Saturday, January 31, 2015

Strange Stars, Alien Humans

Saturn 3

The alien humans are not from our time; they are visitors from the far future. The last survivors of humanity on a rogue planet in The Degenerate Era, the alien humans have a vastly more diverse genome than the varied clades of modern starfaring humans. Their cells swarm with genetic prostheses. Their blood and other tissues teem with strange parasites, antique nanites, and cyber-amulets. Even a cursory scan reveals oddly-shaped alien organs with no discernible functions. Their tissues also evidence significant radiation damage.

Their kind fall within three basic phenotypes:
  • Pallids are hairless and display the traits of near albinism. With make-up they can easily pass for modern humans. Pallids are the alien humans most frequently encountered in modern times. They are diplomats, deal makers, and tech and gene traders. They have an abrasive, distant mien, which is interrupted every 25 hours by a period of intense, unpleasant, and demanding affect. During this period, Pallids are often driven to barter their unusual tech and exotic information in exchange for various forms of gratification. They strike hard, often unpleasant bargains. 
  • Grendellines have a leathery grey integument which protects against vacuum and hard radiation. The Grendellines' integument and implants convey a species of machine telepathy which permits them to pilot vessels by force of will, as well as remotely operate many individual machines and devices.
  • Insulae have jet black porcelain-hard skin optimized for absorbing and metabolizing the remaining ambient energies of the Degenerate Era. When the integument of an Insulae is damaged, it chips or cracks. Their wounds hiss, releasing a mildly radioactive organic spray into the environment. Their exterior is not readily penetrated by scanning technology. The Insulae communicate by means of Pallids known as Interlocutors. The role of the Insulae phenotype is unknown.

OGL MECHANICS

Alien Human
Pallid clade (neutral)

ASPECTS:
  • High Concept: Alien humans from the future
  • Trouble: The 25th hour
  • Aspect: Abrasive and distant
  • Aspect: Hard, unpleasant bargains
  • Aspect: Strange genetics, alien implants
APPROACHES
  • Careful: +2
  • Clever: +3 
  • Flashy: +2
  • Forceful: +1
  • Quick: 0
  • Sneaky: +2
STUNTS:
  • Cyber-Amulets [Two Spells] - Each time this Stunt is taken, a Pallid may select two spells from the Galactic Grimoire.  The Pallid uses these spells without any particular insight into the workings of magic. 
  • Drive a Hard Bargain - A Pallid takes +2 to their Careful Approach to gain insight into the kinds of information or tech for which an individual might trade dearly.
  • Interlocutor - A Pallid has the ability to communicate telepathically with members of the Insulae phenotype.
REFRESH: 3

2 comments:

  1. These are cool. I'm a big fan of dying stuff to obscure bits of theoretical physics or cosmology, as you may have already guessed!

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    Replies
    1. They've been rattling around in my head for several years now. They were going to be the Big Reveal of the campaign: that slipknot nodes are not necessarily temporally continuous.

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