Federation are tentatively investigating a union of their borders, in a compact similar to the Klingon peace treaty. This is the first time in Federation history that an intelligent race has contacted them first. Histah have a three-part name. The example we will use is: Barshen'kas Li'Ar Shan'hadar. (This is pronounced: Bars- hen-khas Lee-Arr Shan-ha-dar.) The first part is really more like a planetary rank than a name. The "Bars" section shows that this individual has been decorated by the government of the Histah more than once. One decoration is indicated by "Bar". No "Bar" or "Bars" would indicate no decorations. The decorations are not given by the Histah government easily or lightly. It is considered a great honor to be decorated once. More than once indicates an exceptional individual. The "Hen'kas" is a rank, in this case close to our "Captain". The "Li'Ar" is similar to our first name. The example would allow friends to call him "Lee", but only in private. The "Shan'Hadar" is a combination of a family and a tribal name, with the "Shan" being the family name, and the "Hadar" being the Tribal name. Clans are indicated by decorations on their clothing or bodies. Histah prefer to eat their food live, but have made small concessions in their diet since their meetings with the Federation First Contact teams. Even so, their preference for eating food raw and/or alive is still considered to be an Odious Racial Habit. --------------------------------------------------------------- KAFERIAN (+65 Points) --------------------- Attributes: ----------- ST: +1 (+10) Advantages: ----------- Claws - 1 level (+15) Damage Resistance - Two levels (+2 DR) (+6) Peripheral Vision (+15) Secret Communication (+20) Disadvantages: -------------- Appearance: Unattractive (-5) Quirks: ------- (no racial) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Bio-Engineering at IQ (+4) Language: Kaferian at IQ (0) DESCRIPTION: ------------ Kaferians are insectoid-based bipedal humanoids about the same height as a normal Terran. Their heads are the most insectoid part of their bodies. They are natives of Tau Ceti. They have a hard chitinous exoskeleton. Their eyes are located on opposite sides of their heads, giving them peripheral vision, which does not limit their forward vision. Their feet split into two toes - a larger and a smaller - with some extremely limited manipulative ability. They have a protruding spinal ridge, giving them a slightly hunchbacked appearance. If they ever had wings, they were attached here, but Kaferians are no longer a winged species. They make their homes out of native materials mixed with a natural secretion from their bodies which combines to create a very light, but very strong and durable building material capable of supporting structures hundreds of feet tall. Kaferians are virtually natural geneticists. They export many bio-engineered plants and animals that have been modified for demanding climates and conditions. They are renowned for this genetic engineering throughout most of known space. It is believed that Kaferian scientists are responsible for the Klingon Tribble predator, known as a "glommer". Kaferia is not a member of the Federation (otherwise they could not engage in the trade mentioned above) but they have been a staunch ally of the Federation for over 200 years. --------------------------------------------------------------- PHYLOSIAN (+25 Points) ---------------------- Attributes: ----------- (no racial) Advantages: ----------- Independently Focusable Eyes (+15) Extra Arms (total of 5) (+30) Extra Flexibility in Arms (+10) Extra Legs (total of 5) (+10) Disadvantages: -------------- Appearance: Ugly (-10) Dying Race (-10) Pacifism (-15) Vow: Wants to be Galactic Policemen (-5) Quirks: ------- (no racial) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Language: Phylosian at IQ (0) DESCRIPTION: ------------ Phylosians are intelligent plants with five arms, each having an upper and lower pincer, five legs, a tree-trunk-like torso, and a head similar in appearance to a large pine cone with independent eye stalks. They are from the planet Phylos in the Merari system, which has an abundance of plant life, but no animal life of any kind. Federation scientists speculate that the plants evolved into the ecological gap made by the total absence of animals. They do not like conflict, and have a strong racial desire to serve the Federation as galactic peace keepers. Fortunately, the Phylosians must first overcome their own problems. The Phylosian race is dying. Contamination in the form of Staphylococcus brought plague to the planet - a plague against which the Phylosians had no defense. The remaining Phylosians have been rendered sterile by the plague, but a Federation team is currently working with them to eliminate this barrier. --------------------------------------------------------------- SAURIANS (+97 Points) --------------------- Attributes: ----------- ST: +4 (+45) HT: +4 (+45) Advantages: ----------- Hard to Kill - 1 level (+10) Disadvantages: -------------- Obsession: Theology (-5) Quirks: ------- Possess Elaborate Names (-1) Skills: ------- Area Knowledge: (Homeworld) at IQ (0) Artistic Ability at IQ (+1) Language: Saurian at IQ (0) Musical Ability at IQ (+1) Theology at IQ (+1) DESCRIPTION: ------------ The natives of Sauria are a reptilian bipedal humanoid race. They have reddish skin and oversized yellow eyes. They have three fingers and one opposable thumb on each hand, and three toes on each foot. There is a vestigial webbing between their fingers and toes. Neither the lack of a fourth finger nor the vestigial webbing affect their fine manipulation skills. Saurians have four separate and distinct hearts, which gives them the Hard to Kill advantage, and makes them very strong and durable. They are about as tall as an average Terran. The native language of Saurians is sung, not spoken, and is considered a very difficult (if not impossible) language to learn by non-Saurians. Conversely, however, they do not have any trouble learning most Federation languages, including Federation Standard. They excel at artistic and musical endeavours. All Saurians have both Artistic and Musical ability inbred. Quite a few Saurians have become quite famous in the Federation for their talents. Their production of Saurian Brandy is considered an art form. ===============================================================