[Space] [Templates] Really Alien Aliens II: Empire of Pain

SydneyFreedberg · 08-12-2022, 12:11 PM

Spitslugs
Dull-witted, acid-spitting invertebrates with superb fine-motor skills

Description:

Spoiler:

Spitslugs are the most numerous slave race of the Fomori Empire, performing every kind of artisanal and technical work with their dextrous tentacles. A few — perhaps 10% of the race’s total population — live outside Fomori rule, most of them also working as technicians.
Spitslugs resemble Earth slugs, with two prominent eyestalks and long, vermiform bodies; like all animals on their planet, they are invertebrates. They do, however, have limbs: ten short tentacles, arranged in two sets of five on either side of the forebody, which collectively give the average Spitslug the grasping ability of a two-armed creature but with much greater fine-motor control. This “manual” dexterity, a tremendous physical resilience, and sheer stubborn determination are the race’s primary assets.
However, Spitslugs have poor large-motor skills, lower average intelligence than most sapient species, and by some measures less imagination than any other starfaring race. Until they made contact with other sapients, Splitslugs had no concept of humor, fiction, or deliberate falsehood, and they still struggle with these concepts. Most scholars attribute these traits to the lack of competition on the Spitslug homeworld, where few animals were faster or larger, and none more intelligent.
Spitslugs are omnivores, whose jungle ancestors got most of their meat by scavenging; their ability to shoot acid probably evolved to drive rival scavengers away from choice carcasses. Spitslugs have two sexes, but with negligible differences between them. The females give live birth to tiny young, a few inches long and totally blind, who require even more care than infant humans and spend most of their early years riding on the backs of adult relatives. Spitslugs naturally live in tribal bands of 20 to 50 members, whose members mate more or less indiscriminately among themselves and raise their young collectively.
The Spitslugs were stone-age hunter-gatherer-scavengers when the Trinoc Empire made contact with them. Fortunately, it was late enough in Trinoc history for the Empire to have largely given up on genocide and learned to exploit intelligent species as thralls instead. The Trinocs were impressed by the Spitslugs’ dexterous tentacles, doggedness, and lack of any imagination to make trouble, so they bred them as workers, taught them technology, and spread them throughout the spinward provinces of the Empire. The Spitslugs were grateful to be lifted out of their uncertain pre-agricultural existence and revered their new masters’ intelligence and creativity.
But other subject races looked down on the Spitslugs, who resented them in return — especially the Teceti, a clever, rodent-like race that effectively ran the economy in the spinward region and ruthlessly exploited Spitslug labor. When Trinoc rule began to fragment, the Spitslugs stayed loyal longer than most other subject species. When the Trinoc’s slave soldiers had all rebelled, many Spitslugs took up arms to defend their masters — especially against the Teceti, who were now trying to carve out an empire of their own. Only when the last vestiges of Trinoc government collapsed completely did the Spitslugs reluctantly create their own interstellar state, and even then they retained the region’s remaining Trinocs as advisors.
The Spitslug Empire and its Trinoc allies consolidated control of a sizable region of the old Trinoc territories and gradually pushed back the Teceti Republic over generations of brutal attrition, the slugs’ bloody-minded determination outweighing the rodents’ cleverness and wealth. With the Spitslugs stubbornly refusing to make peace, the increasingly desperate Teceti turned to Fomori mercenaries. The Fomori soon conquered the Spitslugs, who numbly accepted defeat and submitted to their new masters — who then turned on the Teceti.
Today, the Spitslugs and Teceti play largely the same roles under the Fomori as they once did under the Trinocs: skilled laborers and merchants respectively, resenting one another but forced to collaborate by their common overlords.

[EDIT: The template below has been extensively revised — click here for the latest version]
~~Spitslug (30 points)~~

Spoiler:

Pursuivant · 08-12-2022, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyFreedberg

Spitslugs

If the species is described as being invertebrates, why don't they have the Invertebrate disadvantage? (Admittedly, GURPS misuses the term, but it might be appropriate.)

If they're slug-like, they might have the Cold-Blooded disadvantage.

If they've got slug-like feeding mechanisms, they might have the Slow Eater disadvantage, or a weaker version as a Quirk.

They might also have reduced Move or Basic Speed.

Racial Will and Per might be boosted to 10.

Their Innate Attack makes them extremely dangerous in melee combat. Putting the Limited Uses limitation on it makes them much less effective.

08-12-2022, 12:11 PM	#1
SydneyFreedberg Join Date: May 2019	Re: [Space] [Templates] Really Alien Aliens II: Empire of Pain Spitslugs Dull-witted, acid-spitting invertebrates with superb fine-motor skills Description: Spoiler: Spitslugs are the most numerous slave race of the Fomori Empire, performing every kind of artisanal and technical work with their dextrous tentacles. A few — perhaps 10% of the race’s total population — live outside Fomori rule, most of them also working as technicians. Spitslugs resemble Earth slugs, with two prominent eyestalks and long, vermiform bodies; like all animals on their planet, they are invertebrates. They do, however, have limbs: ten short tentacles, arranged in two sets of five on either side of the forebody, which collectively give the average Spitslug the grasping ability of a two-armed creature but with much greater fine-motor control. This “manual” dexterity, a tremendous physical resilience, and sheer stubborn determination are the race’s primary assets. However, Spitslugs have poor large-motor skills, lower average intelligence than most sapient species, and by some measures less imagination than any other starfaring race. Until they made contact with other sapients, Splitslugs had no concept of humor, fiction, or deliberate falsehood, and they still struggle with these concepts. Most scholars attribute these traits to the lack of competition on the Spitslug homeworld, where few animals were faster or larger, and none more intelligent. Spitslugs are omnivores, whose jungle ancestors got most of their meat by scavenging; their ability to shoot acid probably evolved to drive rival scavengers away from choice carcasses. Spitslugs have two sexes, but with negligible differences between them. The females give live birth to tiny young, a few inches long and totally blind, who require even more care than infant humans and spend most of their early years riding on the backs of adult relatives. Spitslugs naturally live in tribal bands of 20 to 50 members, whose members mate more or less indiscriminately among themselves and raise their young collectively. The Spitslugs were stone-age hunter-gatherer-scavengers when the Trinoc Empire made contact with them. Fortunately, it was late enough in Trinoc history for the Empire to have largely given up on genocide and learned to exploit intelligent species as thralls instead. The Trinocs were impressed by the Spitslugs’ dexterous tentacles, doggedness, and lack of any imagination to make trouble, so they bred them as workers, taught them technology, and spread them throughout the spinward provinces of the Empire. The Spitslugs were grateful to be lifted out of their uncertain pre-agricultural existence and revered their new masters’ intelligence and creativity. But other subject races looked down on the Spitslugs, who resented them in return — especially the Teceti, a clever, rodent-like race that effectively ran the economy in the spinward region and ruthlessly exploited Spitslug labor. When Trinoc rule began to fragment, the Spitslugs stayed loyal longer than most other subject species. When the Trinoc’s slave soldiers had all rebelled, many Spitslugs took up arms to defend their masters — especially against the Teceti, who were now trying to carve out an empire of their own. Only when the last vestiges of Trinoc government collapsed completely did the Spitslugs reluctantly create their own interstellar state, and even then they retained the region’s remaining Trinocs as advisors. The Spitslug Empire and its Trinoc allies consolidated control of a sizable region of the old Trinoc territories and gradually pushed back the Teceti Republic over generations of brutal attrition, the slugs’ bloody-minded determination outweighing the rodents’ cleverness and wealth. With the Spitslugs stubbornly refusing to make peace, the increasingly desperate Teceti turned to Fomori mercenaries. The Fomori soon conquered the Spitslugs, who numbly accepted defeat and submitted to their new masters — who then turned on the Teceti. Today, the Spitslugs and Teceti play largely the same roles under the Fomori as they once did under the Trinocs: skilled laborers and merchants respectively, resenting one another but forced to collaborate by their common overlords. [EDIT: The template below has been extensively revised — click here for the latest version] ~~Spitslug (30 points)~~ Spoiler: Attributes: DX-2 [-40] IQ -1 [-20] HT +2 [20] Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will +3 [+15] Basic Move -2 [-10] Extra Hit Points x5 [+10] Advantages: 360 Vision (eyestalks) [20] Arm DX (both arms) x3 [48] Fearlessness x1 [+2] Fit: Very Fit [15] Flexibility [5] High Manual Dexterity x2 [10] High Pain Threshold [10] Injury Tolerance: No Neck [5] Innate Attack: Corrosion 2d (Jet; Low Signature; Takes Recharge: 5 seconds) [20] Nictating Membrane x2 [2] Universal Digestion [5] Disadvantages: Odious Racial Habit: eat carrion & garbage [-10] Short Arms x2 [-10] Chummy [-5] Hard of Hearing [-10] Hidebound [-5] Incurious (self-control 12) [-5] Invertebrate [-20] No Sense of Humor [-10] No legs: slithers [0] Sense of Duty: baby Spitslugs [-5] Truthfulness [-5] Weak Bite [-2] Reputation: Trinoc & Fomorian lackeys (-3, almost everyone but Trinocs and Fomori; +4, Trinocs & Fomori) [0] Taboo Traits: Charisma, Empathy, Talent:Smooth Operator, Squeamish Common optional traits: These traits are NOT part of the racial template but are included as suggestions for individual characters Additional Fearlessness [2/level] Single-Minded [5] Talent: Artificer [10/level] Unfazeable [15] Callous [-5] Clueless [-10] Gullibility [-10] Honesty [-10] Incurious with lower self-control [varies] Oblivious [-5] Selfless [-5] Stubbornness [-5] Diaspora Spitslugs: Social Stigma: Minority [-10] Spitslugs from the Fomori Empire: Subjugated (-20) -or- Enemy: former masters [varies] Last edited by SydneyFreedberg; 08-29-2022 at 02:49 PM. Reason: Linked to revised version.