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Old 08-28-2022, 08:20 PM   #41
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: GURPS Sector General

Illensan (PVSJ) (Illensa, Milky Way Galaxy) (9 points)

A race of vaguely disturbing chlorine-breathing plant-like aliens. They are common aboard Sector General, but are usually portrayed as adversaries due to their literally acidic personalities. Despite this, they can actually be lovely people . . . really.

Due to the low point cost, they're a good PC race, but best suited for roleplayers given their considerable physical limitations.

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Old 08-28-2022, 08:26 PM   #42
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Do you have these as GCS templates or should I maybe do them when I get back from Chicon?
No chance of GCS templates. It's a weakness in my GURPS-Fu arsenal.

I'd be grateful if you'd write up GCS templates, however.
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Old 08-28-2022, 08:40 PM   #43
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Default Re: GURPS Sector General

New Rules for Character Size

GURPS Sector General make extensive use of the Size rules, since sapient species can range from tiny Nallajim to massive Chalder or even Groalteri. In addition to the usual effects of Size on combat and skill use, the follow rules also apply:

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Old 08-28-2022, 08:54 PM   #44
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Default Re: GURPS Sector General

Melfan (ELNT) (Melf IV, Milky Way Galaxy) (129 points)

A species of sapient amphibious crab-like beings. High point cost is due to extra limbs, high DR, and a whole slew of water-related advantages.

Their high point cost limits their use as PCs, but they would make formidable amphibious soldiers, limited only by their relatively low speed and limited load bearing capacities. As with other important Galactic Federation species, they are an advanced and peaceful species who play a number of roles in Galactic society.

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Old 08-29-2022, 08:27 AM   #45
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Default Re: GURPS Sector General

I've seen the "physically incapable of lying because they have an obvious tell" thing quite a bit (the Gao have it in the Deathworlder series, due to their sense of smell and their expressive ears). I'd like to see such a race that has a racial reputation as liars because "I am an expert engineer" and "I don't know squat about engineering" is the lay of the crest feathers.
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Old 08-29-2022, 10:06 AM   #46
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I've seen the "physically incapable of lying because they have an obvious tell" thing quite a bit (the Gao have it in the Deathworlder series, due to their sense of smell and their expressive ears).
Yeah, it seems to be something of an SF trope. A variant trope is, "What is this thing you call a lie?" for species which are incapable of understanding that people might tell deliberate untruths.

I'm not sure how you'd handle a species with a physical tell that made them seem like liars when they actually aren't. It's an interesting concept, I just can't think of physiology or game mechanics which would make that happen.

FWIW, the Cinrusskins in the SG universe are effectively serial liars (at least if Prilicla can be taken as being typical in this regard) because they will say whatever it takes to keep people happy and only reveal the truth later, when they can do so in a way that allows them to manage the recipient's emotional upset. (Presumably, a Cinrusskin in the position of having to deliver really bad news will desperately try to delegate the task, or spend hours agonizing over how to manage the situation.)

I gave them an Odious Racial Habit for being "Yes Men," and the only reason they don't get a bad Racial Reputation for lying is because they're so damned charming. I assume that people familiar with the species understand that Cinrusskins lie primarily to avoid hurting other peoples' feelings and usually get around to telling the truth, if only to avoid future social complications. (I could imagine some strained relations when Cinrusskin and Kelgians are forced to interact, however, with great comic roleplaying potential.)
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Old 08-29-2022, 06:09 PM   #47
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Default Re: GURPS Sector General

Keep ‘em coming. There are some really neat aliens here, with genuinely weird physiologies — and it’s a fun series: I just started reading the first book last night. It shares some dated 1950s SF tropes, like the assumption that all active characters are male, all organizations are hugely centralized, and all technology is ludicrously dangerous. (The first novella has an alien’s parents killed in a construction accident because their kid wandered into the site and there are no redundant safety backups; the second novella has a poorly piloted spaceship crash into the station, because everything is manual and there are no redundant safety backups, and the collision chases mutually toxic environments to spill into each other, because they’re all right next to each other and there are no redundant safety backups). But the ideas he’s exploring about interspecies collaboration and the humanity of medical workers are enduring.
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Old 08-29-2022, 10:57 PM   #48
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I'm not sure how you'd handle a species with a physical tell that made them seem like liars when they actually aren't. It's an interesting concept, I just can't think of physiology or game mechanics which would make that happen.
It would be more a cultural/linguistic thing the way I'm thinking of it. Their native language uses a non-vocal channel for important semantic functions (like, say, emphasis or negation), and they often mistakenly carry that over into other languages, accidentally saying the opposite of what they intended if the person they're speaking with doesn't catch the secondary channel.

Think using air quotes with someone who has never dealt with a sapient species that had fingers.
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Old 08-30-2022, 03:06 AM   #49
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Hudlar (FROB) (Hudla, Milky Way Galaxy) (340 points)

Huge, six-limbed aliens from a hurricane-swept planet. Their huge racial template cost reflects massive ST, multiple limbs, loads of DR, and a variety of advantages which allow them to work in space or high pressure, high gravity environments with minimal protection.

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Old 08-30-2022, 03:11 AM   #50
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Variation: Hudlar Child (-125 points)

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Variation: Hudlar Elder (-168 points)
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Variation: Hudlar Transplant Patient (-51 points)
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