[G4] A Denobulan and A Fuzzy walk into a Starfleet Officer's Lounge....

[Qoltar]

Alright I'm asking yiu guys to suggest or suppoly a possible GURPS template for two alien races.
I plan on using these in my ongoing STAR TREK campaign that is 'powered by GURPS" (Qoltar-style).

The first race is the Denobulans - these are the folks introduced on "ST: ENTERPRISE". We did see a few other members of that race besides Dr. Phlox - both male and female representatives.

Here is the Memory Alpha article on them:
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Denobulan

The other race I want to 'work' into the game mostly as NPCs are the Fuzzies from the book 'Little Fuzzy' by H. Beam PIper (and its sequels). In my version of the TREK universe the Little Fuzzies were declared or ruled sentinent at least 100 years before the 'present' of the game campaing. The Fuizzies speak English/Federation Standard pretty darn good these days. They also sometimes apply for Starfleet Academy and make it through the ranks.

Wikipedia on "Little Fuzzy" :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fuzzy

Any advice guys?

- Ed C.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

Alright I'm asking yiu guys to suggest or suppoly a possible GURPS template for two alien races.
I plan on using these in my ongoing STAR TREK campaign that is 'powered by GURPS" (Qoltar-style).

- Ed C.

Looks pretty straightforward to me actually.

The first hing is to not worry about the natural evolution of Denobulans too much. During the arc with Dr. singh and his genetically "improved"
children Phlox said that Denobulans had used gengineering on their own race and had few problems.

Denobulans have Doesn't Sleep. The "Hibernate 6 days out of the year" thing probably doesn't merit a Quirk much less a Limitation. Add it as a Quirk if you like though.

"Blowfish Face" might be a Perk adding to Intimidation in limited situations.

Then there's a couple of levels of Super Climb and a Racial bonus to it.

There might be some level of Resistant to Bio-Nanomachines, either +3 or +8. Probably some Resitance to regualr Disease and perhaps a level of Extended Lifespan and/or Longevity. IMHO, EL1 and Longevity is right for Vulcans.

Hard to say about basic attributes. Phlox was terribly bright but we don't know how bright the janitors back on Denobula are so he could be a long way above racial average.

Logically the climbing demonstrated by the Denobulan scientists should merit improved ST and HT but there's little evidence otherwise of these things so we probably leave that to the Super Climb.

The other things about the Denobulans in the Memory Alpha article are 0 pt Features in Gurps.

You need Bio-tech to do Fuzzies, especially the Miniaturization table on p.63. By that table the Fuzzies are i/3rd scale and suggests that the appropriate ST for a Fuzzy should be 3 but thsi could be raied by a pt easily enough..

You might want to add the Feature "Fixed ST" as natural variation among Fuzzies isn't going to amount to much. I once saw a ST15 Ellyllon and it wasn't the sort of thing you want in a serious campaign.

If you were just shrinking a human he'd lose 2 pts of IQ but Fuzzies are at least as samrt as Humans. So don't lower IQ.

Fuzzies have Fur and Ultrasonic Speech (which includes Ultrasonic Hearing). Acute Hearing and/or boosted Per are fairly likely.

You might want to add some level of Manual Dexteity to represent the possible useful effects of the Fuzzies tiny fingers on fine work.

Finally I would add Unfazeable as when the fuzzies met people who were (to them) 18 feet tall and 10 TLs higher their response was not to crap in their nonexistant pants. There were also comments about onbe of the Company researchers trying to drive a Fuzzy insane and finding it impossible to do.

[chandley]

Jack Halloway puts Little Fuzzy at "1' sitting on his haunches, and between 15 and 20 pounds". Little Fuzzy (at least) shows remarkable deductive reasoning and problem solving, both in the original book and the reboot. IQ is easily on par with a 10 to 12 year old human, though education is lacking (and that will hurt GURPS IQ.) Biotech puts 2' at SM -3 and 20 lbs as SM -2. We'll be generous on height, Fuzzy Sapiens might actually stand 3' tall and Jack Halloway didnt exactly break out a tape measure. Biotech suggests ST -5 and IQ -1 for a 1/2 scale human, and thats probably bang on for a Fuzzy. Nothing to suggest bonuses to DX (outside individual variance). Zarthrustra Fuzzies probably qualify for a lens with HT +1 or +2, given the kind of brutally aggressive selection process they had to go through. Fuzzies from their homeworld are probably just HT +0. They are definitely Pitiable (thats nearly the whole point!), but probably are not any more generically good looking than would be accounted for by individual variance. Perception is very good. The reboot has them able to talk in a human hearable range with difficulty. I dont think Fuzzies quite qualify for Restricted Diet in a GURPS sense. They need titanium to breed successfully, but dont weaken and die if they are deprived of it. Just to include it, call it "Unusual Diet -80%", which puts Ti at [-6]. Some Zarathrustra Fuzzies probably have an Addiction to XT3 (aka Exteethree), but its not a racial thing, and homeworld native Fuzzies certainly do not.

Fuzzy Fuzzy Holloway Sapiens [-19]
SM -3, to 20lbs; Move -2 [-10]
ST -5 [-50], IQ -1 [-20], DX 0, HT +2 [20]
Per +5 [25]

Fur [1], Nightvision 5 [5], Pitiable [5],
Ultrasonic Speech [10], Disturbing Voice (Not when using Ultrasonic Speech) [-5].

Edits: Got rid of Ultrasonic hearing (included in Ultrasonic Speech, my bad) and Restricted Diet (at most a quirk). This is the SM -3/ST 5 compromise version.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Finally I would add Unfazeable as when the fuzzies met people who were (to them) 18 feet tall and 10 TLs higher their response was not to crap in their nonexistant pants. There were also comments about onbe of the Company researchers trying to drive a Fuzzy insane and finding it impossible to do.

Im not sure if that was a racial trait though. They freaked out about Damnthings and generally carried on in a way contrary to Unfazeable (which is "have emotions but dont generally show them, treat everyone with distant politeness"). A high Will for Zarathustra Fuzzies could be plausible, in the same sense as their higher HT. Being unable to drive Little Fuzzy insane might speak more to Little Fuzzy than to Fuzzies in general.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by chandley

Fuzzy Fuzzy Holloway Sapiens [-20]
SM -2, to 20lbs; Move -2 [-10]
ST -5 [-50], IQ -1 [-20], DX 0, HT +2 [20]
Per +5 [25]

Fur [1], Nightvision 5 [5], Pitiable [5], Ultrahearing [5],
Ultrasonic Speech [10], Disturbing Voice (Not when using Ultrasonic Speech) [-5],
Restricted Diet (Unusual Dietary Requirement -80%, Titanium) [-6].

As noted, Ultrasonic Speech _includes_ Ultrasonic Hearing. It says so plainly on B.94.

I hadn't thought of Pitiable but it's certainly possible.

I disagree about the height. I'm not 2 ft tall squatting on my haunches. I do agree about the weight though and it's quite likely that Fuzzies aren't built like tiny humans..

I disagree about the IQ. Fuzzies aren't uneducated in the books, they're just TL0. That wouldn't apply in your setting anyway. I see no reason to think that Fuzzies are any less potentially intellignet than Humans.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by chandley

Im not sure if that was a racial trait though. They freaked out about Damnthings and generally carried on in a way contrary to Unfazeable (which is "have emotions but dont generally show them, treat everyone with distant politeness"). A high Will for Zarathustra Fuzzies could be plausible, in the same sense as their higher HT. Being unable to drive Little Fuzzy insane might speak more to Little Fuzzy than to Fuzzies in general.

They didn't freak out about damnthings. They either hid or went and got a human to shoot them. Very, very rational. They maintained an efficient air-watch for harpies too.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

They didn't freak out about damnthings. They either hid or went and got a human to shoot them. Very, very rational. They maintained an efficient air-watch for harpies too.

We may just have a difference in interpretation on what Unfazeable means. Little Fuzzy doesnt treat people with a distant courtesy, nor are any of the Fuzzies immune to intimidation. A rational reaction to danger is not a case for or against Unfazeable, but running around the house screeching and mobbing each other certainly should be. I include Golden Dawn in canon, and racially Fuzzies in those stories are not Unfazeable.

Your right about Ultrahearing, missed that part. Adjust the template by 5 points. IQ -1 comes from being 1/2 sized. Im not married to it, but I didnt see any reason to pull it out either, extra brain mass has to be useful for SOMETHING, though whether that something translates to GURPS IQ is not a debate I have the energy to get into.

The height (and thus SM) is going to be tough. Artist renditions have them in the 2' range, if your willing to go with that, make em SM -3, but if the weight is at all accurate, I would leave ST at -5. 15-20lbs of living creature is roughly 5 HPs. Alternately, call Jack completely off base on the weight, but the stories as written have them heavier than 5 lbs, which is what SM -3 should put them at on a human scale. Im okay with them being heavy SM -3 though.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by chandley

I dont think Fuzzies quite qualify for Restricted Diet in a GURPS sense. They need titanium to breed successfully, but dont weaken and die if they are deprived of it.

Sounds like a quirk to me.

Luke

[panton41]

Originally Posted by chandley

They need titanium to breed successfully, but dont weaken and die if they are deprived of it.

For what it's worth titanium dioxide is a common food additive that makes food opaque white. At least at TL8 processed foods might provide enough to make it not be a "Restricted Diet."

[chandley]

Given Qoltar wants then in a Star Trek TL 12^ campaign and their original TL (either humans or homeworld fuzzies) is TL 9+, probably worth just naming it as a background feature. It played a big role in the lives of TL 0 Zarthustran Fuzzies, but beyond that...

Kind of sad at the weird point total that leaves the Racial package at... Damn pentaphilia!