[Aliens]"...solitary giant predator caterpillars. Civilization wasn't easy for us"

vicky_molokh · 12-11-2010, 05:16 PM

Greetings, all!

In preparation to my space campaign (90% based on Star Control 2/3), I'm trying to convert the race description into a GURPS template (with minor changes for playability where absolutely necessary). The title is a paraphrased and shortened quote regarding the race's physiology, ecological niche and history. I'm trying to fit them into GURPS Space terms, and I'll be noting my success so far. If anybody's interested in commenting on the possible corrections, additions and/or possibilities, I'd be glad to hear it (including any possible answers to the questions in the post).

Chemical Basis: While there doesn't seem to be much explicit proof, this being SC, it is reasonable to assume that lifeforms with no 'exotic' basis mentioned are water-based.

Habitat: Their manner of hanging upside down in their spaceships seems to indicate a brachiating or similar locomotion capability, which in turn suggests a Jungle, Woodland or some sort of cave environment. Since by their accounts, the local lifeforms were plentiful and aggressive, I suspect Jungle might be the best guess available.

Trophic Level and Strategy: They're canonically carnivorous, compared to the Hawaiian carnivore caterpillars in this aspect (I assume that means 'refuses to eat foliage even if starving'). Again, their manner of hanging on to something seems like a hint towards Trapper or at least Pouncer. Trapper also seems to fit well with their territoriality. Hijacker is likely an occasional alternative, but definitely not the primary, given the mention of even larger/stronger lifeforms. They get Restricted Diet, right?

Mobility: They're definitely climbers to some extent. I suppose, given that they have no less than 4 pairs of limbs, and no less than 3 of those pairs can be used as legs of sort, that they can walk like terran caterpillars, though they prefer climbing. Brachiator, or even Clinging seems to be highly appropriate. If they're Trappers, though, Super Climbing seems to be a waste. Are there any more reasons choosing one way or another?

Size: Human descriptions put them at 10 yards long / 2 yards wide, but I think this can be written off as an exaggeration and/or misremembering one's moments of great fear. I think SM+0 to SM+2 is more manageable (Racial ST bonus in a space campaign? Looks like a waste of points to me, though I understand there are exceptions).

Symmetry: Definitely bilateral.

Number of limbs: 4 arms on the front-most segment (there seems to be some claim that 2 of them are occasionally used as supports, not manipulators); 4 legs (maybe more - it is not quite clear) on the rear-most segment. Gets a bit complicated by not having much more than a portrait in the official sources. Should this reduce Control Room Multitasking Penalties?

Tails: none found or mentioned.

Skeleton: either Hydrostatic or Exoskeleton seem more appropriate.

Skin/Covering: Skin or soft exoskeleton seem appropriate, based on pictures. There is a mention of some sort of 'retractable sheath', but no detail beyond the mention of those two words in a sentence (it is implied that this sheath of some sort retracts when they experience fear or pain - what can it even be?).

Breathing: Lungs of some sort, though I suppose they could be duplicated in larger numbers than in humans, distributed throughout the segments; there also doesn't seem to be any reason to assume their breathing tracts go through the mouth, aside from the almost explicit statement of panspermia in the setting.

Temperature regulation: it seems that with a size of anywhere between 2 and 10 yards (i.e. anywhere from the 'reported' length to the 'playable' one), one can get away with being cold-blooded (and not being GURPS Cold-Blooded). Are tropic (warm) jungles the only plausible habitat where climbing is a primary method of locomotion (and thus we can assume yearly temperature to stay relatively high)? What other evolutionary reasons exist for higher likeliness of warm or cold blood?

Growth: pretty much any is likely. Metamorphosis fits with the caterpillar theme (though they definitely do not have a butterfly adult form as the end goal), and is a bit more likely if they have an actual exoskeleton. Molting, likewise. No reason for not having continual growth. And, finally, presence of segmentation allows for the idea of growth adding segments.

Reproduction:
Sexual arrangement: canonically, they definitely have sex. There also is a statements which puts them into the two sexes group of species. Also, it seems like Sex Appeal is their most handy social skill, since they are explicitly stated to originally interact between each other almost exclusively for sex and reproduction. See below.

Gestation:
I assume that mention of 'reproduction' being listed as the other of the two most common social interactions (the other being sex), should be read as implying a K-strategy of some sort. In fact, I have a difficulty envisioning a civilization of loners maintain its civilization if they don't spend much time upbringing and teaching their children. So, Spawning is right out. Live-bearing or egg-laying both seem reasonable, though people seem to prefer egg-laying. Are there objective reasons why we might exclude or prefer one of the two?

Strategy: As I mentioned above, a strong or moderate K-strategy seems to be implied. While completely not grounded in canon, I'm considering the idea of always having 2 children, one left with the male, one with the female (the race doesn't seem to have a concept of pair-bonding).

Primary Sense: being carnivorous and climbing, as well as having 6 eyes (3 large, 3 small) just on the head (not sure about the rest of the body) strongly implies that vision is the primary sense.

Vision: being carnivorous climbers is an incentive for good vision; Normal Vision seems the most obvious choice. They have eyelids of some sort, but given their pictures, it is unclear if they have faceted eyes and/or nictitating membranes over their eyes - they don't look like they have the human differentiation between pupil/iris/white. It is unclear if them being predators predisposes them to Infravision. Right now I'm about to leave them with Normal Vision, but what are the possible reasons for having either of the two options, and the consequences faceted (insectoid) eyes for large creatures?

Hearing: no much evidence either way, nor any modifiers, so left at Normal.

Touch: trapping carnivore (+1), but possibly with an exoskeleton (possible -2). Leaving at normal too, though I suppose Vibration Sense (without Acute Touch +4) might have been handy in their hunting days. Wonder why Space doesn't allow Vibration sense without Acute Touch normally.

Taste/Smell: trapping carnivore and sexual reproduction cancel each other out. Normal, I guess.

Special Senses: reasonable candidates seem to be Night Vision, Detect Heat/Infravision (mentioned above), and, surprisingly, Perfect Balance.

Special abilities: claws/talons and poison are a possibility, with the mention of 'oozing talons', though there isn't a canonical mention of actual use of either, so it might be an exaggeration (like calling human fingernails claws).

(continued in next post)

vicky_molokh · 12-11-2010, 05:16 PM

Alien Minds

Intelligence: +1 for strong K-strategy (likely). Either way, they seem average or slightly above-average.

Mating behavior: mating only; maaaybe, just maybe, a very short-term temporary pair bond, and even that is likely an exception.

Social Organization: potentially down to -3 of modifiers, and they're canonically extreme Loners. So, Solitary. Makes sense in context.

Chauvinism: -1 from being Solitary/pair-bonding. Canon is a bit ambiguous in this regard: on one hand, they are known for their xenophobic behavior, but supposedly it is triggered more by their territoriality; on the other hand, even in the period when they tried to conquer or destroy all other sapients (they had rather well-founded excuses for that), they were surprisingly tolerant, to the point of recommending others to perform their culturally appropriate rituals before death; on the third hand, at that period they also made a point of never communicating with other species except by using a translator/interpreter. How this is best expressed in GURPS?

Concentration: +1 for K-strategy. For a Trapper, I think Patience of Job seems appropriate (even though Space is silent about it). Canon also strongly implies that they have High Pain Threshold (some of them spent months under the influence of constant Agony affliction while fighting for freedom!). Would it be reasonable to focus Single-Minded on the process of waiting for prey to trap/etc.?
Also, canonically they seem predisposed towards being fanatical or obsessive about some central idea or principle. I think Obsession is the most fitting cultural add-on to their concentration.

Curiosity: +1 for K-strategy. Nosy at most. There doesn't seem to be much reason to make them more curious than average.

Egoism: +1 for Solitary and +1 for K-strategy. Canonically, they are very much so. Selfish seems wholly appropriate, of the 'strict code of etiquette, lest you lose your head' sort.

Empathy: Solitary and K-strategy cancel each other out. Canon mentions them being emotionally sensitive (as in, vulnerable), which seems unusual. The gene-modified Kohr-Ah strain definitely seems to be Callous and have Bloodlust, but this might be more cultural/philosophical than genetic. I think leaving empathy at +0 makes sense.

Gregariousness: forget the modifiers, these fellas have Loner at (9) or even (6). Actually, 6 is more likely.

Imagination: K-strategy says +1. I being Versatile will make their technological ascension easier, since they don't get as much use of collective research and lab assistants as humans do. Sure, Egoism at +3 kinda conflicts with that, but I think it makes sense. (I'm leaving the green strain Versatile, and assume that the Kohr-Ah had it removed as 'useless'.)

Suspicion: -1 for Carnivore, -1 for size (maybe - size is relative); +1 for being solitary. Canonically, they're pretty suspicious, just not all that likely to flee right away. If anything, their suspicion manifests in methodical work towards safeguarding their future - actually this is how they got to the idea of destroying other sapients in the second war (and, ironically, how they got to the radical change of course in just a decade). I'd say that's about equivalent to the Careful quirk.

Playfulness: +1/+2 for K-strategy, +1 for IQ, and -1 for being solitary, -1 for the 'compared to humans' modifier. Guess there's no reason to assign traits here.

Well now, the first phase seems over. In my opinion, Space can be used to map stats onto fluff quite well.

One more thing that I'm curious about:
Given this write-up, the 'fact' that they were around TL9 when they first met other sapients (and immediately got into several conflicts due to their instinctive first reactions, until they realized nobody wants to exterminate them), and that they became to alpha predator of their planet through technology, how would one extrapolate the actual emergence of technological civilization of this species?
The fluff history is very short on the pre-starfaring period, and focuses on their difficult and error-filled attempts to enter the interstellar community and what happened after, so extrapolation is all that can be done at this point.

Thanks in advance and thanks for reading this far!

Kissamies · 12-11-2010, 06:24 PM

'Kill the interloper! Rip out its life!' They are fiercely territorial and xenophobic, all right. I agree most of what you have done. Remember that in the game they have captain names like Master 36 or Death 111, which could imply a strict hierarchy, which would fit their territorial nature.

It's hard to ascertain the actual shape and size of the creature because there is no canonical full picture of it. The best I can tell from pictures it should probably be 1:5 ratio at least and ratio at least. A in a manual picture the face is larger than a Spathi, but we don't know how large a Spathi is, probably small. Personally I'd go for +2 or +3 from what is implied, but it's very subjective.

vicky_molokh · 12-11-2010, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kissamies

'Kill the interloper! Rip out its life!' They are fiercely territorial and xenophobic, all right. I agree most of what you have done. Remember that in the game they have captain names like Master 36 or Death 111, which could imply a strict hierarchy, which would fit their territorial nature.

They have names as shown in SC3. Those numbers are their numbers in the line of succession for the (I think) topmost military officer in their fleet (probably only the current fleet, since having #3 of the whole race on an important yet extremely small expedition is weird). Of course, the game only has up to 1000 'Masters', which is silly with the size of their sphere of influence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kissamies

It's hard to ascertain the actual shape and size of the creature because there is no canonical full picture of it. The best I can tell from pictures it should probably be 1:5 ratio at least and ratio at least. A in a manual picture the face is larger than a Spathi, but we don't know how large a Spathi is, probably small. Personally I'd go for +2 or +3 from what is implied, but it's very subjective.

As I mentioned, humans say they're 10 yards long, but that's what they say. At this rate they would do better sending space marines, Orz-style, than piloting those silly fighters who die in one hit (unlike marines).

Dinadon · 12-11-2010, 07:17 PM

Right, let's start with some things from your first post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Trophic Level and Strategy: They're canonically carnivorous, compared to the Hawaiian carnivore caterpillars in this aspect (I assume that means 'refuses to eat foliage even if starving'). Again, their manner of hanging on to something seems like a hint towards Trapper or at least Pouncer. Trapper also seems to fit well with their territoriality. Hijacker is likely an occasional alternative, but definitely not the primary, given the mention of even larger/stronger lifeforms. They get Restricted Diet, right?

I'm inclined to go with no, if only because I can't find an animal template with it on that isn't mythological. I'm also fairly certain cat and dog kibble isn't fresh meat, despite both being carnivores. Anyway, it sounds more like they won't eat plants, not can't so it seems a little moot.

Quote:

Number of limbs: 4 arms on the front-most segment (there seems to be some claim that 2 of them are occasionally used as supports, not manipulators); 4 legs (maybe more - it is not quite clear) on the rear-most segment. Gets a bit complicated by not having much more than a portrait in the official sources. Should this reduce Control Room Multitasking Penalties?

Only if their minds are capable of it. Just because you can coordinate lots of limbs doesn't mean you think about two things at once. It's the latter that I feel is more important inside a control room.

Quote:

So, Spawning is right out. Live-bearing or egg-laying both seem reasonable. Are there objective reasons why we might exclude or prefer one of the two?

I wouldn't say spawning is right out. If the young aren't seen as food or interlopers, then it's possible for them to hang around an adult.

As for eggs vs live, being pregnant isn't easy on the mother and makes it vulnerable. Eggs simply mean that there is a location the mother protects, the mother herself isn't really weakened for any significant length of time.

Quote:

Strategy: As I mentioned above, a strong or moderate K-strategy seems to be implied. While completely not grounded in canon, I'm considering the idea of always having 2 children, one left with the male, one with the female (the race doesn't seem to have a concept of pair-bonding).

Bears are solitary, K-strategy and don't form pair-bonding. The mother raises the cubs on her own. Solitary big cats are probably another good place to look.

Quote:

Vision: being carnivorous climbers is an incentive for good vision; Normal Vision seems the most obvious choice. They have eyelids of some sort, but given their pictures, it is unclear if they have faceted eyes and/or nictitating membranes over their eyes - they don't look like they have the human differentiation between pupil/iris/white. It is unclear if them being predators predisposes them to Infravision. Right now I'm about to leave them with Normal Vision, but what are the possible reasons for having either of the two options, and the consequences faceted (insectoid) eyes for large creatures?

A faceted eye gives you more receptors, letting you notice small changes easily. Some form of Enhanced Time Sense might be plausible at the extreme. Acute Vision would be the minimum. If these are like insect eyes, Ultravision might be appropriate as I think insects can see further at that end. Realistic Infravision requires dedicated senses for the task, but targets that can be picked out from the background temperature is an important necessity.

I don't know enough about insect eyes to know how they respond to damage, poking them in the eye may knock out the facets you poked, making them harder to blind that way.

Mark Skarr · 12-11-2010, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

As I mentioned, humans say they're 10 yards long, but that's what they say. At this rate they would do better sending space marines, Orz-style, than piloting those silly fighters who die in one hit (unlike marines).

Ur-Quan do not pilot the fighters. There's only one Kzer-Za per dreadnaught. They use talking pets to fly their fighters. They couldn't care less about them.

Kissamies · 12-11-2010, 07:29 PM

Yes, there is just one Ur-Quan per Dreadnought, rest of the crew is slaves, including the fighter pilots. Of course, in SC3 they'd all have to be Ur-Quan, but SC3 is not canon for the most.

vicky_molokh · 12-12-2010, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

Ur-Quan do not pilot the fighters. There's only one Kzer-Za per dreadnaught. They use talking pets to fly their fighters. They couldn't care less about them.

I heard the story that they use their Battle Thralls for pilots, but Dnyarri? Don't remember them being used for anything except translation. In fact, I don't think talking pets were any good for anything other than translation. (And wonder why there aren't any in SC3.)
Anyway, not only is there the somewhat disliked canon of SC3*, there's the issue that they had space flight long before the doctrinal wars. Do you really believe they were all one-man (err, one-Quan) ships?
The Dyarri idea certainly explains how they could exterminate the Sentient Milleu with one-Quan ships, though.

* == My campaign took some of the major ideas of SC3, so I'll have to at least give it a nod. In fact, I don't see the story told through SC3 to be all that bad - it's just that it's less interactive and the Syreen puppets are ugly. :)

vicky_molokh · 12-12-2010, 05:37 AM

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