Domibian Races: #6 Zarugiza

Ok, let’s take a break from villainous races and look at a race of intelligent, large ravens who have “colonies” throughout the planet.

The Zarugiza are large, 3-4 ft tall ravens with around a 14 to 16 ft wingspan. They travel in flocks of up to 50 or so members.
They tend to be nomadic, but will often return to a suitable nesting site for several years in a row. Though nomadic they do practice limited agriculture, sowing seeds in anticipation of their return at a later date. This assures them of a plentiful food supply near favorite sites.
In addition to grain and fruit, Zarugiza will eat fresh meat on occasion, as well as fish. Carrion is avoided, as it is the food of their unintelligent cousins.
The main source of entertainment among the Zarugiza is storytelling. With no written
language this is, by necessity, an oral tradition. Several Zarugiza epics have been adapted by human listeners and with little modification are quite popular.
Zarugiza will trade with humans that they trust. They will exchange information or stories for food or jewelry. They will also help farmers that they like with pest control, in exchange for a portion of the harvest.
The Zarugiza have explored most of the planet and have contact with almost every race (including the Arajay). This makes them a wonderful source of information and they are happy to share in exchange for tools they can use, or food.
Their god, Oronazin, has no temples per se but there are locations that are sanctified and used for religious ceremonies on a seasonal basis.
They speak Ahngli (analog= 19th century American English) and have no written version.

Racial abilities

Looking at the write-up using SAFUG the Zarugiza have Strength of 8, Agility and Speed of 12 but a Dexterity of 5. Intelligence is 12 but Education is only 5 (they don’t have any organized learning).

So ST is easy. An 8 seems sensible for a large bird. A DX of 12 and a +0.5 to Basic Speed works, with Ham Fisted 2 representing what poor manipulators their feet are. Social Stigma: Uneducated works for the EDU of 5, since they have no formal schooling at all and are also Illiterate.

Zarugiza [74 points]

Attribute Modifiers: ST -2 [-20], DX +2 [40], IQ +2 [40]

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Move -2 (Ground movement only) [-10], Basic Speed +0.5 [10]

Advantages:

• Absolute Direction [5]
• Eidetic Memory (IQ to recall specifics) [5]
• Enhanced Move (Air) 1.5 (max flying speed 18) [30]
• Flight: Winged, No Hovering, Costs 2 FP for *unassisted take-off  [22]
• Teeth: Sharp Beak [1]

Disadvantages: Congenial** [-1], Illiterate [-3], Ham Fisted 2 [-10], Low TL -3 [-15], No Depth Perception [-15], Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5]

Features: SM -2.

*Unassisted take-off meaning not from higher ground, like a tree or a cliff… just flapping to get airborne. The FP is only for the initial take-off, so I only gave a -5% modifier for it.
**Congenial is a very typical cultural trait, but isn’t universal for the race.

What do I do with them?

The Zarugiza are usually too affable (and physically weak) to be opponents, but they make a good plot hook. They are a font of information, not all of it useful, but some of it may be. They also make excellent scouts/spies.

Other Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

Domibian Races: #5 Vormade

More bad guy types. The Vormade are a race of psychic vampires.

The Vormade are a race of psychic vampires that look like normal, somewhat
androgynous humans and are able to completely change their gender through an hour-long process of meditation. The Vormade have no real culture of their own and always live among other human societies. Like The Ready, not many people realize that the Vormade even exist and they take pains to keep things that way.

They tend to be self-absorbed, callous and are given to sadism.
Their psychic powers are usually latent until they enter puberty at which point they
develop several powerful abilities. A Vormade (current) female who gives birth will get a Vormade baby, Vormade males produce a regular member of whatever race they mated with.

The Vormade god, Destay, is rarely worshipped at more than a familial level, teaches his
followers to “make not amends for thine pleasures”.

As with most of these parasite races the Vormade have no language of their own.

Attributes

Using my original SAFUG write-up for these folks they have a Sanity of 8, a Will of 12 and an Education of 5. As with The Ready the SAN of 8 is best represented by taking 10 points in mental disadvantages focussed on callousness and sadism. They should have Will +2 and possibly Social Status: Uneducated and Illiterate (this depends heavily on what culture they grew up within).

Abilities

The Vormade have some VERY powerful abilities. They can exude an odorless respiratory agent that causes lecherousness within a 2 yd area. This is used for fun as well as blackmail fodder and creating of allies. They have a full complement of psychic vampirism abilities, Drain ST, DX, IQ, HT as well as Drain Emotion, Steal Dreams and Energy and finally Steal Life. They also have a strong defensive ability in that they are a Mana Damper out to 2 yds, which lowers the usual mana level from Regular to No Mana.

Vormade [175 points]

Attribute Modifiers: None [0]

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will +2 [10]

Advantages:

• Affliction 2: Lecherous (9) (Emanation, Area Effect (2 yds)), Extended Duration (x3), Persistent (10 sec), Respiratory Agent (No Signature) roll HT-1 to resist [57]
• Hermaphromorph (Preparation Required: 1 hr of meditation) [3]
• Mana Damper 2 (Area Effect, 2 yds) [40]
• Psychic Vampirism (Drain ST) (Drain HT, IQ & DX are taken as Alternate Abilities) [39]
• Psychic Vampirism (Steal Energy) (Steal Dreams, Drain Emotions & Steal Life are taken as Alternate Abilities) [44]

Disadvantages: Illiterate [-3], Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5], Various mental disadvantages (Callous & Selfish are likely) [-10]

Features: None.

What do I do with them?

The Vormade make for a wonderful villain in a long-running campaign. Their unique abilities make it easy for them to infiltrate governments and twist things to their own selfish ends. Have them be a trusted advisor or courtier who runs things secretly from behind the scenes.

Other Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

Domibian Races: #4 The Ready

Here is another villain race. This time made up of literal murder hobos.

The Ready look like standard humans, however, they are able to change their appearance by concentrating. No clothing or equipment will change, only facial/body features and hair and skin color. They can only mimic features that they are aware of, so if they impersonate a person that they have only seen clothed, they will not be able to mimic any features of that persons torso or legs. All stats will stay the same and the Ready’s voice will remain unchanged. They will not receive any of the skills or abilities of the person that they are mimicking.

The Ready live in tightly knit clans of up to 10 – 30 people. A single charismatic individual, usually a male who is often the “father” of many of the members, usually leads them. Members of the clan will often try to emulate the leader and the clan he leads will often try to mirror his personality.

The Ready suffer from a psychological need to commit murder. Going longer than a week without killing requires control rolls to avoid lashing out and slaying someone you may not want to. Often times the group, while posing as traveling entertainers of mercenaries, will adopt a member just so they have a victim when needed.

The Ready have two ways to procreate. The first is the traditional way, with a male and female Ready. The second way is by having sexual contact with a male Ready. This causes a two week long process that they refer to as Baking because of the fever that the victim runs. After the two weeks are over the victim must make a HT+5 roll to avoid dying and if successful, they have become one of The Ready.

Their deity, Selrok, is only worshipped on a “familial” level.
They speak whatever languages that members of the group know, there is no language specific to the race and Selrok seeded them throughout the human(oid) inhabited regions of Domibia.

The males are average 5’7″ and 140 lbs, the females average 5’5″ and 125 lbs. “Baked” members of different races will have whatever height and weight they had when they were converted.

Attributes

Going by my original SAFUG stats, male Ready have a Sanity and Willpower of 8 and an Education of 4. Females are the same but also have a Strength of 9.

In GURPS terms they should have -2 Will [-10] (if converted from a different race, the new Ready would lose two points of Will). The lower Sanity would probably be best modelled by giving 10 points in mental disadvantages. The low Education (murder hobos have no time for school!) could be modeled with Social Stigma: Uneducated  [-5], but a convert would not neccessarily have this. Non-convert Ready should probably have Illiterate [-3].
The lower Strength for the females can be ignored if you dislike sexual dimorphism in your games, but is pretty common on Domibia (for NPC’s at least). If you are going to use it, it should be modeled with (non-canonical) Lower Arm ST -1 [-5].

Should The Ready have a -30 point Secret? The trouble is that most people have no idea that they exist. Violence in a world like this is fairly common and the limited shapeshifting could be attributed to magic of some sort, assuming it was noticed at all. The Ready have become pretty good at blending in and not drawing attention to themselves. As long as all the individuial members of the clan can join in the weekly murder, it satisfies their craving. That keeps the body count pretty low.

Special Abilities

Shapeshifting (Morph); Cosmetic Only, takes 10 seconds [50].

Dominance: Infectious Procreation, No Slave Mentality (instead they have a +2 reaction bonus to their “father”), Roll HT+5 to avoid death after 2 weeks of fever (treat as Drowsy B428). Only male Ready have this ability! [20]

Uncontrollable Appetite: Murder (12), Mitigator (Weekly murder) [-5] The control number of 12 is pretty typical, but individual Ready may have higher or lower values.

Summary (adding all the suggested disadvantages)

Ready male [37 points]:

Attribute Modifiers: None [0]

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will -2 [-10]

Advantages: Dominance [20], Shapeshifting (Morph) [50]

Disadvantages: Illiterate [-3], Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5], Uncontrollable Apetite (Murder) [-5], Various mental disadvantages [-10]

Features: None.
***********************************
Ready female [12 points]:

Attribute Modifiers: None [0]

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will -2 [-10]

Advantages: Shapeshifting (Morph) [50]

Disadvantages: Illiterate [-3], Lower Arm ST -1 [-5], Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5], Uncontrollable Apetite (Murder) [-5], Various mental disadvantages [-10]

Features: None.

Other Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

Domibian Races: #3 M’rrr

Here is one of the more loathsome races on Domibia, the M’rrr.

The M’rrr are an all-male race of carrion feeding humanoids. They live about 1/3 as long as a human and mature much faster as a result. All M’rrr have ovaries as well as male reproductive organs, when a M’rrr ejaculates he provides both egg and sperm. M’rrr procreate by ejaculating into a cadaver; preferably a large one, and letting the egg develop inside the corpse. Some of the “hosts” DNA is utilized and individual M’rrr will sometimes have minor traits inherited from corpse they were planted in. The gestation period of a M’rrr is three months. Infant M’rrr (which resemble large grubs) are fed blood from the parent and can start taking solid food within 2 months.
They have heavy claws that are used for defense as well as feeding. The bite or claw of a M’rrr can infect someone with a virulent disease commonly referred to as “Corpse Fever”.
M’rrr are rarely encountered in groups, preferring a solitary lifestyle. M’rrr tend to be very cautious due to the loathing with which others regard them. They all are very lucky and have an uncanny ability to escape if threatened.

Attributes
So, going from my original SAFUG write-up they are 10’s across the board except HT (12), EDU (4) and LUCK (13). So for GURPS they should have a +1 to HT [10], Social Stigma: Uneducated [-5] and have Luck [15].

Advantages
They have Blunt Claws [3] and Sharp Teeth [1].
Affliction: Corpse Fever [1] (see details below) (I’m not 100% sure I did the math right on this…)
Reduced Consumption 2: Cast-Iron Stomach [2]. They require the same amount of food but quality isn’t an issue (since they eat decomposing flesh), they also get +2 to avoid food-borne disease.
Resistant: Common: Sickness [8]. They get +8 to resist diseases and environmental syndromes.
Luck [15]
Serendipity [15]

Disadvantages
Low TL [-15] The M’rrr don’t create tools usually, they simply use what they can scavenge.
Short Lifespan 2 [-20] They are mature at 4 years and begin aging rolls at 12 years (roll every 3 months).

Suggested Cultural Disadvantages
Illiterate [-3] There is no written form of their language.
Social Stigma: Monster [-15] Because of their nature, in a campaign where they aren’t the PC’s, they should have this.

They average 5’7″ and around 140 lbs. though they look shorter because they are slightly hunched over.
Their language sounds like a mouth full of saliva and is called M’rrr by anyone caring to classify it.
Their deity is refered to as J’m’rrr and any worship is on an individual level.

Corpse Fever
Vector: Blood (claw or bite) or Contact (with an infected person)
Resistance Roll: HT+1 (HT+4 for contact, just to avoid contracting the disease, once you have it use the HT+1 to shake it off). Remember to use the Contagion modifiers on B443.
Delay: 1-3 days
Damage: 1d-1 toxic
Cycles: 15 8-hour cycles (5 days)
Symptoms: General body pain (Moderate pain -2), malaise (treat as Absent-Mindedness), fever

Here is a M’rrr with some scavenged equipment. Note the adorable baby at his feet…

More Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

Chaos Features

This isn’t a stand-alone post, it is mostly to allow me to link to it in the description of the Spawn of Enegala.
This page is under construction. I need to convert everything from Savage Worlds to GURPS. In the meantime, most of this stuff is probably understandable enough to spitball a conversion of the spirit if not the specifics…

Chaos Abilities (d100)
01-03 Aquatic
04-06 Armor +2
07-09 Burrowing
10 Ethereal
11 Terrifying (make Guts roll at -1)
12 Very Terrifying (make Guts roll at –2)
13 Fearless
14 Gargantuan
15 Undead
16-17 Hardy
18-20 Infection
1 Vigor –1 die
2 Agility –1 die
3 Spirit –1 die
4 Smarts –1 die
21-23 Infravision
24-25 Immunity: Fire
26-27 Immunity: Cold
28-29 Immunity: Disease
30-31 Immunity: Poison
32-33 Immunity: Electricity
34-36 Low Light Vision
37-38 Paralysis
39-40 Poison
1 +1d6 damage
2 +2d4 damage
3 +2d6 damage
4 +2d8 damage
41-43 Slow Regeneration
44-45 Fast Regeneration
46 Reduced Size –1
47 Reduced Size –2
48-49 Increased Size +1
50 Increased Size +2
51 Increased Size +3
52 Small (Size –2) Reduce Strength –1 die
53 Large (Size +4) Increase Strength +1 die
54 Large (Size +5) Increase Strength +2 die
55 Large (Size +6) Increase Strength +3 die
56 Huge (Size +7) Increase Strength +4 die
57-58 Increase Strength +1 die
59-60 Increase Strength +2 die
61-63 Increase Toughness +1
64-65 Increase Parry +1
66-68 Wall Walker
69-70 Winged flight, Pace x2, Climb = Pace
71-73 Horns (Str+d6), charge 6”, +4 damage
74-75 Go for the Throat
76-78 Fleet Footed
79-81 Spiked prehensile tail, extra attack (Str+d6-2) has Reach
82-83 Stretchy, can squeeze through spaces ¼ Size at ½ Pace
84-86 Improved Frenzy
87-89 Pounce, Leap 1d6”, +4 attack & damage, Parry reduced –2
90-91 Webbing, Small Burst Template, range = Strength x 2, Toughness 7, all caught suffer – 4 to physical actions
92-94 Tentacles (d6)
95-96 Spit Attack, range = Strength x 2, 2d6 damage, various trappings
97 Roll again, add an extra Chaos Ability
98 Roll again, add an extra Chaos Edge
99 Roll again, add a Minor Chaos Gift
100 Roll again, add a Major Chaos Gift

Chaos Edges (d100)

01 Masked

02-04 Alertness

05-06 Ambidextrous

07-08 Berserk

09-10 Brawny

11-13 Fast Healer

14-15 Quick

16-18 Block

19-20 Improved Block

21-22 Combat Reflexes

23-24 Dodge

25-26 Improved Dodge

27-28 First Strike

29-30 Improved First Strike

31-32 Fleet Footed

33-34 Florentine

35-36 Frenzy

37-38 Improved Frenzy

39-40 Hard to Kill

41-42 Harder to Kill

43-44 Level Headed

45–46 Improved Level Headed

47-48 Marksman (add Shooting d6)

49-50 Nerves of Steel

51-52 Improved Nerves of Steel

53-54 Steady Hands

55-56 Sweep

57-58 Improved Sweep

59-60 Trademark Weapon: Fighting d10, Alien

blade (Str + d6)

61-62 Trademark Weapon: Shooting d10,

Alien shooting weapon (2d6, 6/12/48)

63-64 Improved Trademark Weapon: Fighting

d10, Alien blade (Str + d8)

65-66 Improved Trademark Weapon: Shooting

d10, Alien shooting weapon (2d8, 12/24/72)

67-68 Two Fisted

69-70 Command

71-72 Fervor

73-74 Hold the Line!

75-76 Inspire

77-78 Natural Leader

79-80 Combat Sense (no Gang Up bonus)

81-82 Acrobat

83-84 Investigator

85-86 Jack of All Trades

87-88 McGyver

89-90 Scholar

91-92 Thief

93-94 Charismatic

95-96 Strong Willed

97-99 Danger Sense

100 Healer

Chaos Edges (d100)

01 Masked

02-04 Alertness

05-06 Ambidextrous

07-08 Berserk

09-10 Brawny

11-13 Fast Healer

14-15 Quick

16-18 Block

19-20 Improved Block

21-22 Combat Reflexes

23-24 Dodge

25-26 Improved Dodge

27-28 First Strike

29-30 Improved First Strike

31-32 Fleet Footed

33-34 Florentine

35-36 Frenzy

37-38 Improved Frenzy

39-40 Hard to Kill

41-42 Harder to Kill

43-44 Level Headed

45–46 Improved Level Headed

47-48 Marksman (add Shooting d6)

49-50 Nerves of Steel

51-52 Improved Nerves of Steel

53-54 Steady Hands

55-56 Sweep

57-58 Improved Sweep

59-60 Trademark Weapon: Fighting d10, Alien

blade (Str + d6)

61-62 Trademark Weapon: Shooting d10,

Alien shooting weapon (2d6, 6/12/48)

63-64 Improved Trademark Weapon: Fighting

d10, Alien blade (Str + d8)

65-66 Improved Trademark Weapon: Shooting

d10, Alien shooting weapon (2d8, 12/24/72)

67-68 Two Fisted

69-70 Command

71-72 Fervor

73-74 Hold the Line!

75-76 Inspire

77-78 Natural Leader

79-80 Combat Sense (no Gang Up bonus)

81-82 Acrobat

83-84 Investigator

85-86 Jack of All Trades

87-88 McGyver

89-90 Scholar

91-92 Thief

93-94 Charismatic

95-96 Strong Willed

97-99 Danger Sense

100 Healer

Minor Chaos Gifts (d100)

01-04 Increase Strength +1 die type

05-08 Increase Agility +1 die type

09-12 Increase Smarts +1 die type

13-16 Increase Spirit +1 die type

17-20 Increase Vigor +1 die type

21-24 Increase Pace +2, Running d8

25-28 Increase Parry +1

29-32 Toughness +1

33-36 Smooth Tongue, +1 Charisma

37-40 Pheromones, +2 Charisma with opposite sex

41-44 Quick

45-48 Followers

49-52 Hardy

53-56 Infravision

57-58 Immunity: Fire

59-60 Immunity: Cold

61-62 Immunity: Electricity

63-66 Low Light Vision

67-71 Razor Claws (retractable, Str+d4)

72-74 Jumping (may jump Pace x 2)

75-78 Armor +2

79-83 Cloak of Shadows, +2 Stealth

84-88 Reroll, also gain a Chaos Edge

89-90 Immunity: Poison

91-92 Immunity: Disease

93-96 Uncanny senses, +2 Notice

97-99 Roll a second Minor Chaos Gift

100 Roll a Major Chaos Gift

Major Chaos Gifts (d100)

01-04 Maximize Strength, d12 or +1

05-08 Maximize Agility, d12 or +1

09-12 Maximize Smarts, d12 or +1

13-16 Maximize Spirit, d12 or +1

17-20 Maximize Vigor, d12 or +1

21-24 Increase Pace +4, Running d10

25-28 Increase Parry +2

29-32 Armor +3

33-36 Smooth talker, Charisma +2

37-40 Pheromones, +4 Charisma with opposite sex

41-44 Burrowing

45-48 Ethereal once per day, 1d12 rounds

49-52 Fearless

53-56 Infectious bite, make Vigor –1 roll, or…

1 Vigor die reduced to d4

2 Permanent level of Fatigue

3 Spirit die reduced to d4

4 Reduce Smarts to d4

57-58 Invulnerability, roll for weakness

1 Holy Relic (blessed weapon)

2 Magic

3 Fire

4 Sunlight

59-60 Paralyzing Touch

61-62 Poisonous touch, make Vigor roll, or…

1 Vigor die reduced to d4

2 Permanent level of Fatigue

3 Spirit die reduced to d4

4 Reduce Smarts to d4

63-64 Slow Regeneration

65-66 Fast Regeneration

67-71 Razor Claws, retractable (Str+d8)

72-74 Size increases +1

75-78 Armor +4

79-83 Stun attack (various trappings)

84-88 Wall Walker

89-90 Fiery Breath (cone template, Agility-2 to

dodge, 2d10 damage

91-92 Spiked prehensile tail, extra attack

(Str+d6-2) has Reach

93-95 Winged flight, normal Pace, may “run”

96 Armor +6

97-99 Roll an additional Minor Chaos Gift and

reroll this Major Chaos Gift

100 Roll a second Major Chaos Gift

Chaos Hindrances (d100)

01-03 All Thumbs

04-07 Anemic

08-11 Arrogant

12-15 Bad Eyes (minor)

16-17 Bad Eyes (major)

18-20 Bad Luck

21-23 Big Mouth

24-25 Clueless

26-27 Code of Honor

28-30 Curious

31-33 Death Wish

34-36 Delusional (minor)

37-38 Delusional (major)

39-41 Weakness (+4 damage from some

specific type of attack

42-44 Greedy (minor)

45-47 Greedy (major)

48-50 Hard of Hearing (minor)

51 Hard of Hearing (major)

52-54 Lame

55-57 Loyal

58-60 Mean

61-63 Obese

64-66 One Arm

67-69 One Eye

70-72 One Leg

73-75 Glass Jaw (-2 Soak rolls)

76-78 Overconfident

79-81 Small

82-84 Stubborn

85-87 Ugly

88-90 Vengeful (minor)

91-92 Vengeful (major)

93-95 Bloodthirsty

96-97 Weakness (double damage from some

specific attack)

98-99 Roll again, and add an extra Chaos

Hindrance

100 Gain an extra Chaos Edge

Domibian Races: #2 Spawn of Enegala

A quick disclaimer: I am in the process of rewriting (or rather redrawing) my map of Domibia and nailing down the final dispersion of the various cultures. Until I get that done I am going to be concentrating on races that are either isolated (and don’t require as much geographic info) or are without a culture hearth (usually these are predatory races that prey on and live amongst the human cultures.

If anybody actually read my Arajay creation story/poem they may remember reference to the Other. The Other has come to be called Enegala and functions as the Devil for both the Arajay and the newer human/demi-human races. For millenia Enegala has brooded beneath the surface of the world, remembering that Araj, his creator tried to destroy him.

He is the personification of unrestrained creation, spawning a multitude of creatures and mutating others through his taint. He isn’t neccessarily evil but he does appear that way to those he mutates or those slain by his creations.

I’ll deal with bargaining with him for magicical power when I tackle Domibian magic.

For now I want to deal with Enegala’s spawn. This is one of the more difficult “races” to convert from my SAFUG system. Because of the huge variety of types that Enegala creates it is hard to make up an average set of stats. Anyone with a knowledge of Runequest’s Glorantha can think of Enegala as a slightly more benign source of chaos and chaotic features.

Originally (in SAFUG) each attribute was rolled on 1d8 d6’s, for an “average” of 16 for each attribute. But I don’t want to have to introduce d8’s to GURPS (but if you have a d8 just use it). If you choose to not use a d8, for each of the attributes (I treat Perc & Will as distinct from IQ) roll 2d-3 (min 1) and roll that many dice for the attribute. This gives an average of 16 but makes the lower and higher ends less likely. Some Enegalan spawn have Magery, if you want to roll randomly, then use 5d-25.
For attractiveness (or lack thereof) roll 3d: 17-18:Horrific, 15-16:Monstrous, 13-14:Hideous, 11-12:Ugly, 9-10:Unattractive, 8-7:Average, 6:Attractive, 5:Handsome/Beautiful, 4:Very Handsome/Beautiful, 3:Trancendent.

For size, roll 2d-5 for the size modifier and then approximate the height and weight using the table on B19.

Then we need to figure out what sort of “chaotic features” or mutations it has. Currently I only have the “chaos” tables for the Savage Worlds system (swiped from the Realms of Cthulhu book), so I need to convert it all to GURPS.

Here is the Savage Worlds system chaotic features table (I am in the process of converting it to GURPS). Use it as follows.
Chaos Abilities: Make a Will roll, a success grants a roll on the Chaos Abilities Table, every four points the roll succeeds by grants an additional roll.
Chaos Edges: Make a Will roll, a success grants a roll on the Chaos Edges Table,
every four points the roll succeeds by grants an additional roll.
Chaos Gifts: Make a Will roll, a success grants a roll on the Minor Chaos Gifts Table, every six points the roll succeeds by grants an additional roll.
Hindrances: Each failed Will roll (above) requires that a Chaos Hindrance be rolled.

The spawn of Enegala can be found in any locale, with some regions being tainted to a greater extent than others. Some form groups with some form of leadership, others are solitary. They sometimes speak a local language but often can speak (or understand) their own tongue, refered to as Primordial by scholars. Use Basque as an analog for naming purposes (for the more intelligent spawn).

Here are some examples of Enegalan spawn.

Here is a fairly human looking Enegalan.

Here is a totally non-human looking Enegalan.

Here is a freakish Enegalan abnormality.

Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

Domibian Races: #1a Feral Arajay

As mentioned in my previous post about the Arajay, after their god died and the world was overrun with humans and demi-humans, the Arajay slowly retired back to their Mountain Home. In many cases they simply abandoned their homes and anything they couldn’t carry. In some cases though, they left guards behind. This was very common with highly magical locations or sites with sentimental value.

These guards were chosen from individuals who showed little aptitude for the racial memory that Arajay usually have. The reason was that it had already become apparent that the mortality rate in newborns and their mothers was going up without Araj’s divine blessings. They figured that the guards would breed but have a better chance at survival without the enlarged brains that were causing the troubles. This worked fine in many cases.

Some of these “rear guards” were overrun in the following centuries by various human cultures that encountered them. But in some areas that didn’t have any human culture hearths nearby and the Arajay were unmolested for in some cases up to 800 years and their own culture changed. Without the racial memory and because the original “guards” had in a lot of cases been the dregs of their society, they slowly became more and more debased.

These now feral Arajay are still encountered in ancient ruins and what had been isolated nature preserves a millenia ago. They no longer even remember that the ruins they guard were once created by their own race.

Let’s take a look at their GURPS stats (some of it is the same as the civilized Arajay).

Physical Stuff
As with their still-civilized bretheren the feral Arajay are stronger than a normal human. The males have a ST of 16 [60] and the females have ST 14 [40]. They don’t really have a size modifier since they would need to be 9 feet tall to get a SM +1. For their being more robust than even their high ST accounts for they get 2 extra HP [4]. I felt they should have a HT of 11 because only the healthiest would probably survive their lifestyle. So that would give them HT +1 [10]. They have tough skin that gives them DR 1 [3] on their torso (their skin is thicker there than elsewhere on their bodies). Their trunk acts as an Extra Arm (Extra Flexible, Weak 1/2 ST) [13]. They no longer have the Racial Memory or the Extended Lifespan.

They don’t have much in the way of physical disadavantages (as a race), but they are a bit slower than you would expect which gives them a -0.25 Basic Speed [-5]. Due to their rather clumsy, large-fingered hands they suffer from Ham Fisted 1 [-1] (modified because it doesn’t affect their trunks). They have -1 to IQ and Will [-15] (Perception stays at 10) due to their inbreeding and general feral nature.

Cultural Stuff
Feral Arajay are TL 0 while the rest of the world is primarily TL 3, so Feral Arajay will have Low TL -3 [-15].
Most feral Arajay will have an Intolerance of non-Arajay [-10] and they will have the Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5] and be illiterate [-3].
Male Feral Arajay total out at [36] points and females total out at [16]. I would never expect these guys to be PC’s so I am only including point values for the sake of completeness.

A feral male Arajay with their common spear-thrower/clubs (they hold spare javelins with their trunk).

A feral female Arajay. This pic really shows the detail of their two-fingered hands.

Other Domibian Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay

A Couple of Suggestions for World Builders

Just on the off chance that someone hasn’t discovered these useful tools yet, I have got a lot of mileage out of a series of books by Mark Rosenfelder.

 

A Couple of House Rules

Just a quick little blurb here about a couple of house rules I use in pretty much everything I run (mostly).

The first is regarding the 2 points of DR that the skull offers. I don’t actually treat it as regular DR, it’s just there to prevent the first two points of damage from being quadrupled for being a brain hit. So if a character gets stabbed in the skull  for one point of damage, they still take one point of damage, the “DR” just prevents it from being a brain hit. I do the same thing for the torso in regards to vitals damage and impaling type attacks. The ribs are supposed to protect your vitals (at least in the upper torso) and this rule lets them do that without actually stopping the attacks (which would be kinda silly).

The second house rule is more far-reaching in that it affects the mechanics for magic in most of my campaigns. In both Domibia and the dimension hopping campaign I use a pool of magic points, rather than FP. All characters have magical energy points equal to their Will squared and then divided by (10- Magery) that are free of charge. So the average person, with no magery, has a Will of 10 and thus Magic Energy of 10^2/10 = 10. A Domibian wizard might have a Will of 14 and Magery 3 giving him 28 Magic Energy (14^2 = 196/7 = 28). I usually treat Will and Perception as separate attributes, divorced from IQ. Characters can still try and use FP if they need to, but since I also use the expanded Fatigue rules from The Last Gasp, that can be a slippery slope.

I think this second rule is a result of my formative gaming years being spent playing Runequest where you use Willpower to fuel spells. I haven’t noticed any balance problems with either rule. They both cut both ways, so they seem balanced…

 

Domibian Races: #1 The Arajay

I am restarting what I began way back in 2015 when I started this blog, and am working on my fantasy world of Domibia again.

So I am restarting things with one of the more important races on the planet, the Arajay.

The Arajay were the first race created by the god Araj and they thrived for thousands of years. Besides occasional factional fighting life was peaceful for most of their history. Sometimes there would be an outbreak of Enegalan monstrosities that needed to be eradicated, but mostly they explored the world and made advances in science and magic. A large percentage of the Arajay lived in the area called Ee-Onamay (Mountain Home), which included a huge “hand” crafted (by the god Araj) mountain, riddled with passages and huge galleries.

When Araj died (during the act of trying to create another race) the Arajay were understandably devastastated. They were confused by the sudden appearance of scores of different races all over their world (except for the continent where Ee-Onamay was). The Arajay who lived on teh other continents fought against the new races in some cases and avoided them in others. Their magic still worked, but any and all attempts to contact Araj were dismal failures. Most of the Arajay returned to Ee-Onamay or in the case of six small cities, they magically lifted the cities off the surface and now float around the planet about 4000 meters above the ground.

Nowadays, (one thousand years after the death of Araj) the Arajay are rarely encountered unless you travel to Ee-Onamay. They have completely withdrawn from all the other continents (not counting the floating cities). An occasional excursion to face some grave Enegalan menace is about all the contact they Arajay have with the current world.

The Arajay are bipedal anthropomorphic elephants. The males weigh around 420 lbs and stand 7’0″ tall, the females weigh 325 lbs and stand 6’8″.

The males look like this…

Physical Stuff
The Arajay have several physical advantages and attribute modifiers (I will discuss cultural ads & disads a bit later). Obviously the Arajay are stronger than a normal human, given their size. The males have a ST of 16 [60] and the females have ST 14 [40]. They don’t really have a size modifier since they would need to be 9 feet tall to get a SM +1. For their being more robust than even their high ST accounts for they get 2 extra HP [4]. They have tough skin that gives them DR 1 [3] on their torso (their skin is thicker there than elsewhere on their bodies). They have a passive Racial Memory [15] from their ability to access their ancestor’s memories. This ability is why they are dying out slowly (see below). They live twice as long as a human and so get Extended Lifespan 1 [2]. Their trunk acts as an Extra Arm (Extra Flexible, Weak 1/2 ST) [13].

They don’t have much in the way of physical disadavantages (as a race), but they are a bit slower than you would expect which gives them a -0.25 Basic Speed [-5]. Due to their rather clumsy, large-fingered hands they suffer from Ham Fisted 1 [-1] (modified because it doesn’t affect their trunks). They also have a 0 point feature I call Difficult Births. Without the divine magic that assisted them with delivery, they now suffer around a 75% chance of dying in childbirth. The reason is that over the centuries their skulls have enlarged somewhat to keep up with the racial memories they can access, while their birth canals have stayed static.

Cultural Stuff
The majority of Arajay will be comfortably TL 4 with TL 5 in medicine. The rest of the world is primarily TL 3, so most Arajay will have High TL +1 [5].
When Araj was still alive they considered themselves stewards of his world and the practiced what we would call conservationism. Even with Araj no longer around, many Arajay still feel this way, and more importantly it is assumed that you should feel that way (if you are an Arajay). This is a “culturally expected” Vow (Preserve Nature) [-5]. By culturally expected I mean that Arajay society expects them to feel that way, so not acting that way may carry a reaction penalty. Some Arajay may have this as a Quirk, some may lack it completely and simply pretend to have it.

****There are a lot of “culturally expected” traits in the various cultures of Domibia, so I will be using this fairly often.

Male Arajay total out at [96] points ([91] if they have the culturally expected Vow), and females total out at [76].

EDIT: I totally forgot that the Arajay should probably have Ham Fisted 1 [-5] with their hands, but be able to use their trunks for fine detail work. I’m not sure how that would affect the value of Ham Fisted…

As per a suggestion from Anders on the SJGames GURPS forum I have gone with a value of [-1] for Ham Fisted 1. I have included this in the main article.

Racial Write-Ups

#6 Zarugiza
#5 Vormade
#4 The Ready
#3 M’rrr
#2 Spawn of Enegala
#1a Feral Arajay
#1 Arajay