Altered, evolved & native creatures on Tekumel

[casey777]

split off from this thread

epengar said:

One property of Tekumel is that nearly all the living organisms on the planet are artifacts one way or another. Brought there by humans or aliens, or created there. I forget what EPT says about whether the Hluss and Ssu evolved there or just colonized first, but everything after them is created, manipulated.

IIRC while the Ssu et al are considered the 'native' population, they're native in the sense that they were there when the humans and their allies first showed up. The Ssu were at the time sending early space missions to the solar system but it's entirely possible that they might have been native to somewhere else. However they do share some characteristics with the native plants etc. though even that could be considered just widespread engineered fauna. The truth is unknown* & do you really want to ask a Ssu (if they even know now)?

It's also worth noting that even the humans on Tekumel have been engineered. They're sturdy and such due to the tough environment sure, but they were also at some manipulated (before settling Tekumel or shortly thereafter?) so many common current diseases etc. are not an issue for them. Of course Tekumel and other alien species have brought forth new diseases but these are not the same humans as today.

The N'luss were likely as not just bred to emphasize certain characteristics for survival after the stars went out but perhaps genetically altered early on with remnant technology. There are some other human+ types on Tekumel that are likely some similar combination.

Then there are the vats and such of the Dark Trinity (Hru'u, Ksrual & Sarku). Some of those not-human seeming creatures & undead once were human...


* like so much about Tekumel, the "fuzzyness" matters not to the average Tsoylani peasant. To them, the Ssu and such are terrible creatures that have always been there, nothing more. But that grey area is great fodder for adventuring types who then may after a long campaign find out a truth (not necessarily THE truth) about a subject.

[Epengar]

So where did you want to go with this thread?

One comment: I've done a lot of thinking about the flora and fauna on Tekumel. In my opinion, it all works a little better if you don't try to get too technical with it, and try to keep more of a pulp style mid-20th century scifi feel. You can bring in nanotechnology and alternative biochemistries if you like of course, and that works to a limited extent (e.g. the Food of the Ssu for the latter, and maybe the Nshe and Ngoro for the former), but I'm not sure either will fit the spirit of the world if used broadly.

[James Maliszewski]

epengar said:

One comment: I've done a lot of thinking about the flora and fauna on Tekumel. In my opinion, it all works a little better if you don't try to get too technical with it, and try to keep more of a pulp style mid-20th century scifi feel. You can bring in nanotechnology and alternative biochemistries if you like of course, and that works to a limited extent (e.g. the Food of the Ssu for the latter, and maybe the Nshe and Ngoro for the former), but I'm not sure either will fit the spirit of the world if used broadly.

One of the things I love about Tékumel is that the creatures don't really require a lot of explanation. This is a setting that has both incredibly advanced technology and honest-to-goodness magic, both of which interact and, in some cases, may ultimately be based on the same principles, albeit from slightly different perspectives. Consequently, you can, if you need to do so, justify almost anything in the setting and not feel as if you're just hand waving the question away.

That said, the larger point stands: Tékumel is very much a pulp science fantasy setting, with more in common with Barsoom and other "sword & planet" style writings than "true" SF or medieval-style fantasy.

[casey777]

epengar said:

So where did you want to go with this thread?

For starters away from me cluttering up a thread about how to stat a dog. How others view the creatures and even the "normals" on Tekumel. If people explain it and how. If there's a more fantasy feel or science fiction or sci-fantasy or what. Interesting tidbits.

I'll think more on this later.

[edsan]

I agree with jamesm when he says you don't really have to explain critters in Tekumel.

Between surviving native Flora & Fauna, imported creatures from 14 (maybe more) other planets, lifeforms from different planes of existence, variants due to 30,000 years of natural selection, spontaneous mutations and artificial mutations either from science or magic you can have pretty much anything.

And that's not even counting with demons, undead and ethereal beings.

So anything is fair game. The cherry on top is that the PCs would not know WHAT the heck the new thing is. A natural lifeform? A creation of the Lords of the Latter Times? A supernatural planar being?

Who cares?! It's big, mean and it's COMING RIGHT FOR YOU!!!

Why don't we use this thread to present our fauna ideas for Tekumel? Either in stat form, if its a "Saturday-Night-Special" kind of beastie design, just to hurt and maim PCs; or a small writeup of a non-combat, but curious creature to add atmosphere to teh game.

The "big smart hairless dogs" are already made up. the only explanation i need to come up with is why we don't see 400lbs mastifs being used in warfare on Tekumel despite their wide usage in the classical world (which atests to their efficiency).
A cultural taboo perhaps? (Cha! Beasts don't fight in wars, that's a real man's work!)

I'm also brainstorming a cat breed with metalic-reflection-highlight fur that is immune to poison and can fare quite well in southern Tsolyanu. Intelligent enough to have a limited language (the picture of Tsolyani cats having a conversation in purrs, hisses and miaows just crcks me up!)


Oh! No Pigmy Folk riding on kangaroo's pouches shooting mini-crossbows at you. Please!

This idiotic biology student actually posted such nonesense on the old Blue Room mailing list years ago. I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever read on RPGs.


(Apologies to all idiotic biologists and nonsense-loving kangaroo fans out there)

[casey777]

Will reply in length to this thread later, but for now:

edsan said:

I agree with jamesm when he says you don't really have to explain critters in Tekumel.

<snip>

The "big smart hairless dogs" are already made up. the only explanation i need to come up with is why we don't see 400lbs mastifs being used in warfare on Tekumel despite their wide usage in the classical world (which atests to their efficiency).
A cultural taboo perhaps? (Cha! Beasts don't fight in wars, that's a real man's work!)

<snip>

Oh! No Pigmy Folk riding on kangaroo's pouches shooting mini-crossbows at you. Please!

This idiotic biology student actually posted such nonesense on the old Blue Room mailing list years ago. I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever read on RPGs.

As for why huge dogs aren't used often, perhaps they're a rare breed, only live in a limited area (environment, natural predators, only a sub-branch of one clan breeds them etc.), and as was pointed out in the other thread they're going to consume a lot of resources for a limited role. They're very obvious and likely very noisy too not to mention likely leaving a trail of drool and more besides.

This is Tekumel, making sense went out the window a long time ago. ;D Pygmy Folk don't exactly make much biological sense either and don't get me started on the grief I've had from players over Chlen hide & Tekumel's overlong history...

[Epengar]

I can see issues of discipline, supply, and the ignobilty of using beasts in noble war all being factors in keeping dogs off the battlefield.

Also I'm not sure that Barker says Tekumelani dogs are bigger or smarter than Terran dogs, at least I can't find that, so maybe that's also a factor.

However, Patrick Brady has pointed out that Renyu and ordinary dogs would be valuable as detectors and trackers of hidden (magically or otherwise) enemies. Even if big war dogs are not employed, detector dogs might very likely be used around temples, palaces, and the command staff and sorcery contingents of legions.

[edsan]

epengar said:

Also I'm not sure that Barker says Tekumelani dogs are bigger or smarter than Terran dogs, at least I can't find that, so maybe that's also a factor.

It's on the bestiary section of GOO T:EPT.

I actually sort of misread it. It states that "They are a bit more intelligent" than earth dogs, "don't much resemble familiar breeds" and that large guard dogs exist.

Still room for much variation methinks

[Epengar]

edsan said:

Still room for much variation methinks

Absolutely.

By the way, while poking around in the Tekumel Sourcebook for stuff on dogs (Thumis's blessings on Krista Donnelly for her index!), I found a reference in the entertainment section to "a few [unnamed] high clans" running dog races and fights. Your player might get interest from a person of high standing, regarding her dog...

[bert]

I've got a few new beasties, (see www.doubtful.org.uk/ Bestiary section) but no OEPT stats so far, watch this space...

As a biology nerd, I do like my monsters to have at least a teensy bit of plausibility about them, so here goes...

The amount of time in Tekumel's history is sufficient to allow dogs to become several different species given enough evolutionary pressure, and of course they would have been great material for the Lords of the Latter Times to use a as bioweapons and to fill the places left by lost doemsticates. There could well have been several varieties of big mastiff killer dogs with cybernetic enhancements and machine guns used to track down and destroy Ssu, but only the Renyu made it as an independent species able to make it on their own.

Later ages efforts to use dogs to fulfil other purposes by straight breeding would result in, IMO, an eating dog, favoured in the mountains, a VERY fast hunting dog in which the little used claws have been lost and the central pad is a hoof, a guard dog with sabre tooth canines and Arnold Schwarzenegger shoulders that will bite and hang on and not loose its grip even on a giant dinosaurian beastie like a Tsi'il. I can't see them getting to big though, or they would be used as substitute riding or draft animals.

Disadvantages - dogs are terrestrial-style mammals, cannot metabolise the proteins in most wild Tekumeli creatures and just plain hate the smell of some others (like Ssu and Shunned Ones). Keeping a big dog will be expensive, especially in vet bills.

[bert]

Bíth – The Stalking Spider

T:EPT stats
Str 4 Dex 6 Int 1 Will 4 Psy 4 Cha 0
Pedh 4 Init 8 CV 5 Health 30 Shock 6 MR 3
Attributes: Large 1, Natural Armour 1, Poisonous
Defects: Combat Limitation 1 – only attacks if it has surprise, else -2, Fragile 1
Skills: Teamwork 1, Stealth 1, Running 2, Jumping 2, Wrestling 1, Close Combat, Observation 1
Bite Acc +0 Init +0 Dam x3 + poison
Binding Acc +0, Init+1, -2 inititiative, plus Wrestling success

OEPT Stats
NA 2-6 HD 2
AC 7 T nil
M 12” L: 20: 2-12
T in L A:40

The Bith is a type of Atlun or spider, 2-3m long with eight legs, four used for running and four with small manipulative claws for holding its ‘catch-web’. Its mouthparts are rather like a beetle, but with a piercing proboscis between the sharp serrated jaws. They hunt in small groups or two to six, communicating using soft clicks of their carapace. They are not afraid to take on parties of that number no more than they do, and will follow and observe larger groups looking for weak individuals.

They are pouncers, bearing their victims to the ground, biting them and then binding them in small but very sticky webs they carry in their manipulative claws. Their venom causes paralysis of the limbs.
T:EPT Roll vs poison each round, lose 1 Dex and 1 Str for each failed roll. When both equal zero the victim cannot move at all, and will stay immobile for 12-Str hours.
OEPT: Save vs Paralysis, losing 20STR and 20 DEX each round for each failure.

After the initial bite the Bith will only use binding, attempting to immobilise its prey so it can be taken back to the lair.

T:EPT This attack reduces Initiative – when it reaches zero the prey is held fast and cannot move, even if the poison has not yet paralysed them. The only way to get out is to wriggle free – make a save vs Str/Dex avg, and add this to initiative.
OEPT: Save vs Eyes, but with a bonus equal to ‘to hit’ bonus; target is immobilised if this fails.

Luckily they usually only seek small game, and if they cannot achieve surprise they will not attack at all. If attacked they use their bite then flee, hoping their poison will slow pursuit down.
If dragged off by a Bith prey may find themselves hung upside down from a tree for several days – the Bith do not inject digestive juices like some smaller spiders, but rip it apart with their jaws and they like their meat tender and bit gamy.

Habitat: Forest, Mountains, Plains

Gétlen – The Phase Spider
T:EPT stats
Str 1 Dex 8 Int 2 Will 8 Psy 10 Cha 0
Pedhetl 6 Init 16 CV 5 Health 10 Shock 2 MR 6, Power 36
Attributes: Small 2, Psychic Magic, Poisonous, Enhanced Senses (Touch) 2
Defects: Fragile 2
Skills: Psychic Magic 2, Stealth 2
Bite Init +0 Dam x1 + Poison, High Penetration
Spells: Ascertainment, Stealth, Teleport

OEPT Stats
NA 1-6 HD1
AC 5 T nil
M 6” L 90: 1-6
T in L: B: 75

The Gétlen is usually only found in caves and in the underworld. It is the result of the wave of mutation that followed the fluxes of trans-planar power when Tekumel was isolated. It is 50-70 cm across, with eight very long and skinny legs, though when it runs it appears to have more than this and in repose it is hard to make out all its limbs at once as some project into other dimensional spaces. It is usually a pale dirty white colour, though it can change to black or any monochrome pattern it chooses using chameleon like colour cells in its skin. Its dozen or so eyes are always a beady black, and have a disconcerting habit of disappearing and reappearing as the spider espies matters in other planes than our own.

They make labyrinthine webs up to 100m across in tunnels and caves, and even along especially dark and dank forest floors. These are hung with small glowing globules of transparent sticky glue, each with a tiny black eyeball floating inside. These provide light for the spider to see normally. While the spider is hanging onto certain magically enhanced strands of its web they also enable it to spy on who is passing to and fro. Its sense of touch is also exquisitely sensitive and the merest breath of a draft from a moving creature will attract its notice and it will scuttle along its web to investigate.

The spider can use three main magical abilities.
T:EPT It can detect invisible creatures using its own form of Ascertainment spell (Effective level 2, cost 6, range 15m) and attack them at no penalty, it can enhance its Stealth by +2, and use it even against magical detection (Level 5, cost 10, duration 3 minutes) and it can Teleport with great accuracy (Level 6, cost 12, range 20m, as long as it remains with its web).
OEPT: Clairvoyance 3/day, Seeing Other Planes 3/day, Invisibility, Teleportation.

It is alleged other Gétlen have opened nexus points to escape or to summon demonic assistance and that they have driven people insane using magic.

Their poison induces hallucinations, terror and then convulsions and is lethal after 5 minutes. A favourite tactic is to sneak up on a victim, bite, then teleport away and wait for him to die. The beast is very wasteful; when it has slain a victim it inserts its transplanar mouthparts through the skull and sucks out the brain via the fourth dimension, leaving the rest of the corpse for scavengers. A corpse with a missing brain but no visible sign of head injury is a sure sign of Gétlen.

They also lay their eggs inside the skulls of other species. The victim may not know anything about it, waking up in a dank underworld corridor or a grimy back alley in a city thanking their lucky stars that they are uninjured. Bit by bit they will succumb to a strange disease of the Pedhetl, losing emotional affect and becoming very calm, dull and somewhat depressed with an overwhelming need for sleep. After a few weeks they will become possessed by the urge to sneeze. When they do so, the roof of their nasal cavity will collapse releasing what is left of their brain and dozens of Gétlen spiderlings from their nostrils. Only an expert in psychological disorders will recognise the symptoms and the treatment may permanently reduce Pedhetl (Psyshic Abiblity) and Intelligence.

It is alleged that the priests of Gruganu have spells that enable them to control these beasts and to use their webs as spying devices, and that some Thunru’u keep them as pets. It is also thought by some scholars that the Getlen is not native to Tekumel but is instead a demon, with the substance of Avanthe and the essence of Hru’u.

Those that know their underworld lore recognise that the presence of Getlen is an indicator of high magical energy in the vicinity, perhaps a powerful magic item or a major protective spell on a secret shrine or tomb. Needless to say they induce utter terror in the uninitiated.

Habitat: Underworld

[bert]

Singers of the Black

NA 1-2
HD 3
AC 3
T nil
M 6”/12” in darkness
L 0%

These minor demons may be summoned by priests of Hrü’ü using the Group II Creatures spell. They appear dressed in voluminous hooded robes of black gauze and condensed shadow, and so their forms cannot be accurately described, but they have four short arms and no visible feet, hovering a few inches above the floor. They attack using two stabbing blades which may be weapons, or may be extensions of their limbs.

They continually emit a disturbing droning noise, each using a slightly different pitch, the combinations of which are always discordant and frightening. Hearing this noise will induce creatures with sensitive hearing (dogs, Pe Choi, Pygmy Folk) to immediately make a morale check or flee. Others must save vs Hypnosis or be disoriented by the noise and automatically lose all initiative checks against the flitting creatures. Each extra singer adding to the cacophony gives -1 to the save, and if a person scores less than 1 on their save they will be totally paralysed until the sound stops. Priests of Hrü’ü will summon great hordes of these beasts to defend their temples, stopping all in their tracks with their monotonous hypnotic drone.

Being demonic in nature they can only be cut by steel or magical weapons, but are very vulnerable to fire and light based magic, taking double damage from such sources. A successful Dispel Evil spell will do them 2 dice damage, and they are slowed and have -2 to hit in daylight or bright magical light.

[badger2305]

Another place from some really fascinating beasties to enliven any campaign would be the Haviland Tuf series of stories by George R.R. Martin. (Many collected in the Tuf Voyaging anthology.)

Tuf is a tall, heavy-set fellow with an odd way of speaking, and a decided liking for cats. He makes his initial appearance in a story set long after the Human-Hrangan Wars that are part of the backdrop for Martin's future history. It seems that the most dangerous class of warship ever developed by the Terrans were ecological warfare battleships - and there's one still in operational use long after the crew has died. Tuf is hired by a bunch of rather dumb player-characters to transport them to the ship. In a TPK (except for Tuf) caused by PC in-fighting, the ship ends up in Tuf's hands, and he then goes about providing services to different worlds, as even a huge old Terran warship is almost completely automated.

Some of the beasties mentioned in this story include:

• "Hooded Draculas" from Vilkakis - sooty-black, with large bat-like wings, yellow eyes, and leathery, wet flesh. It has a bony sucker beak, which can punch through the faceplate of a vacc suit.
  
• "Hellkittens" from Abbatoir - kitten-sized, pale white, with scarlet stripes, an oversized head, "astonishingly lambent crimson eyes", and an unnaturally long tongue (which shoots corrosive acid).
  
• "Walking-webs" from Jayden Two - a "blob floating in mid-air" brown and lumpy, with a black mouth set in greenish flesh, always moving; the teeth look metallic and there appear to be three sets of them - it may be a silicon-based lifeform. Mono-molecular thread-like limbs, thousands of them, support the creature in the middle of any space. These threads leave marks everywhere, and can be used to bind the prey of the walking-web. Incredibly dangerous.
  
• "Rollerams" from PSC92, TSC749, unnamed - gigantic creatures of some toughness that allows them to batter down walls and anything less resilient than a starship bulkhead.
  
• and a T-Rex, from Earth. Think Jurassic Park.
  

I suspect further reading in Martin might provide more examples for use on a world like Tekumel.