Sparrial Variant

[combatmedic]

This is a modified and converted version of the Sparrial from Roleplayer/GURPS Aliens.




Sparrial 0 points

• SM -1 0
• ST -4 -40
• DX +2 40
• Fit 5
• Acute Taste/Smell +2 4
• Night Vision 4 lvls 4
• Empathy (sense based/smell -50%) 8
• Super Jump 1 lvl (requires Ready -10%) 9
• Disturbing Voice -10
• Kleptomania (SC 15) -7
• Greed (SC 15) -7
• Stubbornness -5
• Quirk: engages in frequent fortune-telling/divination activities -1



This is a pygmy variant on the race, a little smaller and weaker. These Sparials have very creepy, whispery voices (I was inspired by the Zoogs of HPL’s Dreamlands cycle). They place great stock in omens, portents, signs, magical cards and dice, and other such matters—and yet trickery with fortunetelling appears rife in their society. This may be related to the stealing and hiding games they play, another form of elaborate social competition. Human xeno-psychologists get headaches trying to figure them out, but the little pests seem to have a better grasp on Human psychology, if only in up close and personal situations.


Note: I have played down the Greed and Kleptomania. These traits are still very much present, but the aliens have better self-control than the official version.


the original from Roleplayer:

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Rolepla...Sparrials.html


I really like the way the head is drawn.


If -4 ST seems too harsh, I've got this other variant, small but wiry and strong for its size, but with more emphasize on snatching stuff than all around DX

• SM -1 0
• ST -3 -30
• DX +1 20
• Fit 5
• Acute Taste/Smell +2 4
• Night Vision 4 lvls 4
• Empathy (sense based/smell -50%) 8
• High manual DX 1 lvl 5
• perk: small claws, don't do more damage than a punch(scratches instead) 1
• perk: unusual training claw snatch +2 to snatch small items if claws would help (like cloth), fumbled roll may damage item 1
• Temperature Tolerance 1
• Perk: Fur 1
• Super Jump 1 lvl (requires Ready -10%) 9
• Disturbing Voice -10
• Kleptomania (SC 15) -7
• Greed (SC 15) -7
• Stubbornness -5
• Quirk engages in frequent fortune-telling/divination activities -1

[SCAR]

The Sparrials are one of the races in the 3rd Edition GURPS Aliens, and Eric did a Fourth Edition conversion (long time ago now) for all of those races which can be found here.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by SCAR

The Sparrials are one of the races in the 3rd Edition GURPS Aliens, and Eric did a Fourth Edition conversion (long time ago now) for all of those races which can be found here.

Yeah, thanks. :)

I've seen his excellent conversions. This is a variant.

One of my goals was to get point cost down to zero.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Looks good to me. I'd probably get rid of Requires Ready on Super Jump, as jumping is already kind of nerfed without any prep time. Shouldn't Sense-Based: Smell be -20%? Average ST 6 doesn't seem like that big of a disadvantage in a high-tech setting; these guys are actually way more dangerous than the average Human if they both have rayguns, with higher Speed, better senses, and a smaller target profile. Not that I'd change that; just comparing with ST 7 on the other version.

I'm not seeing the point of the no-damage-bonus Claw Perk on version #2 unless it also serves as a prerequisite for some other types of Unusual Training that aren't listed. Otherwise, why not just roll both of those into one Perk that gives them +2 to grab certain types of objects if one doesn't do anything but enable the other and they all have both? Or is the "scratching" aspect useful in some ways (eg: as a reliable writing implement?)

I'm having trouble picturing how a society where everybody is a Stubborn Kleptomaniac would function. Without the Stubbornness, sure, they have a somewhat fluid concept of property rights, but in combination I'm not seeing how a lot of work gets done between the constant attempts at (mostly surreptitious) property-recovery between people adamant that something belongs to them...

[Dammann]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

I'm having trouble picturing how a society where everybody is a Stubborn Kleptomaniac would function. Without the Stubbornness, sure, they have a somewhat fluid concept of property rights, but in combination I'm not seeing how a lot of work gets done between the constant attempts at (mostly surreptitious) property-recovery between people adamant that something belongs to them...

Yeah, I might think that was worth some Low TL and Social Stigma (Space Thieves) to afford a bit higher ST.

[combatmedic]

Stubborn might be a legacy feature. I'll probably do another version and nix it.

[combatmedic]

Here's a stripped down version without Stubborn:


SM -2 0

• ST -4 -40
• DX +1 20
• Fit 5
• Discriminatory Smell (emotion sense +50%) 23
• Night Vision 7 lvls 7
• Super Jump 10
• Disturbing Voice -10
• Kleptomania (SC 15) -7
• Greed (SC 15) -7
• Quirk engages in frequent fortune-telling/divination activities -1


This version has better night vision and much better sense of smell, but not quite as nimble and fast (still faster and nimbler than an average human).
I made this one SM -2. Small, but that makes the 6 ST look fairly good. These critters are wiry.

In this version the claws are vestigial, 0 points. The sleek fur is also just a cosmetic effect.


Low TL may be common, as may Bed Rep. But I'll worry about that when I fit them into a setting.


AND YET ANOTHER VERSION, this one without Greed or Stubborn


• ST -4 -40
• DX +1 20
• Fit 5(Anybody think I should swap this for High Manual DX?)

• Acute Smell/Taste 2 lvls 4
• Empathy (smell-based- 20%) 12
• Night Vision 7 lvls 7
• Super Jump 10
• Disturbing Voice -10
• Kleptomania (SC 15) -7
• Quirk engages in frequent fortune-telling/divination activities -1


Dropping Greed means they steal for social/psychological reasons unrelated to filthy luchre, which seems to fit that fluid concept of property.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

I like #4 the best so far, though I'd drop Fit, Acute Taste/Smell, and 2 levels of Night Vision from it (or maybe some combination of that plus a species-wide Bad Rep - nobody will fully trust a species whose every member has light fingers) to get back full Discriminatory Smell w/Empathy from version #3. You might as well get the extras if you're spending that much on smell and smell-based Empathy already IMHO, and the ability to recognize who has handled an object by smelling it could play into the whole non-profit-based stealing thing if they're doing it to count coup on each other or something like that. Bob isn't just telling you the cellphone he's showing you came from Steve's pocket, you know it's Steve's as soon as it's in front of you...

That makes me picture an example of how Kleptomania without Greed or Stubbornness would make for a more-functional society:

Steve: Aw man, somebody stole my phone again! I've got all my business contacts in there, and the conference call is in five minutes! How do we get anything done in this society? I'm telling you, the whole world is crazy, man.

Dave: Hey, I just sniffed your phone on Bob at the watercooler. It's definitely yours.

Steve: Awesome, thanks... Hey, Bob! Can I borrow my phone..?

Bob: Sure, but I want it back; I've got all my business contacts in there...

[combatmedic]

Hmmm, that might work.

Thanks for the feedback (that goes for everybody).

[johndallman]

David Morgan-Mar's website has an entertaining write-up of his space campaign, featuring a Sparrial whose player really seemed to have got the hang of the species.