Races

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Shivak​

Don't trust him. He's out to steal your burrow-mate.

Mammalian and ursaliod, there creatures stand at less than a meter tall, with pads on thier feet and the wide spread eyes of evolved herbivores. Shivak have flat herbivore teeth, wide nostrils, and look somewhat like Terran "teddy bears" although thier grouchy temperment often offsets this appearance.

The Shivak come from a planet with heavy vegitation and undergroth, and very few predators. With a low axial tilt and a temperate climate without much serious seasonal variation, the Shivak were an allay of the G'Tak Empire during thier destruction of the proto-Terran race eons ago.

Despite the destruction of the proto-Terran race, the Shivak did not find themselves elevated to a high position in the galactic scheme of things. Mainly, they lacked the carnivore instinct for pursuing a goal with ruthless determination, and this held them back from what they felt was thier destiny.

Over the millenia since the fall of the proto-human race, the Shivak has contented themselves with causing strife and contention within the races that remained of the G'Tak Empire.

With the return of Terran Humans, the Shivak were the most vocal about attacking the race of man and thier companion creatures as well as fledgling allies. The Shivak were the ones who encouraged the Varmeck into sending probes further and further into the "Fallow Zone" to check on the progress of the human race, and were the ones stirring up panic within the other races that probes were coming back without data more often than they were returning, at the rate of 100:1.

However, the Shivak made the mistake of attacking an outlying human colony with a fleet of warships, and the even larger mistake of fleeing without trying to cover thier tracks. Human ships followed them to thier homeworld, and while other human vessels ran to summon the Terran Confederate Naval Forces, the ships that had followed began a program of guerrilla warfare and interdiction of the system.

Human counter-attack and the first human attack of the resurged G'Tak/Human war was on the Shivak homeworld. Human paranioa and predatory instinct mobilized the entire TCMC First, Second and Fifth Armies and the 9th and 17th TCN fleets.

Over 500,000 combat troops slammed into the Shivak homeworld, backed by everything the Terrans could throw at them. Monitors, radioactive dusting, battleships, supercruisers, temporal dissonance wave cannons and everything overly adaptive and highly aggressive omnivore primates with over a hundred thousand years of warfare in thier history could bring to bear.

The Shivak were crushed in less than a Terran standard month. Thier cities cast down, the vast forests in flame, and the oceans steaming. The Terrans even broke apart the Shivak's moons and rained the pieces down upon thier planet as "kinetic kill weapons" in order destroy what they assummed would be a more technologically advanced oppenent.

The Shivak were cast down, thier homeworld destroyed, and they immediately sued for peace, thier contentious attittude muted in terror (After the Franklin-437 incedent, where a rogue admiral warped into system, fired a nova-bomb, and left, incinerating over 240,000,000 Shivak) of the humans.

While the Shivak as a whole have surrendered, thier worlds occupied, and their databases are now being researched by the Terrans in order to continue thier war against the G'Tak, billions have fled deeper into G'Tak space, intent on avenging the 10,000 year old slight the initial proto-humans committed.

Shivak can be found both in the Confederacy and the G'Tak Empire.

Species Traits

Shivak share the following species traits:

• Type: Small Humaniod
• Size: Small
• Ability Modifiers: -4 Str, -2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha
• Speed: 20 feet
• Low Light Vision (Ex): A Shivak has low light vision and can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of shadowy illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colors and detail under these conditions.
• Empathic glands (Ex): Where normally tear-ducts would reside on a Terran ursine, empthic glands are on the Shivak. This causes thier eyes to grow large and luminious when they are manipulating emotions. This provides them a +4 racial bonus to bluff, intimidate, sense motive and diplomacy.
• Contentious Aura (Ex): The Shivak can put out a field of psionic energy that causes other creatures to have ill will toward one another, become more suspicious of others, and in general, ignore the Shivak. Those within 150 feet suffer a -8 to diplomacy as well as having others feeling toward them worsen. Suspicions often run toward motives, placing a -8 penalty on anyone within the circumferance toward sense motive.
• Swim Bonus: Due to the fur, light bone structure, and high fat content of the Shivak, they gain a +2 racial bonus to swim.
• Racial Progress Level: 6 for war material and space-craft, 7 for medical technology (excluding cybernetics) and entertainment. The Shivak dislike robots and will not manufacture or purchase them.
• Shivak cannot accept genetic enhancements or cybernetic systems.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Varmeck​

One of the largest "warlike" races of the G'Tak Empire, these creatures often claim to be the main exterminators of the proto-humans, and act as the "bully-boys" of the G'Tak Empire. Mainly used as infantry and ship to ship marines, the Varmeck are huge, iridescent insects with heavy armor, large jaws, and imposing claws.

Little is know about thier society, but it is well known that they are particularly arrogant and believe themselves to be the end-all be all of combat soldier, with thier resistance to damage that thier exoskeleton grants them.

The Varmeck utilize mass waves attacks, and while technologically advanced, mainly use infantry in combat.

• Type: Giant Insectiod
• Ability Modifier: +4 str, -2 Dex, +4 Con
• Speed: 30 feet
• Claws: A Varmeck has retractable claws that can be used in combat. The claws do 1d4 hp of lethal damage and a Varmeck attacking with it's claws is considered armed for the purposes of melee combat and attacks of opportunity.
• Bite: Although it is considered gauche and uncivilized to do so, a Varmeck may bite someone else in combat and inflict 1d4-1 points of lethal damage.
• Venom: The Varmeck's vite is venomous 2d6 Con (DC: 10) to most races, although humans are strangely enough immune to it.
• Natural Armor: The Varmecks tough chitin gives it a +2 natural armor.
  Damage Resistance:[/b] The Varmeck's exoskeleton grants it a DR 15/ballistic. It's vaunted resistance to energy weapons was sadly lacking against Terran combat forces.
• Skill Bonus: A Varmek gains the following racial bonuses to skills: +4 to intimidate and survival and +6 to climb. A Varmeck takes a -4 racial penalty to swim

Varmek weaponry:
Force Field Harness: Worn across the thorax, this equipment provides a forcefield that adds 100 bonus hit points (These hit points are subtracted first). The forcefield can only be active for 2 hours at a time, and if the HP are depleted, the harness' internal mechanisms must be replaced. This takes 2 combat rounds for someone trained (varmek often carry replacement cartridges for the delicate generation electronics) and 2 minutes for someone untrained.

Varmek use laser weaponry, since they distain ballistic weapons.

(More on these guys later, my players just ran face first into them, and I don't want to give up too much)

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Can I get a mod to merge this thread with the "Future Fun" thread, please? I think I'd like to keep everything in one place.

Thanks...


T-Willard

 

[aurance]

I like these, they have a lot of flavor.

A couple points:

Shivak - Seems like a pretty solid LA+0 race, but -8 diplomacy/sense motive at will seems big. What about allowing a Wil save, reducing the size of the penalty, or limiting its uses per day?

Varmeck - Shouldn't these guys have an LA, maybe +2?