Hero System 6th - Champions Beyond

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Steven S. Long



Evil and injustice aren’t confined to Earth. It’s a big

galaxy out there, full of threats and enemies for

superheroes to battle. Champions Beyond is your

guide to outer space, other planets, and aliens in

the Champions Universe — worlds and worlds of

adventure! It includes:

H a review of humanity’s history with aliens, in-

cluding information on and Templates for the

alien species humans have encountered

H a look at what’s happening on the Moon and

the planets of Earth’s solar system

H a detailed description of Malva, the most ad-

vanced planet in the Galaxy, including the

famed Malvan Arena and its super-gladiators

H information on the major alien menaces cur-

rently confronting humanity: the Hzeel, the

Qularr, the Gadroon, and the Elder Worm

H a description of the Star*Guard, the Galaxy’s

greatest defenders of justice and freedom H the secrets of the Galaxy revealed, including

information on aliens humanity hasn’t met, the

secret origin of the Progenitors, the truth be-

hind Selenus, and more

Get ready for new worlds of cosmic adventure

with Champions Beyond!

HERO

GAMES

ISBN: 978-1-58366-135-2 DOJHERO1106 $34.99 USwww.herogames.com





Steven S. Long

Scott Bennie, Jim Cambias, Dean Shomshak, Jason Walters, Darren Watts, and Cryptic Studios

Darren Watts

Fred Hicks

Sam R. Kennedy

Brett Barkley, Andrew Cremeans, Brian & Brendon Fraim, John Grigni, Scott Heine,

Mark Helwig, Christian N. St. Pierre, Johnathan Wyke, and Cryptic Studios

John Lees

To Cryptic Studios, for coming with reasons for me to play around on the Moon;and to Brian Gilmore, for making me think more closely about the Malvans.

HERO System™® is DOJ, Inc.’s trademark for its roleplaying system.HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002, 2009 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights

reserved.Champions, Dark Champions, and all associated characters © 1981-2009 Cryptic Studios, Inc. All

rights reserved. “Champions” and “Dark Champions” are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc.“Champions” and “Dark Champions” are used under license from Cryptic Studios, Inc.

Fantasy Hero Copyright © 2003 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.Pulp Hero Copyright © 2005 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.Star Hero, Justice Inc., Danger International, and Western Hero Copyright © 2002 by DOJ, Inc.

d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,recording, or computerization, or by any information storage andretrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher:DOJ, Inc., 226 E. 54th Street, #605, New York, NY 10022-48541.Printed in Canada. First printing May 2011.Produced and distributed by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games.Stock Number: DOJHERO1106ISBN Number: 978-1-58366-135-2http://www.herogames.com

CHAMPIONS

BEYONDA SETTING BOOK FOR CHAMPIONS



TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION .................................... 5

CHAPTER ONE:LIFE FROM BEYOND:

HUMANITY’S HISTORY

WITH ALIENSLIFE FROM BEYOND ............................. 8HUMANITY AND ALIENS:THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS ...... 18

CHAPTER TWO:WHO’S OUT THERE?: ALIENSPECIES OF KNOWN SPACE

KNOWN ALIENS .................................. 24ACKÁLIANS ....................................... 24AZ’ARC’A .......................................... 26DENDRIANS ...................................... 27FASSAI ............................................. 28

IXENDAR ........................................... 29JAKKARI ........................................... 30KUZANE ............................................ 31MANDAARIANS ................................. 32MON’DABI ........................................ 33MQRO .............................................. 34ODRUGARANS ................................... 34PERSEIDS ......................................... 36SIRIANS ............................................ 37VAYATHURANS .................................. 38

COSMIC ENTITIES............................... 40CHRONO ........................................... 40THE CORELORDS .............................. 40

THE GALAXARS ................................. 41THE EXAMINER............................. 41THE LAWBRINGER ........................ 43THE WARMONGER ....................... 45

Other Galaxars ................................ 47THE GODS CELESTIAL ....................... 48LORD ENTROPY ................................ 48MORTALUS ....................................... 48

CHAPTER THREE: THE MOONSELENUS ............................................ 50

THE SELENITES ................................. 51CURRENT EVENTS ............................. 52

NOTABLE SELENITES ......................... 52GRLTHK ....................................... 52KNTLA ......................................... 54ELGRM ........................................ 54

REVENGER ......................................... 55REVENGER’S LUNAR AMAZONS ......... 59HAMAZAKAR CRATER AND CAVERN ... 60THE LOST LAB .................................. 63

THE HUMAN-GADROON CREATURE 63

THE FORUM MALVANUM .................... 65THE FORUM ...................................... 66THE MAIN ARENA .............................. 69FORUM PERSONNEL.......................... 70

TATEKLYS .................................... 71KOVARL ....................................... 74TERALA SHAIN ............................. 75GLADIATORS ................................ 77FROSTBITE .................................. 77JAA’LU DARKMAW ....................... 80MALACHITE ................................. 82TALON ......................................... 83ZPARTYKYS ................................. 85

MOONBASE SERENITY .......................87

CHAPTER FOUR: THE SOLAR SYSTEM

THE SOLAR SYSTEM .......................... 90VENUS .............................................. 90MARS ............................................... 90THE ASTEROID BELT .......................... 92THE GAS GIANTS AND THE OUTER PLAN-ETS ................................................. 92

CHAPTER FIVE:MALVA, PLANET OF THE

SUPER-GLADIATORSMALVA ................................................ 94

MALVAN BIOLOGY .............................94THE WORLD OF MALVA...................... 96MALVAN HISTORY............................ 100MALVAN SOCIETY ............................ 104

Malvan Government ...................... 104THE MALVAN ECONOMY .................. 106ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT ............ 106MALVAN TECHNOLOGY .................... 108

MALVAN WORLDSHIP ................. 109MALVAN SKYSPEAR ................... 110

THE MALVAN ARENA ........................ 112RULES OF THE ARENA ..................... 112ARENA OPPONENTS ........................ 117

MALVAN BATTLE-ROBOT ............ 116AZ’ARC’A “PANTHER” ................ 117GRENLAK ULTA-FALCON ............ 117

TORACTAN SHARD-BEAST .......... 117NOTABLE GLADIATORS .................... 120DAWNBIRD ................................ 120GOR’JAPP SCARMAKER ............. 122HALBERDIER .............................. 124MELIAROS THE BRIGHT .............. 126PLASMARAX .............................. 128

MALVAN EXPATRIATES ..................... 130ATTAKON ................................... 130ATHULOS STARHEART ................ 132TELXAXARES .............................. 135

CHAPTER SIX: THE HZEEL, BLUE-SKINNED INVADERS

THE HZEEL ....................................... 13HZEEL BIOLOGY .............................. 13

ZEEL, THE HZEEL HOMEWORLD ....... 13HZEEL HISTORY............................... 14HZEEL SOCIETY ............................... 14

Hzeel Government ......................... 14The Hzeel Economy ....................... 14Hzeel Family Life ........................... 14Hzeel Arts And Entertainment ........ 14Hzeel Religion ............................... 14

HZEEL TECHNOLOGY ....................... 14Hzeel Starships ............................. 14

TKARKU- CLASS WARSHIP .......... 14SHDUKO -CLASS MARAUDER ...... 14

NOTABLE HZEEL ............................... 14

ADMIRAL NORCK ....................... 14ARTH THE SCAR ......................... 15

GENERIC HZEEL .............................. 15HZEEL GANGSTER ...................... 15HZEEL SOLDIER ......................... 15HZEEL SPY ................................. 15

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE QULARR, CREATORS

OF MONSTERSTHE QULARR .................................... 15

QULARR BIOLOGY ........................... 15REQQAT, THE QULARR HOMEWORLD 15

QULARR HISTORY ............................ 15QULARR SOCIETY ............................ 16

Qularr Government ........................ 16The Qularr Economy ...................... 1Qularr Family Life .......................... 16Qularr Arts And Entertainment ....... 16Qularr Religion .............................. 16

QULARR TECHNOLOGY .................... 16Qularr Starships ............................ 16

QU’NA-CLASS HEAVY FIGHTER ...16HSSQA-CLASS LIGHT WARSHIP .. 16QULARR AIR-RUNNER ................. 16

NOTABLE QULARR ............................ 17SUPERPOWERED QULARR ............... 17

CLASS 7 MENTALIST .................. 17CLASS 3 METAMORPH ............... 17

GENERIC QULARR ........................... 17QULARR INVASION LEADER ........17QULARR DRONE ......................... 17QULARR SHOCK TROOPER ......... 17QULARR BUGKEEPER .................. 17QULARR FIREBUG ....................... 17QULARR SWARM ........................ 17



CHAPTER EIGHT:THE GADROON, GREEN-SKINNED

MASTERS OF GRAVITY THE GADROON ................................. 182

GADROON BIOLOGY ........................ 182GADROON HISTORY......................... 182GADROON SOCIETY ......................... 184

Gadroon Government .................... 185The Gadroon Economy .................. 185Gadroon Family Life ...................... 185Gadroon Arts And Entertainment .... 185Gadroon Religion .......................... 186

GADROON TECHNOLOGY ................. 186Gadroon Starships ........................ 186

DRUQO -CLASS INVADER ............ 186SCOBA-CLASS WARSHIP ............ 186

NOTABLE GADROON ......................... 189“SUPERPOWERED” GADROON ......... 189

COMMANDER ............................ 189SKY-KNIGHT............................... 191

GENERIC GADROON ........................ 193

GADROON GRAVITIC SHAPER ..... 193GADROON ADJUDICATOR ........... 193GADROON LANCER .................... 196GADROON GRAVITIC INITIATE ..... 196GADROON PACIFIER ................... 196GADROON OBSERVER ................ 196

CHAPTER NINE: THE ELDER WORM, TERRORS

OF THE GALAXY THE ELDER WORM ........................... 202

ELDER WORM BIOLOGY ................... 202ELDER WORM WORLDS ................... 204ELDER WORM HISTORY ................... 205ELDER WORM SOCIETY ...................207

Elder Worm Government ................ 207Elder Worm Arts And Entertainment 208Elder Worm Religion ...................... 208

ELDER WORM TECHNOLOGY............ 209Elder Worm Starships .................... 210

UULTHLAS- CLASS CARRIER WARSHIP210SH’ATHEF -CLASS FIGHTER/SCOUT210

NOTABLE ELDER WORM ................... 213SUPERPOWERED ELDER WORM ....... 213

ONE WHO ENSORCELS ............... 213WGLU THE MIGHTY ....................215

GENERIC ELDER WORM ................... 217

ELDER WORM ACOLYTE ............. 217ELDER WORM ASPIRANT ............ 217ELDER WORM INITIATE ............... 217ELDER WORM SORCERER........... 218ELDER WORM WARRIOR............. 218THANE ....................................... 218

CHAPTER TEN: THE STAR*GUARD, PROTECTORS

OF THE GALAXY THE STAR*GUARD ............................ 226

THE HISTORY OF THE STAR*GUARD..226THE STAR*GUARD TODAY ................ 231

Organization And Structure ............ 231The Sector System ........................ 232Star*Guard Philosophy, Codes, Tradi-

tions, And Procedures ................... 232The Star*Guard In Galactic Society . 232

THE STAR*GUARD ON ODRUGAR...... 234The Council Of Overseers .............. 234

OVERSEER SIXTEEN .................... 234CONTROL (FULLY FUNCTIONAL) .. 237CONTROL (AFTER 2009 ATTACK) 238

The Citadel Of The Guard .................. 2THE GUARDSMEN............................ 239

Becoming A StarGuard ..................240

Specialized StarGuards ..................241STARGUARD ANDRE ALMENA ..... 243

ENEMIES OF THE STAR*GUARD ........ 246ASTRON .................................... 246MORDACE ................................. 249XARRIEL .................................... 251

CHAPTER ELEVEN:SECRETS OF THE GALAXY

THE GM’S VAULT .............................. 256OTHER ALIENS.................................. 264THREATS FROM BEYOND .................289

ANDROMEDA GALAXY SUPERHUMANS ...289THE NIBU GEMANI ........................... 289

TYPICAL NIBU GEMANI ............... 290SEXTANS DWARF GALAXY SUPERHU-MANS ............................................. 292

COSMIC ARTIFACTS .......................... 293The Annihilation Scepter ................ 293The Cosmic Gems ......................... 293The Kdothri Mirror ......................... 294

THE PROGENITORS ........................... 295Kelvarite ....................................... 297



Champions Beyond n Introduction

ne of the best things about playingChampions is that there are so fewrestrictions on where characters cango and what they can do when they get

there. Tey might visit vast subterranean realms,or journey to the undersea city of Atlantis, or visit another dimension. Most intriguingly of all,they might go into space. Since the earliest days

of superhero comics, adventures away from Earth— on the Moon, on another planet, or in the vastdarkness of space itself — have been a prominentpart of the genre. Superheroing in space allowscreators to mix Science Fiction and Superheroesto whatever extent they like, and makes possiblestories and adventures of such vast cosmic scopeand power that they simply can’t be confined to asingle planet (even one as interesting as Earth).

Champions Beyond brings this sort of outerspace adventure and excitement into your Cham-pions game. It looks at what’s going on in theMilky Way Galaxy of the modern-day ChampionsUniverse — everything from criminal machina-

tions on the Moon, to strange alien planets super-heroes sometimes visit, to amazing alien civiliza-tions so far away from Earth that Humanity’snever even heard of them. It’s perfect for injectingsome cosmic adventure into your character orcampaign!

Chapter One, Life From Beyond, discussesHumanity’s history to date with aliens and otherthings from outer space (which is mainly a chron-icle of invasions, since Humans don’t yet have thecapability to visit other star systems on a regularbasis). It also discusses how Humanity (and/or various governments and institutions) currentlydeal with the issues and problems posed by the

existence of extraterrestrial life and civilizations.Chapter wo, Who’s Out Tere?: Alien SpeciesOf Known Space, describes the handful of alienspecies that Humanity’s aware of that aren’tcovered in a later chapter, such as the Ackálians,the Mandaarians, the Perseids, and the Sirians. Itincludes both what Humanity knows about thosespecies, and information humans don’t have yet(but that superheroes might).

Chapter Tree, Te Moon, reveals what’s occur-ring on the Moon in the Champions Universe asof 2011. As far as most Humans know it’s a barrensatellite world — but in fact there’s a lot goingon there, not all of it helpful or safe for Earth.

Te Malvans have set up a secret arena to stagesuperpowered gladiatorial battles for their ownamusement, the ancient city of Selenus seetheswith revolt, and the supervillain Revenger, longthought dead, lurks in a hidden cavern and plansto show Earth why he got his name.

Chapter Four, Te Solar System, expandsbeyond Earth’s immediate orbit to look at hercelestial neighbors, including Venus, Mars, theasteroid belt, and Jupiter. It’s not always as calmand quiet out there as most people think!

Chapter Five, Malva: Planet Of Te Super-Glad-iators, describes Malva, the most technologically-advanced planet in the Galaxy. Freed of all need to

support themselves, and granted immortality bytheir ultra-science, the Malvans have become theultimate decadents. Malvan civilization is perhapsbest known for the fearsome gladiatorial battlesthe planet’s ruler, the Phazor, stages for his and hissubjects’ amusement.

Chapter Six, Te Hzeel: Blue-Skinned Invaders, discusses a threat to Earth that Humanity isn’teven aware of yet: the Hzeel, an aggressive speciesof short, blue-skinned beings who are at war withthe Perseids and want to use mankind’s home-world as an observation post and staging ground.

SUPER“HUMAN” For ease of reference, Champions Beyond

sometimes uses the term “superhuman” torefer to individuals with superpowers whoaren’t actually Human. echnically it wouldbe more accurate to refer to superperseids,supermalvans, superqularr, and so on, butthat would become awkward. So when youread “superhuman,” assume it means someonewho has superpowers regardless of his speciesunless the context indicates otherwise.

ABBREVIATIONS

This book uses the

following abbre-

viations to refer to

other HERO System

books:

6E1: The HERO

System 6th Edition,

Volume I: Character

Creation

6E2: The HERO

System 6th Edition,

Volume II: Combat

And Adventuring

APG: The HERO

System Advanced

Player’s Guide

CU: Champions

Universe

CV 1, 2, 3: The

respective three

volumes of Cham-

pions Villains

HSB: The HERO

System Bestiary

HSEG: The HERO

System Equipment

Guide

HSG: The HERO

System Grimoire

HSMA: HERO

System Martial Arts

HSS: HERO System

Skills



6 n Introduction Hero System 6th Edition

Chapter Seven, Te Qularr: Creators Of Monsters, describes the Qularr, who first attackedEarth in the Sixties, and then again in 2009.Having established a permanent beachhead onMonster Island during their 2009 attack, they’renow trying to conquer the rest of the planet.

Chapter Eight, Te Gadroon: Green-Skinned Masters Of Gravity, describes the third currentmajor alien threat to Earth. Using their gravitictechnology, the batrachoid Gadroon have fortifieda landing zone in the Canadian wilderness andeven infiltrated some major cities using holo-graphic disguises.

Chapter Nine, Te Elder Worm: errors OfTe Galaxy, details an enemy Humanity has beenaware of for years — the hideous Elder Worm, thepeople of the master villain called the Slug — butdid not know is actually from outer space. Teircombination of super-sorcery and super-tech-nology may make the Elder Worm the deadliest ofall of mankind’s alien menaces.

Chapter en, Te Star*Guard, describes theMilky Way’s greatest protection against all sorts of

dangers: the Star*Guard, a millennia-old “galacticpolice force” whose members wield powerful Star-Staffs in the fight against injustice, cruelty, andevil. Having recently suffered a devastating attackat the hands of an old enemy, the Guard is in themidst of regrouping... and rebuilding back to itsold heights of glory and power.

Chapter Eleven, Secrets Of Te Galaxy, containsinformation that Humanity as a whole, and evenmost superheroes, are totally unaware of... ornearly so. (Some other pieces of informationthat are known to few, if any, people are le inearlier chapters for ease of reading and consis-tency of presentation.) It covers alien species

that Humanity’s never heard of or had contactwith, information on various cosmic artifacts andphenomena that superheroes might have to dealwith (including the strange mineral kelvarite),and reveals the secret history of the mysteriousProgenitors who were so instrumental in theevolution of Humanity and many other sentientspecies.

So make sure you’re prepared for the rigors ofspace, are ready to confront the powerful beingsand villains who inhabit the Galaxy, and knowhow to find your way home — it’s time for super-powered adventure with Champions Beyond!

MMO INTO RPG,RPG INTO MMO

Champions Beyond includes material basedon the massively multiplayer online (MMO)roleplaying game Champions Online created byCryptic Studios. While a lot of effort has beendevoted to making sure the MMO content

is accurately represented in these books inHERO System terms, MMOs and RPGs aren’tthe same type of game, so the same type ofcontent isn’t appropriate for each one. Forexample, a villain’s lair in an MMO is deliber-ately simple, oen with one room leading toanother to guide game play. Tat doesn’t makemuch sense for an RPG, where it’s possible(and oen very useful) to expand thingsbeyond the scope of an MMO. Similarly, a villain or costume that works well on-screenin an MMO might not be as appropriate for apaper-and-pencil RPG (and vice-versa!).

Tus, the MMO-based information inthis book, while containing the essence of theChampions Online presentation, may add toit, or rework it in minor ways, to make thingsmore “realistic” and appropriate for an RPG.Characters who have one or two simple abili-ties in Champions Online may get fleshed outinto more detailed characters with a greater variety of powers in this book, since an RPGcharacter sheet isn’t constrained by the samerestrictions as an MMO. And of course, theremay be some MMO secrets that you shouldonly be able to learn by playing the MMOitself.

So don’t be surprised if you see some slight variation between the Champions Universeas portrayed in this book and the ChampionsUniverse of Champions Online. Te differ-ences are just the result of the book takingthe wonderful elements Cryptic Studios hascreated and doing even more with them.



LIFE FROM BEYOND:

HUMANITY’S HISTORY WITH ALIENS

Chapter

One



8 n Life From Beyond: Humanity’s History With Aliens Hero System 6th Edition

umanity’s had a known history of interac-tion with alien life — most oen, unfortu-nately, in the form of repelling invasionsby hostile (or simply greedy) extrater-

restrials — since 1938. Tere’s some evidence... orat least assertions and stories... of aliens visitingEarth prior to that (for example, the claim that themysterious Empyreans of Arcadia were created bythe even more mysterious alien Progenitors), but verifiable incidents only began taking place in theearly twentieth century.

Humanity’s first exposure to alien life aeryears of science fiction stories and idle speculationcame with shock and surprise the night of October30, 1938. Without warning that evening, five alienspacecra landed in a field near Grover’s Mill,New Jersey. Te unseen occupants used robotsto quickly construct an opaque metal dome overtheir ships.

Te police and National Guard quicklyresponded, but bullhorn-projected requests forinformation and offers to talk peacefully were metonly with mysterious mechanical sounds frominside the dome. Finally the commander of theNational Guard detachment sent a squad forwardto make contact with the dome and search forsome sort of door. As the squad approached,suddenly the dome split open. Where oncethere had been five spaceships, now five vehiclesmounted on tall tripod legs rose up from theground. Without warning one of them pointed atube at the squad and projected a reddish-orangebeam. Caught in the full force of the tripod’s fear-

some heat-ray, the soldiers instantly burst intoflames and fell to the ground as lifeless moundsof charred flesh. Te onlookers, uniformed andcivilian alike, barely had time to register what hadhappened before the other tripods opened fire aswell, killing everyone within range.

So began the rampage of what journalists soondescribed as “Martians.” Entire swaths of NewJersey were laid waste by heat-rays and the aliens’other weapon, poison gas that killed everything itcame into contact with (and le the flesh or plantmatter it killed disfigured with an oddly reddishcolor). Despite the best efforts of law enforcementand what few military units could be assembled intime, the five tripods made their way northward virtually unimpeded. Radio announcers, somenearly hysterical, reported the aliens’ progresstoward their presumed target: New York City.

As panic filled the streets of America’s greatestcity, four extraordinary individuals — the rookiesuperheroes Cowboy, Dr. wilight, Optimus, andSea Hawk — each decided to respond to the threatas best he could. Serendipitously, each of themencountered the Martians at roughly the sametime in the sparsely-settled area between NewBrunswick and Newark. Tough none of themhad ever met, they instinctively recognized ineach other that special spark of valor that marks a

true hero and began working together. Sea Hawkused her strength and speed, and Dr. wilighthis powers of light and darkness, to attack thetripods directly, while Cowboy tried to damagethe vehicles’ legs with precisely-placed shots andOptimus cleverly used features of the landscape toslow the tripods down.

Te first foray didn’t go well for the heroes.Several of them were badly scorched by heat-rays, and Optimus and Sea Hawk both narrowlyavoided being subjected to poison gas. But as thetripods approached the outskirts of Newark, thetables turned when Cowboy got lucky with a shotthat damaged one of the “knees” in the central

tripod’s forward leg. Te tripod nearly collapsed;the two on each side of it had to move quickly toprop it up.

Now unable to move quickly, the tripods soonfound themselves at the heroes’ mercy. Doctorwilight’s and Sea Hawk’s attacks slowly but surelybegan to have an effect, with cracks appearingin two tripods’ domes, and Optimus used somenearby electronic equipment to devise a weaponthat caused the Martians’ heat-rays to malfunction— one so badly that it somehow “turned” on itself,melting that tripod into a mound of slag.

1



Champions Beyond n Chapter One

Te tripods battled on for nearly half an hour,but it soon became as apparent to them as tothe heroes and human onlookers that they werefighting a losing battle. Suddenly each of thembegan to vibrate with a high-pitched whine, andtheir domes started to show signs of heating up.Warned by Optimus, the four heroes fled thescene just in time to get away from the tripodsbefore they exploded with a massive detonation

that virtually atomized the vehicles. All that wasle were the remains of the metal dome and afew bits and pieces of tripod leg, all of which werequickly gathered up and removed from public view by the United States government. Te fourheroes, recognizing how effective they were as ateam, formed the Defenders Of Justice.

Humanity’s next confirmed contact with alienlife didn’t attract the attention of superheroes: itcreated them.

In early 1959, several astronomers, govern-ment agencies around the world, and researchers,including US government scientist MichaelRenton, detected a large comet approaching Earth.For some reason it seemed to be heading directlytoward the planet, and from an angle that madelittle sense for a comet. Renton became convincedthat (a) “Comet X” (as he called it) wasn’t a naturalphenomenon, and (b) it posed a serious danger toEarth. It took months of meetings, but he finallyconvinced his superiors, and then their superiors(all the way up to President Eisenhower) thatthe threat couldn’t be ignored. With the papers

spreading stories about the “Doomsday Comet,”and people panicking and building shelters, thegovernment scrambled to find a way to avertdisaster.

One solution the government rejected asimpractical was Renton’s idea of sending a space-ship and crew out to meet Comet X millions ofmiles from Earth. Officials claimed that therewasn’t time to build a ship, and scoffed at Renton’sclaim that he’d been building one in the basementof his home. Realizing there was no other hope,Renton finished work on his ship, the Jules Verne, in early April 1959, just as the comet entered theouter solar system. Renton and his hastily-assem-

bled crew — his friend Ray Briggs as pilot, Ray’ssister Patty to operate the sensors and radio, hisold college buddy John “Whit” Whitley as geolo-gist and explosives expert, and his kid brotherAllen — launched the cra in time to meet CometX slightly beyond the orbit of Mars.

Renton soon discovered that his analysis hadbeen correct: Comet X was no ordinary comet.It was stable enough for the Verne to land on.Renton, Whitley, and Allen Renton went off toplant the explosives they hoped would destroy thecomet, while the Briggs siblings went exploring.

Tey didn’t get far before they were captured by apair of sophisticated robots. As the robots carriedthem inside Comet X, they learned it wasn’t acomet at all — it was a starship!

Te captain of the vessel, Ajok, explained thathe was a member of the Kuzane — a species ofnigh-immortal aliens who currently existed asdisembodied intellects elsewhere in the ship.Kuzane bodies were remarkably like Humans’

(albeit with copper-colored skin), and they’dbeen searching the Galaxy for centuries to finda compatible species whose forms they couldinhabit. When their instruments detected Earthand analyzed its inhabitants, they’d headed thereimmediately.

Meanwhile, the Renton brothers and Whitleyhad found their own way inside and avoidedthe Kuzane guard-robots. Tey came uponAjok giving the Briggses a tour of the vessel andoverpowered him. Once Patty explained the fullextent of the danger facing Earth, Renton knewthe “comet” had to be destroyed. Whitley plantedhis explosives in secret places while Renton

programmed the ship’s master computer to self-destruct. Te five friends just made it to the Verne in time to blast off ahead of the explosion. Teybarely survived the blast wave... and the wave ofstrange, alien radiation that followed it had anunpredicted effect on their Human bodies. Each ofthem was transformed in some way (most notablyWhitley, who became rocky-fleshed) and gainedsuperhuman powers. Te world would soon cometo know them as the Fabulous Five, the premiersuperhero team of the Silver Age.

THE CREATION OF VANGUARDBut as amazing as that incident was, it wasn’t

the only time that year that alien science altereda Human for the better. In September a soldiernamed Jeffrey Sinclair, assigned to protect anAmerican anthropological expedition in ibet,accidentally became separated from his compan-ions during a freak snowstorm. Stumblinghalf-blinded through the ibetan wilderness insearch of shelter, he unknowingly made his waythrough a hidden mountain pass into the Valley ofthe Lotus, site of the mysterious Nyingpa emple(“emple of the Ancient Ones”). Te monks therefound him when he collapsed on the emple’ssteps near death.

Te monks rescued Sinclair and nursed him

back to health over the next several weeks. Sincethe only way out of the Valley was now impass-able due to winter storms, Sinclair stayed andlearned something of the emple’s lore. When hefound out that the emple was the repository ofan ancient, supposedly mystical artifact called theBell of the Chosen, curiosity drove him to findout where it was kept. Even though no one but thelama was supposed to enter that room, Sinclaircouldn’t resist seeing the Bell. Once he was inside,a strange compulsion to ring the Bell entered hismind. Tough he knew he’d be discovered, he gavein and rang the Bell.




Te next thing he remembered was waking upthree hours later in another room, surrounded byevery monk in the emple. He expected them tobe angry, but instead they seemed... happy, evenworshipful of him. Stranger still, he felt better; he was definitely more muscular, possibly a littletaller, and felt filled with strength and vigor.

Sinclair soon discovered that the mystic powersof the Bell were only for a Chosen One born oncea millennium... and apparently he was that person!Te Bell’s energies had infused his body, grantinghim tremendous superpowers. He was strongenough to juggle house-sized boulders withoutstrain, withstood every weapon the monks hithim with or fired at him, could fly and move atincredible velocity, and more. Seemingly everycell, organ, and system within his body had beenhyper-powered by the Bell. Knowing he could nowsurvive the rigors of the ibetan winter, Sinclairthanked the monks profusely and flew back torejoin the expedition, pretending to have survivedwith the help of a peasant family.

Upon returning to the States, Sinclair decided

to put his powers to good use as a superhero,chose the name Vanguard, and soon helped toreform the Justice Squadron. From that day untilhis death at the hands of Dr. Destroyer in 1992, hewas widely regarded as the single most powerfulsuperhuman on Earth... and according to mostexperts still holds that title today, nearly twentyyears aer his death.

It was a good thing Humanity now had theFabulous Five and Vanguard as its protectors,for just six years later Earth experienced its firstfull-scale alien invasion attempt. Te attackers thistime were the Qularr, a quasi-insectoid, quasi-crustaceanoid species from a planet whose loca-tion remains unknown to this day (see Chapter

Seven for more information on the Qularr).Approaching under the concealment of the stealthfields generated by their starships, the Qularrscouted Earth in search of the right place to createa beachhead for their invasion. Exactly why theytargeted Earth for attack likewise remains uncer-tain; most experts assume they wanted Earth’scopious resources (particularly biological ones).

In May 1965 the Qularr apparently foundwhat they were looking for in a small, unnamedbarrier reef island about a hundred miles off thecoast of Japan. At the time it was unclear why theychose that particular location. Decades later therevelation of potential Lemurian and Elder Worm

artifacts in that area, and of mineral deposits onthe island, makes scholars wonder if there wasmore to the choice than tactical benefit.

Te island as it originally existed was too smalland fragmented to suit Qularr purposes, so theychanged it. Using their advanced alien technologythey somehow raised part of the seabed, turning

the atoll into a large, single island with anactive volcano at the center. Te resultingtectonic disturbance caused tidal wavesand earthquakes all around the Pacific Rimand even along Indian Ocean shores — anominous harbinger of the devastation tocome.

With their forward base complete, theQularr landed and released their maincargo: dozens of gigantic monsters capturedon alien worlds or bred with Qularr bioen-gineering and brought to Earth in stasischambers. Once awakened and prepared forbattle, the monsters were loaded onto specialtransports that fanned out around the planetto unleash the beasts on major metropolitanareas... and the war began.

Humanity became aware that it wasunder attack when Qularr transportsdisgorged their weapons onto the first major

targets, in Japan. Te robotic “dinosaur”Mega-erak attacked okyo, while his flesh-and-blood “brother” Cazulon was sent toKobe. But the land of the Rising Sun wasn’tthe only victim of Qularr aggression. NewYork City was attacked by two creatures,the gigantic “bird-demon” Pazuron and the“lizard-cat” Velzara. Te winged serpentGanika was turned loose on Chicago, whilethe three-headed “dragon” Mitsura ravagedthe Los Angeles area. A gargantuan, radioac-tive bear-like beast called Urzarak smashedthrough London, and across the Channelthe toad-like Doku slaughtered thousands

of Parisians with his poisonous breath.

THE KR’AAN WAR Te Fabulous Five went out into space on many occasions during

their career as a team. One of the most notable was also one of the

earliest. In 1963, Amazing Man was working on a device he called theelluric Scanner — a “television into space” that would let mankind view distant planets and stars easily. While testing it, he happened to“glimpse” a group of gigantic silicon beings on a desolate planet. Teywere working with some strange, enormous crystalline devices thatlooked dangerous to Amazing Man in a way he couldn’t quite define.

Suddenly, as if sensing they were being spied upon, the siliconbeings somehow traced Amazing Man’s “signal” and used one of theirown devices to transport him and the rest of the Fabulous Five thou-sands of light-years to them. Barely able to breathe in the thin atmo-sphere, the Five soon found out their kidnappers called themselves theKr’Aan (or at least that’s what it sounded like). Before they could learnmore, a group of spherical energy beings (whom the Five later discov-ered were called the Az’arc’a) and physical beings of various speciesattacked the Kr’Aan. An Az’arc’a leader “spoke” to the Five throughtheir radios and told them the Kr’Aan were building a super-weapon,the Crystalline Starshatter, capable of destroying stars and perhaps theentire Galaxy! Sensing the truth of this, Amazing Man led the Five to join the coalition of alien species opposing the Kr’Aan and helped themwin their final battle in a war that had been going on for several years.Te Az’arc’a were able to find a way to send the Fabulous Five home.

Te Kr’Aan War remains a minor episode in the Five’s storiedcareer, but it had two consequences neither they nor any other Humanis aware of (yet). First, it was the first and only encounter so farbetween Humanity and the Korundar (see page 273) — the Kr’Aanwere immensely powerful “mutant” Korundar. Second, the battlebrought the Five and Humanity to the attention of the Qularr and

provided them with Human genetic samples (see page 162).

1



Champions Beyond n Chapter One 1

Te “atomic mutant lizard” Zorgatha lay waste toBeijing, and the lightning-firing “eagle” Vakulonassaulted Moscow. No major city was spared;even those that weren’t subjected to giant monsterattacks found themselves under siege by lesserbeasts or heavily-armed Qularr soldiers.

Te initial Qularr attacks were generallysuccessful, thanks in large part to surprise and thedifficulty of quickly mobilizing Human militariesto deal with the threat of the gigantic alien beasts.But Earth’s superheroes were oen able to slowdown the monsters just long enough for heavyforce to arrive before a city was totally destroyed.For this in part they had the mad scientist Dr.Miles Dekkar to thank, since his attack on Earth’smajor cities with biological constructs just a fewmonths before the Qularr invasion had givenmany heroes experience at fighting strangecreatures in urban environments. For example, inNew York, the combined might of the Sentinels,the Justice Squadron, and the Fabulous Five, plusthat of several Army battalions, was enough tohalt Velzara’s and Pazuron’s rampages, then to

turn them back, and then to destroy them utterly.Similarly, West Coast heroes killed Mitsura andFrench forces finally killed Doku aer horren-dous loss of life among the troops. But in othercities the monsters weren’t slain, merely knockedunconscious or driven away. One particularlyclever tactic was devised by the hero MicroMan,who was visiting Japan when the attack occurredand rushed to defend Kobe. He discovered to hisamazement that his Shrinking Ray worked onthe monster Cazulon. oday the eight inch-tallcreature lives in a special fireproof cage in theMillennium City Zoo, where he entertains visi-tors by destroying mock buildings set up for his

amusement by the zookeepers.With their initial attack blunted, the Qularr

switched to more conventional tactics, hopingto win the day with superior technology. Unfor-tunately for them, even their awesome weaponsweren’t enough to overcome their vast numericalinferiority. Human soldiers, aided by dozensof superheroes (and more than a few villainsnoble-minded enough to help Humanity), steadilypushed Qularr forces back toward their landing-point. By mid-June, the Qularr apparently decidedthey’d had enough: without a word they swilyreturned to their island, boarded their ships, anddeparted Earth... seemingly for good. Tey lebehind the surviving monsters and plenty of theirweapons and technology (which were taken forsafekeeping by UNIL, then a mere two yearsold). Te island later became Monster Island, where the surviving monsters are kept to this day.(See the sourcebook of the same name for moredetails on the island and its inhabitants.)




Humanity’s first alien enemy, the Martians,returned nearly thirty years aer their first attack...and this time they came in force. Hidden fromEarth’s relatively primitive sensory devices byalien countermeasures technology, they swoopeddown from the sky to attack New York City withboth ground-walking tripods and swi aerial cra.

As the attack began, communications networksaround the planet were overridden to broadcast amessage over every radio and television:

People of Earth, we are from the planet youcall Mars. Surrender now or be destroyed, for your primitive Human technology is no match foradvanced Martian devices. Tose who surrenderwill be treated justly as prisoners of war; those whodo not will be eradicated from this planet, which isnow the property of the Martian Empire.

New York’s superhero community — everyonefrom the Sentinels, the Justice Squadron, and theFabulous Five on down to the likes of Hornet —responded in a way that gave the Martians no

doubt as to Humanity’s response to their “offer.”Heroes with sufficient mobility attacked theMartian invaders directly; others rescued civilianswho were put in harm’s way, fought fires, or usedtheir scientific or tactical acumen to assist thegovernment’s efforts to fight back.

Aer Vanguard and the Drier struck a deci-sive blow that obliterated a significant portion ofthe invading fleet, the Martians retreated. Mostheroes stayed on Earth to help clean up the messand prepare for a possible counterattack, but thegovernment asked the Fabulous Five to try totrack the invaders to Mars and convince themnot to attack the Earth again. Using another of

Amazing Man’s experimental rockets, the Fivewere able to reach Mars in just under a week.

Once at the red planet, the Fabulous Five madean astonishing discovery: there were no Martians!Tere was a high-tech military outpost maintainedby the aliens who’d attacked Earth, but the rest ofMars was dead, with no civilization at all. Embold-ened by this new knowledge, the Five attackedthe alien base in force, striking by surprise andwreaking such havoc that the aliens soon surren-dered and begged to be allowed to depart the Solsystem in peace. Tey revealed that they werenot Martians but Sirians, native to a planet in the

Sirius system that was swily becoming uninhab-itable due to ecological collapse brought aboutby several industrial catastrophes. Tey wantedEarth as their new home, but clearly Earth was toowell-protected for them to conquer. Not wantingto let them go unpunished, but feeling they hadno authority as “galactic policemen,” the Five letthe Sirians leave. Tey’ve never returned to Earthsince... but occasional UFO reports that describeships and aliens similar to Sirians sometimes makesuperheroes wonder if a renegade Sirian or Siriansisn’t looking to “settle down.”

THE COMING OF STARGUARDTe Sirian attack on Earth had an additional

outcome that would prove more beneficialfor Humanity. Te Star*Guard heard about it,investigated the situation, and realized that Earthwas becoming a very active, and potentially verydangerous, place indeed — one that needed bothprotection and monitoring. It assigned StarGuardBrin Rei arn, a Dendrian, to its Sector Zeta-

491738 (a translation into English of the Odru-garan term), thus giving him “jurisdiction” overEarth and nearby regions of space. For the nexttwo decades until his death, arn, or simply “Star-Guard” as he was known on Earth, was a valiantfighter for Justice on and around Earth who cameto be admired by many Human superheroes. Hewas considered an “unofficial” member of theSentinels for many years even though he normallylived in a base the Star*Guard built for him onEuropa, one of Jupiter’s moons (see page 92).

Te Fabulous Five continued their habitof getting involved in off-Earth adventures in1970 when the supervillain Revenger, an oldfoe of theirs and the Justice Squadron’s who’dbeen missing since 1963 and was presumeddead, broadcast a message to Earth. He claimedto have established a base on the Moon wherehe’d installed “IPBMs” (interplanetary ballisticmissiles) — nuclear bombs he threatened to useon every major city in the world unless Humanityagreed to his rule.

Using Amazing Man’s latest invention, a rocketconcealed from detection by a sophisticated“stealth screen,” the Five traveled to the Moonand landed a few miles from where they believedRevenger’s base was. As they got closer they wereastonished to discover the ruins of a city! Whatarchitecture they could see didn’t quite resembleanything Human. As they progressed deeper intothe ruins, they were even more amazed to discoverthat some of the ruins were inhabited! Te resi-dents were three foot-tall insect-like siliconoidswith ten limbs. Wondering if they were somebiological creation of Revenger’s, the Five capturedone and interrogated it using a translator devicebuilt by Amazing Man. Tey soon learned thatthis race of beings weren’t Revenger’s creations but

his slaves. He’d apparently fled Earth in 1964, trav-eled to the Moon, found the ruins and the aliens(whom Kid Chameleon christened “Selenites”),and conquered them.

Te Five released their newfound ally, whosename was Hrjtlo, to spread the word among hispeople that help was on its way. Creeping closerto the center of the ruins, they soon located thebuilding Revenger was using for his headquar-ters... and an ominous row of missile silos nextto it. Even worse, they realized that one silo waswarming up — Revenger was getting ready to fireon the Earth!

THE JAKKARI- MQRO WAR

In 1972 the Sentinels

found themselves

involved in a war on

the other side of the

Galaxy. There a small

but technologically

advanced civilizationcalled the Jakkari,

with the help of the

Star*Guard, was

engaged in a fearsome

war against the MQro,

a species from

extragalactic

space (or possibly

from another

galaxy). Brin Rei

Tarn was called upon

to participate, and

sensing the urgency

of the situation heasked his friends, the

Sentinels, to accom-

pany him.

A powerful Odrugaran

ship quickly got them

to the scene of the

conflict. There the

Human heroes soon

found themselves

bogged down in a long

and brutal war. For

several months they

helped the Jakkarifight — and in the end,

their superpowers,

together with the might

of the Star*Guard, were

just enough to save

Tural Jakkar. The MQro

were driven back into

extragalactic space,

and the Sentinels

returned home...

...only to discover

that Earth thought

they’d been dead!The celebrations

that heralded their

return were genuine,

but there was also

a certain amount of

unspoken resentment

about the “deception.”

From that point on,

convincing the public

that a superhero had

actually died in the line

of duty became difficult

at best.

1




Te Five attacked immediately, surprisingRevenger and damaging his missile-launchingequipment... but not the countdown on the missileitself! While Amazing Man worked frantically totry to shut the missile down, his four comradesfought Revenger. Using every trick and gadget inhis arsenal, the powered armor-wearing villainheld his own, and even began to take the upperhand aer knocking out the Streak — but thenthe Selenites entered the fray. Tey weren’t effec-tive fighters compared to superheroes, but they

provided enough of a distraction for Diamond andSiren to attack Revenger’s laboratory, which washidden in a cave far from Selenus itself. Te attackcaused a cave-in that killed the power-mad master villain and nearly took the lives of the two heroes.Meanwhile, back at Selenus itself, Amazing Manfound a way to defuse the missile just in the nickof time. Selenus (as they were now calling theruined city) and the Selenites were saved.

Before leaving the Moon, the Fabulous Fivenegotiated a “non-interference treaty” with theSelenites that required Humanity to leave themalone unless invited to participate in Seleniteaffairs. While legal scholars have sometimes

questioned the validity of a treaty negotiated byfive non-authorized “civilians,” and some scien-tists (particularly archaeologists) have oencomplained about being unable to study Selenusand its residents, the United Nations supports thetreaty and all nations on Earth have abided by it.

Humanity’s first truly peaceful contact with analien civilization occurred in 1973. In mid-July ofthat year, a small, sleek starship descended fromthe sky to land on the Mall in Washington, D.C.Superheroes and law enforcement respondedalmost immediately, but their justifiable concernswere unnecessary. Te aliens who emerged — wholooked almost Human, but with oddly-coloredeyes and distinctive clothing and short hairstyles

— identified themselves as Mandaarians (seepage 32). Tey said they were peaceful explorers,scientists, and scholars who wished to learn aboutHuman civilization and to teach Humans abouttheir own civilization in return.

Many government officials and members of thepublic were initially skeptical, but the Mandaar-ians did nothing to validate their suspicions.Te aliens even offered to submit to telepathicscanning to prove their good intentions (thoughdie-hard skeptics claimed that proved nothing,since the Mandaarians could “trick” the examinersusing their own psionic powers). Slowly but surelyHumanity came to believe the Mandaarians were

what they said they were.Tat first Mandaarian expedition remained on

Earth for just over one month. Te aliens visitedmost parts of the planet and demonstrated someof their highly-advanced technology (includingtheir sophisticated FL starship), but mostlywanted to learn about Human customs, beliefs,and history. When they le they promised tomaintain contact — and they kept that promise.Other Mandaarian expeditions to Earth tookplace in 1979, 1984, 1991, and 1999, oen (but notalways) involving at least one participant from the1973 crew. Some people are a little concerned thatover a decade has passed with no further contact

with the Mandaarians.




Tree years aer the Mandaarian visit,Humanity experienced its next attempt at alieninvasion — and as of 2011 still the worst oneEarth’s ever gone through. A species of short,green-skinned, batrachoid aliens called theGadroon invaded the Sol system in force, with

hundreds of starships and powerful weaponsbased on manipulation of gravity (a technologythat, for some reason, the Gadroon are particularlyskilled at creating). As Humanity later learned, theGadroon came from a swampy homeworld thatthey’d somehow destroyed. Earth was just the sortof planet they could “Gadroonform” to make anew home... and it already had a plentiful supplyof slaves to do the work.

An initial attempt by several superteams,including the Sentinels and the Justice Squadron,to stop the invasion failed due to the over-whelming power of the Gadroon fleet. Soon theinvasion blossomed into a full-scale planetaryconflict, with superheroes who could fight inspace taking the battle directly to the aliens, andregular militaries and earthbound heroes fightingGadroon landing parties and atmospheric cra.Some commentators began calling it “World WarIII,” since nearly every country on Earth partici-pated in the fight in some way.

Te first month of the war didn’t go well forHumanity. Te Gadroon continued to advance,sweeping near-Earth space free of satellites (thuswreaking havoc with Human communications)and inflicting significant damage on the cities ofBerlin, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, New Delhi,

and Warsaw. Te situation became so bad that

more than a few supervillains entered the fight onthe side of Humanity (some of them even earnedpardons for their actions aer the fighting ended).In fact, it was the coming to the battlefield of one villain — the infamous Dr. Destroyer — five weeksinto the war that turned the tide of battle.

During a major clash between superheroes andthe Gadroon fleet in and above the atmosphereover the United States, Destroyer unexpect-edly showed up, quickly destroying half a dozenGadroon vessels with his powerful weapons andruthless tactics. Willing to employ a level of forcethat many of Earth’s heroes balked at even inwartime, Destroyer became one of the de facto leaders of Humanity’s war effort. During the finalmonth of fighting he personally destroyed overone hundred ships, killing tens of thousands ofGadroon.

Te final battle — now a last-ditch effort by theinvaders to break the back of the Human resis-tance — took place in cislunar space. A massivespell cast by the Drier and several other powerfulmystics disrupted many of the Gadroon ships’

systems, allowing a force of superhumans led byVanguard and Dr. Destroyer to smash throughthe Gadroon defensive lines to the heart of theirformation. Vanguard crippled several major ships’ability to fight, several groups of heroes did thesame with other ships, and Dr. Destroyer single-handedly obliterated a Gadroon ship of the line inan explosion that took a dozen lesser alien vesselswith it. Faced with the utter failure of what had atfirst been such a successful attack, the Gadroonturned tail and fled. Despite Destroyer’s urgings tofollow them and eliminate them as a threat onceand for all, Earth’s superhumans were contentto remain at home and put their powers to use

restoring that which the aliens had destroyed.

1




Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last Humanityheard of the Gadroon. Earth’s lush environmentand copious natural resources were simply tootempting a target for the batrachoid aliens. Sevenyears later a much smaller force of them returnedand once again attempted to conquer Earth.

Xenoanthropologists believe that this most likelywas a splinter group or faction of the Gadroon,or possibly a reconnaissance action of some sort,since even aer the species’s defeat in 1977 itshould have had more ships and personnel thanwere involved. Unlike the 1977 attack, whichrequired virtually all of Humanity’s superheroes todefeat, this attack was easily staved off by a muchsmaller army: the Sentinels, the Justice Squadron,the Peacekeepers, the People’s Legion, and theokyo Super Squad.

Another “blast from the past” reared its headin October of 1984, when a rogue Selenite namedGrlshl threatened the Earth with Revenger’s le-over nuclear warheads and other super-weapons(which the Fabulous Five had disabled but le inplace rather than risk moving). Grlshl, an unusu-ally intelligent and motivated Selenite, had found away to reactivate Revenger’s devices and use them.Aer taking over his own people, he decided toconquer Earth as well. But fortune was againsthim — MeteorMan was already in space assistingthe US government with satellite placement whenGrlshl made his announcement to the world.Quickly flying to the Moon, MeteorMan enteredSelenus stealthfully and surprised Grlshl before allhis preparations were complete. It took only a few

minutes for MeteorMan to defeat him, and Earthwas once again safe from nuclear devastation.

In 1990 the renegade StarGuard Mordaceattacked an ARGEN installation near Berlin inan effort to steal some experimental weaponrythat he wanted to use in his latest scheme todestroy the Star*Guard. Brin Rei arn responded,and a titanic battle was fought in the sky overGermany. Aer several minutes the two of them

crashed to the ground in the middle of the BlackForest. No one witnessed their final confrontation,but somehow Mordace killed arn and then fledEarth with arn’s Star-Staff.

Realizing that Earth needed closer over-sight, CONROL selected the first Human tobe honored with an offer to join the Star*Guard:Andre Almena, a Spanish policeman and formersoldier. Not entirely understanding what wasinvolved but enthralled by the prospect of joininga “galactic police force,” Almena accepted the offer.Aer several months of training on Odrugar hebecame the new StarGuard assigned to SectorZeta-491738 and took up residence at the base

Brin Rei arn built on Europa years previously.

Several years aer arn’s death, the Humanwoman Anna Mills, who’d been one of hisMarshals (assistants/lieutenants) and romanticcompanion, wrote a book about their livestogether called Stand On Guard. It quickly becamean international bestseller and provided the publicwith more information about aliens and alienactivity in the Galaxy (particularly near Earth)than it had ever had (including an extensivesection explaining who the Odrugarans and theStar*Guard are). Te book has become a classicof xenology and been the subject of numerousstudies and debates. Although a frequent guestat conferences and on talk shows in the first fewyears aer the book’s publication, Mills has sincegone into seclusion somewhere in upstate NewYork, refusing to talk to the press any further.

Like a bad penny, a decade aer their secondinvasion attempt the Gadroon showed up on Earthagain. Most experts believe this “attack” was in factmore in the nature of a scouting or reconnaissancemission (which is one reason some of them thinkthat about the second invasion). Tis time a dozenGadroon starships landed in northern Canada andattempted to establish a base of operations. Halfa dozen Canadian heroes including Forceknight,Ravenspeaker, Justiciar, and Tundrax responded,defeating the Gadroon personnel on the ground sohandily that the entire “invasion force” distractedthe heroes with a feint, recovered the injured, andthen fled the planet. Te heroes, pleased with howwell they’d worked together, formed the second

incarnation of the Northern Guard team.

In light of the many alien invasion attemptsand other menaces from space Earth had beensubjected to in recent decades, Humanity decidedit needed more space-based defense and observa-tion facilities, and turned to UNIL to providethem. Te ribunal began construction of apermanent space station, named GAEWAY, in1996. Aer a decade the project was pronounceda success and UNIL initiated plans to buildthree more stations (AVALON, ASGARD, and

SKYGUARD) and a small fleet of “Earth defense vehicles.” Construction on AVALON is slated tobegin in mid-2011, with the others to follow oneyear aer the previous one is completed. (Anotherpermanent orbital facility, the United States SpaceStation, was launched in 2006, but its purposeis more scientific than military.) Te “defensefleet” remains more controversial and has not yetreceived final approval (or funding) from the UN.

In 2000 UNIL expanded further into space,establishing mankind’s first permanently-mannedlunar facility, Moonbase Serenity. For more onUNIL’s space facilities, see page 87.




In 1999 Humanity had its second establish-ment of peaceful contact with an alien species.On March 9 of that year a golden-skinned, blue-eyed humanoid wearing little more than a “kilt”suddenly appeared out of thin air on the streetsof Wichita, Kansas. He seemed weak and sick.

Malfunctions in what turned out to be a transla-tion device prevented easy communication at firstand the man was taken into custody. Fortunatelyone of the deputy mayors was a science fiction fanand convinced the authorities to let the man try tofix his device.

Aer repairs were effected, the man gave hisname as a-!teru-kha, which literally translatedinto English as “Far-Strider” (but more accuratelymeant “adventurer-explorer,” a common type ofcharacter in the fiction of the man’s civilization).He claimed to be from the world Vayathura whosestar he called Pem. Human astronomers laterdetermined this to be a star approximately 3,500light-years from Earth.

Far-Strider explained that he possessed specialpowers of teleportation — he was, in Humanterms, a superhero on Vayathura. His powerscould work over vast intergalactic distances...sometimes. He could easily teleport anywhere onhis own world or in its solar system. Beyond thatthings became trickier. Some places he could getto without much difficulty, some (such as Earth)he could reach with great strain and/or only atcertain times, and others he simply couldn’t get toat all. He described it by analogy as trying to getthrough a thicket-filled forest — some places the

thicket was less dense and he could get through, inothers it was simply impossible.Far-Strider was soon put in contact with

NASA. He explained that Vayathura’s leaders wereinterested in knowing more about the universearound them — Vayathura is technically theplanet-sized moon of a gas giant, and thus theVayathurans had never even known there weresuch things as stars until they first made it intospace. Tey asked Far-Strider to try to reach otherplanets that had intelligent life. Earth was the firstone he’d found.

Far-Strider remained on Earth for two weeks,telling Humans about his people and learningmuch in return. With the help of the superheroineElectron he built a device that could “translate”Human and Vayathuran digital storage media intoone another and returned home loaded down withdisks of data.

Since then Far-Strider has come back to Earthfour times, the last visit being in mid-2008. Eachtime he brings more information about his world(primarily historical data, texts on Vayathura’smajor languages, and culture products such asnovels and music) and takes more back. As aresult, “Vayathuran studies” have become fashion-able at many universities and the entire field ofxenoanthropology has received a tremendousboost. Scholars are eagerly looking forward to Far-Strider’s next trip to Earth.

Te new millennium saw the arrival of newaliens from quarters Humanity had not yet even

heard of. In March, GAEWAY’s sensors detecteda small, out-of-control starcra approaching earth.It crashed into Lake St. Clair near MillenniumCity, diverted there by the superheroes Defenderand Sapphire to keep it from hitting the cityproper. Tey feared that whoever was in the shipmust have been killed by the impact — but theyweren’t counting on his durability. A superpow-ered individual named Drogen Lar emerged fromthe wreckage. He explained to the authorities thathe was a Dorvalan (or in Human terms, a Perseid),but had come from an even more distant worldcalled Malva, where he’d participated in super-powered gladiatorial battles for the amusement of

the jaded Malvans. He soon went on to becomethe hero Ironclad, a member of the Champions.

wo months later GAEWAY detected asimilar ship approaching Earth from the samedirection — and it, too, wasn’t entirely in thecontrol of its pilot! It semi-crashed in a rural areaof Nebraska, where people fearing an “alien inva-sion” smashed it to pieces while the pilot, a super-powered alien (and former Malvan gladiator)named ren arrec Dazeur, was away lookingfor parts to repair it. Enraged by their foolish-ness, Dazeur became the supervillain Herculan(see CV3 155). Aer a half-decade career he was

captured and incarcerated. While in prison hegot some therapy to help him deal with a wholehost of personal issues and emerged a new “man,”one who’s kept to the straight and narrow sincehis release in 2007. During his therapy sessions,Dazeur spoke at length about his background. Hesaid he was a Fassai, a species similar to Humansin many ways that’s part of an interstellar govern-ment called the Velarian Confederation located onthe other side of the Galaxy from Earth (see page28 for more information on the Fassai).

In September a third “refugee” from Malvaarrived — this one an actual Malvan flying underhis own power. Te supervillain Firewing (see

CV3 111), a former gladiatorial rival of Ironclad

KELVARITE Not all alien “visitors” to Earth are hostiles.

Some are merely natural phenomena. Temost prominent of these is kelvarite, a strangealien mineral of unknown origin. Te firstknown sample of kelvarite crashed intowestern Kentucky in 1996. Several other piecesof kelvarite have been found since then, mostnotably a large chunk that landed in Africa in2006 and was recovered by UNIL.

For more on kelvarite, see CU 34 or page297 of this book.

1




and Herculan, followed them to Earth in searchof new combat challenges among Humanity’splethora of superpowered combatants. And hehasn’t been disappointed... though the destructionsome of his fights have caused have made him amajor menace despite the fact that he doesn’t wantto conquer the world or enslave all Humans.

One of the deadliest alien menaces ever toconfront Humanity appeared in 2006. Over adecade before, a being of immense power callinghimself Valak the World-Ravager appeared in theMilky Way Galaxy. He claimed to be from anothergalaxy, the one Humanity calls the Sextansdwarf galaxy, where he’d conquered or destroyedeveryone who dared to stand against him. Lookingfor more battles and greater challenges he’d cometo the Milky Way...

...where he found exactly what he wanted. Hedestroyed three minor alien civilizations — theAnthari, the Pelgonites, and the a’shar-n —before the Star*Guard got word of him. Musteringits forces the Guard attacked. Te battle ragedacross five star systems before the combinedpower of nearly four dozen StarGuards trappedValak and imprisoned him in the center of anasteroid.

Valak finally broke free in late 2005. Althoughhis long captivity had weakened him, he begantaking his revenge on the Star*Guard, travelingfrom outpost to base and killing everyone hefound. CONROL finally deduced what wasoccurring, and as Valak neared the Sol system in

March 2006 it alerted StarGuard Andre Almenaabout the danger. StarGuard got the message whilehe was in New York visiting the Sentinels, who joined him in a journey out into space to confrontValak. Te battle that followed started near Jupiter(where the heroes arrived just in time to save Star-Guard’s Marshals from being murdered by Valak)and gradually worked its way across the solarsystem to Earth and the streets of New York City,where members of the Justice Squadron and Nova,and some independent heroes, joined the fight.Finally they triumphed. An unconscious Valakwas quickly placed in “hot sleep” in Stronghold,while his Cosmic Halberd and armor were loaned

to the Goodman Institute to study.Valak remained imprisoned until the 2009

Stronghold breakout. Freed by Menton’s machina-tions, he flew to Chicago to recover his weaponry(killing five Institute employees in the process),then le Earth. Despite the best efforts of theStar*Guard, no one’s seen or heard from himsince. CONROL fears that he’s hiding some-where, biding his time and allowing his power toslowly increase to its pre-imprisonment levels.Once he’s ready he’ll begin his campaign ofconflict and destruction again... and this time eventhe Star*Guard might not be able to stop him.

(For more on Valak, see CV3 309-10.)

Humanity’s most persistent alien foe, theGadroon, returned in 2008 — and finallysucceeded, to a certain extent. Tis time theyapproached Earth by stealth. aking advantage ofinformation gained during their previous attackin northern Canada, and hoping to mine a vein

of questionite their sensors detected, they landedin the same area and established a “beachhead”before anyone knew what had happened. By thetime Canadian superheroes and the SteelheadDivision arrived, the Gadroon were too welldug-in, and too protected by their powerful grav-itic weaponry, to be easily dislodged. Since thenit’s settled down to a war of attrition, but so far theGadroon have held out and are resisting all effortsto remove them from Earth. Even worse, someauthorities fear they’re using the same “stealth”tactics to infiltrate major Human cities in disguiseand look for weaknesses and targets.

Another old alien foe — the Qularr — returnedwith a vengeance in September 2009. Some Qularrtechnology from the 1965 invasion, includingseveral signal beacons, were at that time storedin Homestead so Defender could study them.Someone snuck into Homestead, using highlysophisticated technology to bypass all of its secu-rity systems, and quickly repaired and triggeredone of the beacons.

Te Champions shut the device off as soon

as they realized what had happened, but thedamage had been done. wo weeks later, in earlySeptember, a massive Qularr invasion forceappeared in the skies above Earth, attackingdozens of major cities. Humanity battled theinsecto-crustaceoid aliens for nearly two weeks,with most attacks being led by superheroes(and also some villains who decided to fight theinvaders). Fortunately, this time the Qularr reliedmore on “conventional” troops and weaponsthan on gigantic monsters, though they didunleash a few of their “bio-weapons” (includingpacks of what Human observers described as

“wolf-lobsters”).Te turning point in the war came when theChampions, with the aid of numerous indepen-dent superheroes, used a “cannon” to fire Ironcladat the enormous Qularr “mother ship” hoveringover Millennium City. Te impact, and Ironclad’ssubsequent rampage through the vessel, causedit to crash into Lake St. Clair. With their leaderskilled or captured, the Qularr were soon drivenout of the solar system. However, hidden pocketsof Qularr soldiers and/or Qularr technologyundoubtedly remain in various parts of the world— and some not-so-hidden, most prominently onMonster Island.




Even worse news than the Qularr attackreached Earth in late 2009 courtesy of StarGuardAndre Almena. A few weeks earlier, the renegadeStarGuard Mordace, the organization’s greatestenemy for years, assembled a massive army ofspace mercenaries and attacked Odrugar in force.

Hundreds of Guards responded and battle ragedacross the planet. In the end Mordace’s army wasdefeated and he was driven away into hiding, butit was unquestionably a Pyrrhic victory. First,dozens of StarGuards — a little over ten percentof their number — were killed in the fighting.Second, and far worse, Mordace’s final, desperateattack damaged the crystal quantum matrix thatholds CONROL’s memory circuits. Te damagecan be repaired/regenerated in time, but for thenear future this leaves the Guard in a seriouslyweakened condition, without its ultimate leaderand the “telepathic link” that allowed them towork so well together. emporary changes havebeen instituted to allow the Guard to continue itsmission (see Chapter en for details), but mostStarGuards hope CONROL — and the Guard —will be back to their old selves as soon as possible.

As of early 2011, the state of Human-alienaffairs can be summarized with several broadstatements.

First, Humanity is aware that numeroussentient alien species live in the Milky WayGalaxy, and beyond. (See Chapter wo formore information.) It’s also aware that there areundoubtedly many other species it knows nothingabout yet... and that some of them are likely to behostile or potential threats.

Second, no nation or other group on Earth hasestablished formal diplomatic relations with anyalien civilization.

Tird, no nation or other group on Earth hasestablished formal economic relations or regulartrading with any alien civilization.

Fourth, Humans continue to debate these

subjects. Some people want to join the galacticcommunity and argue that Humanity shoulduse super-technology to develop faster-than-light travel and interstellar communications on aregular, reliable basis as soon as possible. Othersare concerned that Humanity’s not ready for thatyet (or are even outright xenophobic), or fear thatif more aliens become aware of Earth it will justsuffer more and more invasion attempts. Teysay Humanity should maintain as quiet a profileas possible until its general level of technologyand social sophistication have improved. (Someproponents of this position also argue thatHumans should avoid formal relations of any sort

with aliens until Humanity is united under onegovernment, to prevent all sorts of political andeconomic problems on Earth.)

Currently various governments’ approach to“alien issues,” and their access to alien technologyand resources, vary.

As the focus (to one degree or another) ofmost alien invasions and home to most of Earth’smost prominent superheroes, the United Stateshas had more contact with aliens than any othernation, and as a result possesses more resources

pertaining to aliens. Its response to alien-relatedevents is coordinated by the Alien Affairs Bureau of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-tration (NASA). Established in 1995 in the wake ofthe third Gadroon invasion, the AAB collects andstudies all available information about alien life,monitors known aliens in the United States (andabroad), and works with other agencies to preparecontingency plans for possible events. Mostprominently it has joined forces with the StateDepartment to dra protocols for Human-aliendiplomatic relations in case that ever becomespossible, and it liaises with the US military to planto defend America against further alien attacks orinfiltrators.

THE EXOPLANETARYSOCIETY

Te most prominent civilian organizationdevoted to studying aliens and alien affairs inthe United States is the Exoplanetary Society,

founded in the mid-Seventies in the wake ofthe first Mandaarian visit. Its members rangefrom people who are simply interested inaliens, to those who are sincerely concernedabout alien threats to Humanity, to outrightxenophobes hostile to all non-Human life,with a smattering of members who claim tohave been abducted by aliens at some point.

Te Society’s main functions are eductionand lobbying (to keep Americans informedabout the nature of alien life and the threats itmay pose), the study of aliens and alien civili-zations, and monitoring possible alien activityon Earth (which it refers to as “Project Blue

Book” in imitation of the US government’sown program of that name).

Te Society’s leader since 1997 is SeanClemens, who got involved with the Societyaer his son claimed to have been an alienabductee. He’s based in Boston at Societyheadquarters. Te Society has “field offices”in various major US cities (including Wash-ington, DC, Millennium City, and SanFrancisco). It also maintains Te ExoplanetaryInstitute, a think tank and “school,” in Chicago.

For more information on the ExoplanetarySociety, see Cops, Crews, And Cabals, pages40-46.

1




AREA 53Despite the US government’s secrecy about

the facility, many people have heard of Area 51, apart of Nellis Air Force Range in Nevada wheremilitary aircra are developed and tested (some-times allegedly involving alien technology). Farfewer have heard about Area 52, an even moresecret military facility in Utah where the militarysupposedly keeps alien remains and artifacts.

But the truth — known to very, very fewpeople, even in the Superhuman World — is thatArea 52 is a decoy. It exists, but it’s mostly a “front”designed to lure anyone who searches beyond the“Area 51 legend” away from America’s real hidingplace for alien resources. Tat place is Area 53, built into a small mountain range next to NellisAFR so that activities at the Range cover thecomings and goings of 53’s personnel. Tose fewmembers of the US government and intelligencecommunities who know about Area 53 usuallyrefer to it simply as “the unnel” (because the coreof the facility is a long tunnel burrowed throughsolid rock) or “the Vault.”

Te contents of Area 53 include:

n copies or originals of all data, reports, andother materials received from alien species orgenerated by the US government concerningalien species, or which reference events in thegalactic community (where Area 53 does nothave the originals, they are almost always keptat AAB headquarters in Miami, Florida)

n tripod parts, ship parts, and corpses/biologicalsamples from the Sirians (from the 1938 and1967 invasions), and weapons and other partsof the Sirian base on Mars (from the 1967

invasion) n weapons, ship parts, two nearly-intact small

vessels, corpses/biological samples, and twoliving prisoners from the various Gadrooninvasions

n weapons, ship parts, several nearly-intact small vessels, one nearly-intact large vessel, corpses/biological samples, and nearly two dozen livingprisoners from the Qularr (most from the 2009invasion, but some dating back to the 1965invasion; the large vessel is kept in Hangar 81,the biggest single room in Area 53)

n the wreckage of the small Malvan ships thatIronclad and Herculan came to Earth in

n miscellaneous small stone artifacts broughtback from Selenus by the Fabulous Five andMeteorMan

n several small Mandaarian artifacts given tothe President by various Mandaarian visi-tors (reproductions of which can be seen inthe Smithsonian and various other worldmuseums, and even purchased by civilians)

n several pieces of kelvarite

However, possessing something doesn’t conferthe ability to understand it, or to use it. Te US hasspent tens of billions of dollars over the decadesstudying the alien technology, corpses, prisoners,and ships kept at Area 53 but has made littleprogress for its money. So far Sirian technologyhas been most susceptible to analysis and seemsthe most similar to Human technology; advancesfrom studying it have been incorporated in theUS Space Station, the Ares I station on Mars, and various other high-tech projects.

Qularr technology, oen being at least partlyorganic/biological, tends to be difficult for Humanscientists to study effectively. Even worse, its

organic components oen “wither” or becomedormant over time, inhibiting Humans’ ability tofigure out what they do (did).

Gadroon technology is highly advancedcompared to Human technology and seemsto work on principles of physics that Humanshave never even heard of — according to stan-dard Human science, and even super-science,the Gadroon ability to manipulate and harnessgravity simply shouldn’t be possible. Analyzingit to discover how it works, and a few fumblingattempts to operate it, have been almost entirelyunsuccessful.




Te same problem exists with Malvan tech-nology... but it’s multiplied by many orders ofmagnitude. Malvan technology is the mostadvanced in the Milky Way Galaxy, possibly in theUniverse, and Humans trying to figure out how

it works are like Neanderthals trying to reverseengineer a supercollider. Malvan devices areusually user-friendly enough that someone who’sfamiliar with the Malvan language can figure outhow to use them (witness Ironclad and Herculanboth escaping from Malva in ships they weren’tfamiliar with), but neither of the Malvan ships theUS possesses are intact enough to function.

PROJECT BLUE BOOKFounded in 1952 as a United States Air Force

project, and converted into a joint USAF-AABprogram in 1996, Project Blue Book is the UnitedStates’s effort to collect, analyze, and if possible

verify reports about unidentified flying objects(UFOs), and where necessary to make policyrecommendations based on the data gathered. Inlight of the numerous alien invasions and relatedincidents the US has experienced over the pastseveral decades, the American government wantsas much warning as possible about any currentor future “situations” that might impact nationalsecurity. Blue Book personnel, most of themUSAF officers, go out into the field to investigateUFO sightings, interview persons who’ve reportedseeing UFOs or experiencing alien activity, collectsamples of supposed alien technology, and so on.

Te vast majority of their reports conclude thatthe witness saw a natural phenomenon or a knowntechnological object and misidentified it for somereason. But a tiny percentage are flagged “forfurther analysis” and passed on to other experts

(sometimes even superheroes with relevant expe-rience whom the Project calls in as consultants)to decide what response, if any, the governmentshould make.

THE UNITED STATES SPACE STATIONSince 2006, the United States has joined

UNIL in having a permanent manned presenceorbiting Earth. Formally known as the UnitedStates Space Station, and informally referred toas “the Wheel” due to its shape, this facility has apermanent staff of twenty, with room for anothertwenty visiting personnel. Its commander is Col.Stuart Archer, a former NASA astronaut and US

Air Force test pilot who holds Ph.Ds in astronomyand aeronautical engineering. A fair-minded(if sometimes stern) man of great intelligence,Col. Archer does yeoman’s work keeping thesometimes-disparate personalities of the scientistsunder his command from clashing too much. TeStation also has a superheroine — Victory (CU184) — as one of its residents.

Unlike GAEWAY, whose primary purposeis to detect, and if possible protect Earth from,hostile aliens, the USSS is mainly designed forconducting scientific research. While many ofthe people stationed there are members of themilitary, they’re in space to study the cosmos,

not as a front line in any future alien conflicts.

1




Using the station’s high-powered electronic tele-scopes, advanced computers, and sophisticatedresearch and micro-manufacturing facilities, theystudy astronomical phenomena, explore how various substances and processes function in lowor zero gravity, and so forth. While approximatelyhalf of their work is classified (and thus remainssolely the property of the US government), therest is available to the American public for aminimal fee.

Te USSS consists of a large central “core”unit with four smaller “outer” units linked to itby straight walkways. Curved walkways connecteach outer unit to the two flanking it, giving theentire station the appearance of a large silverwheel (hence its nickname). Te core contains thestation’s power plant, quarters and facilities forthe crew, and the largest telescope; the outer unitsand curved corridors contain laboratories, othertelescopes, and the like. It uses artificial gravitygeneration. Te gravity system, as well as severalother devices on the station, was developed withthe help of super-scientists (other superheroes

assisted with the launch of the core unit). ARES I

In May 2008, three American astronautsfulfilled one of humanity’s century-long dreamsby becoming the first Humans to set foot onanother planet and establish residence there. Withthe help of several devices designed by Americansuperheroes, these three pioneers establishedthe Ares I station in the Utopia Planitia region ofMars. In the years since then, they’ve been joinedby six other “areonauts” who now live on Marssemi-permanently. See Chapter Four for moreinformation.

Te European Space Agency has not been asactive in recent years as NASA or the ChineseNational Space Administration, but it hasn’t beentotally quiet either. It provided the US with someassistance in the building of the USSS, and as aresult has been invited to send one or two visitingpersonnel to the station each year.

However, the ESA’s ambitions don’t stop there.It recently proposed an ESA-run ten year-longmanned mission to study the planets of the solarsystem for signs of life, or the potential for life.

As currently planned, this mission would focusprimarily on Venus and the moons of Jupiterand Saturn, but would visit other planets brieflyas well. Te ESA would require the help of theUnited States (and perhaps other nations, such asIndia or China) to pull this off, but if it works itwould be a major advancement for astronomy andastrobiology, as well as give the Administration’sreputation a serious boost.

With plenty of economic muscles to flex, Chinahas begun to challenge the United States for domi-nance in the solar system, leading to what oneobserver has predicted will become “another spacerace” over the next few decades. Te ChineseNational Space Administration has announced a“bold space initiative” that includes the following

projects: n a visit to the Moon by 2018, and the establish-

ment of a permanently-manned lunar base by2025;

n creating a permanently-manned space stationby 2020;

n numerous unmanned probes to explore theasteroid belt and the outer planets; and

n the creation and launching of a faster-than-light starship to visit Alpha Centauri (orpossibly some other nearby star) by 2035.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether any ofthese plans will come to fruition, but the Chinesegovernment seems to favor the program stronglyand support it in full. Unlike NASA, which prefersto avoid relying on superhumans too much, Chinahas shown no qualms about using its superheroteam, the iger Squad, to assist with its spaceprogram. iger Squad gadgeteers have beenenlisted to design systems and devices for space vehicles, while members who can survive in spacewill assist with the construction of the plannedspace station when the time comes.

Te United Nations ribunal on InternationalLaw — UNIL — has been in space longer thanany other Human entity or organization thanks toits desire to protect Earth from alien invasion. In1996 it established GAEWAY, Humanity’s firstpermanently-manned space facility, in geosyn-chronous orbit above the Pacific Ocean. It’s builtas a series of four modules (Alpha, Beta, Gamma,Delta) arranged in a columnar fashion and has acrew of 200 led by Commander Rodney Currieof Canada. GAEWAY has been so successfulthat the skeletal structure of a second station,AVALON, is now being built in orbit aboveEurope, with completion slated for sometime inthe late 2012-early 2013 timeframe. wo morestations, ASGARD and SKYGUARD, are sched-uled for construction over the next twenty years.

GAEWAY’s primary purpose is to detectthe presence of alien visitors to the solar system(particularly invaders) via UNIL’s ProjectStargazer (see sidebar), but of course that onlyrequires a small allocation of manpower. Most ofthe station’s personnel spend most of their timeconducting scientific research. All data they gatheris public domain property, free to anyone on Earthwho wants it.




In the event of another alien invasion,GAEWAY is well-equipped to defend itself. Itsarmament includes sixteen pulson cannons, eightdisintegrator cannons, sixteen missile batteries,and a tractor beam generator. Station personnelcan also use GAEWAY’s sixteen USSs (UNILShort-Range Space ransports), which are armedwith a forward-mounted pulson cannon, todefend the station.

Staff (and the occasional visitor, such as impor-tant politicians) can get to GAEWAY in one oftwo ways. Te best is to use UNIL’s spaceplane,the Gimlé, which has an unblemished safetyrecord over several dozen launches. A quicker wayis to use UNIL’s experimental ADIS teleportationsystem, which can transport a person instantlyfrom several locations on Earth (including UNILWorld Headquarters in New York City, UNIL’s“Guardhouse” super-prison, UNIL’s underseabase NAUILUS, and the UNIL base in Geneva,Switzerland) to the space station. However, since itis an experimental system, it doesn’t always func-tion properly and poses some danger to the user,

so it’s reserved primarily for emergencies.For more details on GAEWAY, see UNIL:

Defenders Of Freedom, pages 120-26.

UNTIL’S ALIEN RESOURCESLike the US government, UNIL maintains an

extensive database of information on aliens, andcollects alien technology and biological samplesto study them and protect the world from anydangers they may cause. UNIL’s “collection,”housed in a facility in western Kenya, is about halfthe size of America’s. It consists primarily of shipparts, weapons, devices, and alien corpses fromthe Gadroon and Qularr invasions. (Te ribunal

doesn’t keep alien prisoners for study.) It has asmattering of items from other alien “incidents” aswell, including several pieces of kelvarite.

PROJECT STARGAZER UNIL established Project Stargazer to

monitor the heavens for signs of alien inva-sions and new alien civilizations, and tokeep track of known aliens living on Earth(especially alien villains such as Firewing).Most alien heroes (such as Ironclad) are well-

acquainted with the Project and its members,who are mainly scientists with a strong interestin xenology (the study of alien races).

UNIL agents assigned to Project Stargazerhave the Skills KS: Te Alien World (knowl-edge of aliens on Earth, and the alien speciesof the Milky Way to the extent humans knowabout them) and SS: Astronomy.

Te leader of Project Stargazer is MajorJason Larke, is an American with Ph.Ds inastronomy and biology. Its emblem is a yellowcrescent moon on a star-covered blue-blackshield.

1



WHO’S OUT THERE?

ALIEN SPECIES OF KNOWN SPACE

Chapter

TWO



24 n Who’s Out There? Alien Species Of Known Space Hero System 6th Edition

s discussed in Chapter One, as of 2011Humanity doesn’t have formal relationswith any alien species/civilization, andcould not be considered a member of the

“galactic community” (since it lacks interstellartravel, among other things). But that’s not to sayHumanity knows nothing about the Milky Way’sinhabitants and affairs.

Humanity’s numerous hostile encounters withaliens over the decades have le many peoplecynical about the“galactic community,” but a lot ofthat negativity has been defused by contact withthe Mandaarians (and the Vayathurans). Teyseem to be proof that enlightened civilizations can exist, and that Humanity can aspire to becomesomething more than it currently is. Pessimistspoint out that the Mandaarians are essentially likeMargaret Mead visiting Samoa — scientists froman advanced civilization interacting with a lessercivilization just to study it, without offering anyconcrete benefits — but most people don’t seemto mind.

Te average man on the street (so to speak)knows that multiple species of aliens exist and thatsome of them have visited Earth; he might even beable to name one or two species or describe oneof the visits from something he read or heard onthe news. He also knows that several species havetried to invade or conquer Earth; chief amongthese are the Qularr and the Gadroon. If he takesthe time to do a little research, he could quicklyfind the names and pictures of apporoximatelya dozen alien species, as well as other pieces ofinformation. If he joins the Exoplanetary Societyor attends some of its lectures or classes, or findssome similar source of information, he could

easily learn all that’s publicly known about a wide variety of alien species and events.

Of course, many of the world’s governments(primarily the US government) know much morethan that. Te United States has a large databasecontaining every scrap of information it’s gatheredabout aliens from their attempts to invade Earth,friendly superheroes’ adventures in the cosmos,interrogation of alien supervillains, StarGuard,and similar sources. It also has a large “archive” ofalien technology and biomaterial (see page 18).UNIL has a similar collection, though it’s onlyabout half as extensive.

Superheroes and hero teams that oen ventureinto outer space (such as the Sentinels and theJustice Squadron) also know a lot more aboutaliens than the general public... and sometimeseven the government, since for various reasonsheroes don’t always reveal everything they learnto any one nation or even UNIL. Each team’sexperiences (and thus database) differs, but teams

that trust one another oen share informationwhen necessary.Te following sections describe the major

alien species known to Humanity as of 2011 thataren’t covered in later chapters of this book. Forease of reference, they cover each species with thethoroughness that superheroes might require (andthat players may need to create PCs who belongto those species). Each subsection includes a“What Humanity Knows” section discussing whatHumans in general, and their governments, knowabout each species.

One of the most aggressive species in theGalaxy, the Ackálians (uh-KALE-ee-uns) live on aplanet antispinward and “north” of Earth, not toofar from Malva.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity is aware of the existence of the

Ackálians largely due to information provided byIronclad, Herculan, and a few other superhumanswho’ve encountered them. Te data is sketchy, butcontains basic information about their society andbiology (including sketches made by sketch artists

based on Ironclad’s descriptions). ACKÁLIAN BIOLOGY

Te Ackálians are large, powerful carnivores,the top predators in their native environment.Physically, an Ackálian looks like an ogreishmonster from Human myth, with a burlyhumanoid body, two powerful legs ending inclawed feet, two strong arms (not clawed), a longtail, and a covering of sparse hair. Tey haveparticularly disturbing faces, with four all-blackeyes set above a mouth full of teeth. wo smalllimbs flanking the mouth terminate in killingfangs. Female Ackálians average about 10 percentmore mass than males (with proportionatelygreater strength), while males have greater agility.

2



Champions Beyond n Chapter Two 2

Both genders prefer tight-fitting clothing; malesoen wear only pants during warm weather.

Ackálians live on meat alone, preferably stillwarm. Tey consider cooked food absolutelyunpalatable, but can tolerate slightly rotted flesh.Other species find Ackálian cuisine dull becausethe Ackálians don’t use spices or flavorings (justabout any plant products give Ackálians terribleindigestion).

Ackálian females give birth to live offspring,usually one at a time. Tey do not nurse theiryoung, however, feeding them pre-chewed meatand animal blood instead. Young Ackálians growup slowly; they’re not considered full adults untilthey reach nearly 30 Earth years. Te combinationof an all-meat diet and slow maturation meansAckál has a low population by Human standards— a population of two billion as of 2011 (actuallya bit more than it can comfortably support).

Ackálians can have superpowers. Powers basedon enhanced physiology or training — bricks,speedsters, martial artists, weaponmasters, andthe like — predominate, while mystics are rare.

Te rate of superpower manifestation on Ackál isapproximately 50% that of Earth, and the averagesuperhuman is of roughly equal power to aHuman with superpowers..

ACKÁL, THE ACKÁLIAN HOMEWORLDTe homeworld of the Ackálian species, Ackál

is a planet 1.18 times the size of Earth with asurface gravity 10 percent greater than Earth’s.Warmer and drier than Earth, it has large desertsand no icecaps. It has four moons (two large, twosmall).

ACKÁLIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURETanks to the greater size and strength of the

female gender, the Ackálians have always had amatriarchal society. Women hold all positions ofimportance (including the heads of various states)and dictate how the state conducts governmentaland social affairs. (Ackálian males living inAckálian space may take a Social Complication, Ackálian Male, to reflect this; it’s Very Frequently,Minor, and worth 15 points.)

Ackálian culture has long emphasized war,individual achievement, and the submission ofthe weak to the strong. No matter what the arena— military, political, social, creative — Ackáliansconstantly struggle with each other for advan-

tage. Tey consider this fierce competition agood thing: the perpetual infighting improves thespecies, they say. At their best, Ackálians are fear-less, confident, adventurous, clever, and merito-cratic. At their worst they are brutal, combative,cruel, reckless, and overbearing.

Tis constant competitiveness makes it difficultfor other species to interact with Ackálians — theAckálians always try to achieve dominance, evenin situations where it’s not necessarily appro-priate. Most species solve the problem by avoidingAckálians as much as possible.

ACKÁLIAN TEMPLATE Cost Abilities

3 +3 STR

2 +1 DEX

2 +2 CON

3 Ackálian Bite: HKA 1 point; No STR Bonus

(-½)3 Ackálian Legs: Running +3m

2 Ackálian Eyes: +1 with Sight GroupPER Rolls

Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 15

For male Ackálians: reduce STR to +1, increaseDEX to +2. Total cost: 15 points

For female Ackálians: increase STR to +5, removeDEX bonus. Total cost: 15 points

Value Complications

None

Total Value Of Template Complications: 0




Despite their reputation as violent brutes, theAckálians definitely have a creative side. Ackálianart oen displays a raw, primitive, stark quality,though it’s also capable of surprising sophistica-tion and depth. Most Ackálian music would beloud and discordant to Human ears, but someof it would have a certain appeal. On the otherhand, the Ackálians have relatively little in theway of religion or mysticism, considering mostsuch customs as impractical nonsense. Whatlittle religion they possess mostly takes the formof ancestor worship or following a leader who’sconsidered divine.

In Ackálian society, science and engineeringare just another arena of competition, and conse-quently technological progress is oen rapid butuneven. Teir most successful developments comefrom individual researchers or small teams; anylarge research project quickly becomes a welterof backbiting, bureaucratic empire-building, andcredit-stealing. As of 2011, Ackálian technology isroughly on par with Human technology, thoughthe Ackálians devote significantly more time and

effort to developing new weapons and militarytechnology than Humans do. Te Ackálians haveorbital facilities and have reached all four of theirmoons as well as two other planets in their homesystem.

A species native to the radiation beltsurrounding a gas giant world in the galactic core,the Az’arc’a are energy beings... and proof that lifecan take some very strange forms indeed.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity knows almost nothing about the

Az’arc’a beyond the name and the fact that they’reenergy beings from a planet whose life forms areall energy rather than flesh. Tat informationcomes primarily from Ironclad and Herculan, whofought Az’arc’an “animals” in the Malvan arenaand learned a little about the Az’arc’a from gladi-atorial gossip.

AZ’ARC’A BIOLOGY Te Az’arc’a are energy beings; they do not have

flesh. An Az’arc’a looks like a spherical or circularmass of pulsing rings and/or loops of plasmaoccupying a volume of up to 10 meters across.“He” (not even the Malvans know if the Az’arc’ahave genders) communicates with other Az’arc’aby radio, light pulses, or inducing vibrations inmetal structures to create sound. If an ordinary,flesh-and-bone, sentient wants to “speak” with anAz’arc’a, he needs a translator device or an object/structure the Az’arc’a can safely vibrate.

As energy beings, the Az’arc’a cannot live onmost planets, but can move through normal spaceat velocities up to the speed of light, survive inenvironments that would kill physical lifeforms,and absorb and project energy to defend them-selves. As such they can be considered “super-powered,” though they do not seem to manifestadditional powers.

Te Az’arc’a reproduce by splitting apart. Eachof the two new Az’arc’a retains all the memoriesand mental Skills of its parent, which means manyof them have memories millennia old.

THE AZ’ARC’A HOMEWORLDTe Az’arc’a don’t actually have a home “world”

per se; entering a gravity well as strong as a planet’sis harmful (if not fatal) to them. Tey evolvedin the intense radiation belt surrounding a largegas giant in a system in the galactic core. Tey’venever identified this world to other species norallowed them to visit it. However, the radiationbelt apparently supports a full energy ecosystem,since Az’arc’an “animals” are sometimes traded tothe Malvans for use in the gladiatorial arena.

AZ’ARC’A SOCIETY AND CULTUREAs essentially immortal beings, the Az’arc’a

have a highly-developed, and yet also oddlylimited, society and culture. Teir methods ofcommunication allow large numbers of Az’arc’a to“talk” to one another simultaneously, resulting in aquasi-hive mind that led to a species-wide govern-ment relatively early in their history. (However,comments made by Az’arc’a indicate that occa-sional schisms and “splinter groups” arise withinsociety and split off to form their own governingbodies on occasion, though most eventuallyrejoin the Az’arc’a “collective” in time.) Leaders

apparently rule based primarily on logic, issuinglogical instructions that are carried out in a logicalmanner by their underlings and society.

However, the Az’arc’a are not slaves to basereasoning; they’re capable of emotion andcreativity like most sentient species. Teir artmainly consists of music, which utterly fascinatesthem. Most Az’arc’a attend “concerts” at leastonce a week (if not more oen), and an acclaimedcomposer enjoys great prestige within society.Teir literature is also highly developed, and theycan make permanent sculptures out of a plasma-like energy.

Te Az’arc’a have a profound knowledgeof mathematics, physics, astrophysics, andcosmology. Tey also know more than a littleabout the history of the Milky Way thanks to theirlong lives (many Az’arc’a claim to have witnessedfirst-hand battles between the Malvans and theElder Worm hundreds of thousands of years ago).Individuals trade physics data, astronomical infor-mation, or chronicles of galactic history for thingsthat interest them: music (via radio), mathemat-ical theorems, codes, detective stories, new primenumbers, and the like.

2




Inhabitants of a planet not too far from Earth(galactically speaking), the Dendrians are apeaceful people who strive to remain neutral inintergalactic affairs.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s information about Dendrians

comes entirely from Brin Rei arn, the first Star-Guard assigned to protect the sector of space thatincludes Earth (some of it directly from him, therest via Anna Mills’s book Stand On Guard [seepage 15]). During his interactions with variousEarth superheroes and governments he was veryforthcoming about his people (though of coursehe tended to provide a few facts about a wide variety of subjects rather than detailed informa-tion about any one subject).

DENDRIAN BIOLOGY Dendrians are humanoids with the same

average height/build and sexual dimorphism as

Humans. Teir skins are typically purple (rangingfrom a light violet shade to a dark purple-blackdepending on race). Teir hair color is usuallysome shade of blue or black, but in some regionslighter shades (white and a sort of blue-white)occur.

Dendrian women give birth to live young aera ten-month gestation period. Dendrian childrengrow quickly, reaching sexual maturity aer twelveDendrian years (though social customs usuallyemphasize delaying marriage and sexual activityuntil at least 18 years of age, at which point mostDendrians have finished their schooling).

Dendrian senses are more acute than Humans’,

possibly because they evolved from a canine-likeherbivore that relied on its senses to perceivepredators in time to flee from them. Teir eyes canperceive ultraviolet light, and their ears can hearultrasonic sounds.

Based on the long romantic relationshipbetween Brin Rei arn and Anna Mills, it seemsthat Dendrians and Humans are biologicallycompatible in many ways. It’s unclear whetherthis extends as far as being able to, for example,transplant organs from a Dendrian to a Human(or vice-versa), but xenologists are intrigued bythe prospects.

Dendrians are able to have superpowers,though superhumans are far rarer among themthan among Humans. Te average Dendriansuperhuman is roughly as powerful as the averageHuman superhuman.

DENDRIS, THE DENDRIAN HOMEWORLDTe planet Dendris is the fourth of eight worlds

orbiting the Sol-like star that Humans call 58Eridani, which is about 44 light-years from Earth.It’s slightly smaller than Earth, with 0.96 G gravity.Although it was heavily industrialized in the past,today it’s mainly an agricultural world, with high-tech manufacturing facilities kept in specific zonesof the planet so as not to disturb the tranquility of

Dendrian life.

Dendris has two moons, Kotho and Hedril.Both host Dendrian colonies that are primarilydevoted to mining and manufacturing. TeDendrians also have starbases near their system’stwo asteroid belts to mine the asteroids.

DENDRIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Dendrians are a peaceful people who try

to remain neutral in galactic affairs. Tey havelow-speed FL ships (sufficient to trade with

their nearer neighbors) and other correspond-ingly advanced technology, but they prefer not toget involved in disputes or wars. Several times intheir history would-be galactic empire-buildershave conquered Dendris, but the Dendrians havepatiently and stubbornly waited them out untilthey fell from power and they could regain theirindependence.

Tis characteristic Dendrian attitude mostlikely results from the fact that Dendrians tendto live in large, extended families, making theability to hold one’s temper and a willingness tonegotiate through problems valuable social skills.o the typical Dendrian mind, there’s very littlethat’s so important in life that it’s worth fightingover. Dendrians who feel otherwise oen end upemigrating to other worlds where they can allowtheir more adventurous personalities full scope.

Te Dendrians have a unified world govern-ment called the Dendrian Congress, but mostDendrians prefer that the government get involvedin their lives as little as possible. Te Congresstypically limits itself to authorizing and over-seeing major projects to help the planet (such assupporting efforts to develop better technologies)and leaves other governmental matters to localcouncils.

Dendrian art and literature aren’t highlythought of by other species (who tend to regardDendrian creations as “bland” or “uninspiring”),but Dendrian singing is considered very enjoyable.Dendrian singers can produce sounds up into theultrasonic, giving their vocal compositions fargreater range and variety than Humans’. Dendriancuisine, which is mostly vegetarian, also has itsfans among other species.

DENDRIAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 Dendrian Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception (SightGroup)

3 Dendrian Ears: Ultrasonic Perception(Hearing Group)

1 Dendrian Enhanced Lifespan: Life Support(Longevity: 200-year lifespan)


Value Complications

None





Te Dendrians worship a god they call ro.According to their theology, ro created theuniverse and everything in it, and as his last andgreatest creation formed the Dendrians from thereeds that grew on the banks of the sacred riverPhormon. Te Dendrians believe that ro watchesover them and wards them from the dangersthe Universe holds... which is one reason whythey survive conquerors and tyrants with littledifficulty.

Members of a proud and ancient culture, theFassai have fallen on hard times in recent centu-ries. While still powerful, they lack the influenceand authority they once had in the Confederation,and seek to reclaim it.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS

Humanity knows relatively little about theFassai. All of the information it has comes fromHerculan... who even aer his reform is under-standably reluctant to reveal significant data abouthis people, particularly anything that could beused to conquer them.

FASSAI BIOLOGY Humanoids with dark skin (usually a sort of

dull brown, but in some races shading to more of agrey), the Fassai have heads with furrowed ridgesand little (if any) hair. Over half the males arecompletely bald, and while females tend to havemore hair than males, they still have very high

foreheads, with the hair arranged more as a fringearound the sides of the head.Fassai children are born aer a five-month

gestation period that leaves the mother virtuallyhelpless. As a result, she must rely on the father,relatives, and/or friends to help her with basicnecessities during this period. In the distant past,this led to the formation of large “family” groupsthat today provide the basis for the Fassai govern-ment and social structure.

Fassai can have superpowers. In fact, theonly Fassai known to Humanity, the supervillainHerculan, has them. Te rate of superpower devel-opment on Kadrigar is about 65% that of Earth,

and the average superhuman is of roughly equalpower to a Human with superpowers.

KADRIGAR, THE FASSAI HOMEWORLDKadrigar, the Fassai homeworld, is located on

the opposite side of the Milky Way Galaxy fromEarth. It’s slightly larger than Earth, with 1.2 Gstandard gravity. Water covers about two-thirds ofthe planet, leaving a full third of it for land — fourlarge continents and a plethora of large islands.Each of the Hundred Houses controls a particularregion of the planet, so traveling Fassai take careto avoid the territories of rival Houses.

Accustomed to living with others, the Fassai

prefer to cluster together in cities. Fassai mega-cities, clearly visible from space, dominate theplanet — but large, mostly unsettled wildernessareas criss-crossed by roads separate them.

FASSAI SOCIETY AND CULTUREMillennia ago, the Fassai created a society

based on oligarchic leadership systems derivingfrom their extended families, or “Houses.”Referred to as the Hundred Houses (though thereare actually slightly more than 100 of them),these institutions are enormous extended familiesdescended from an ancestor (as oen mythic asnot). Within each House, the leaders of impor-

tant sub-families rule as the House Council;

FASSAI TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR

1 +1 PD


Value Complications

None


2




each House Council sends a representative to itsnational governing council (as of 2011, the Fassaido not have a unified world government). SomeHouses choose their leaders democratically, othersby heredity, others by merit. Te only constant isthat each House considers its method superior tothe others’.

Te Fassai are part of an interstellar govern-ment called the Velarian Confederation. Herculanhasn’t told Humanity much about this entityexcept that it’s named aer the species thatfounded it, and that it’s a loose association basedlargely on trade. When Herculan le, the Confed-eration was wracked by an internal conflict thatpitted most of the Fassai and another speciesagainst three other species, but he’s provided nofurther details.

Fighting (of various kinds) between Housesoccurs frequently. One House may clash withanother over trading rights, farmland, or someother resource or privilege, and they settle thematter with arms (or whatever other method theydeem appropriate). Tis custom isn’t nearly as

common among the Fassai as it was centuries ago— Houses resort to negotiation and other peacefulmethods of resolving disputes just as oen as theydo fighting these days — but it’s still an importantpart of Fassai sociopolitical life.

One reason the Fassai so oen come tobloodshed is their elaborate code of honor. othe Fassai, a House’s or person’s honor is para-mount; insults to him or it must be avenged, andall conduct must take honor into account. Fassaihonor largely boils down to this principle: a Fassaimust not settle for less than he deserves. Whilethis has some beneficial effects — it prevents aFassai from accepting pay for a job he didn’t do,

and makes gambling virtually non-existent amongthem — it also leads to a lot of conflict when twoFassai both feel they “deserve” the same thing,or when a person feels he’s getting less respector consideration than he’s due. (Most Fassai takeFassai Code Of Honor as a 15-point PsychologicalComplication.)

Fassai technology is more advanced thanHuman technology. Tey have low-speed FLstarships, blaster weapons, powered armor forsoldiers, jetpacks, and similar advanced devices.

Te Ixendar (or Ixendrians) are a highlyadvanced species who live spinward and slightlycoreward of Earth, beyond Dorvala.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity knows virtually nothing of the

Ixendar, other than the fact that they possess tech-nology significantly more advanced than Earth’s.A few superheroes have encountered membersof the species and reported about them to the USgovernment and/or UNIL.

IXENDAR BIOLOGY Te Ixendar are a mammalian humanoid

species very similar to Humans in most ways.Teir skin color ranges from a dusky ochre to adull gold; most of them have dark-colored hairin various shades of black, grey, or brown. Teaverage male stands 5’9” to 6’4” tall, the averagefemale two inches shorter. Teir noses andheavy browridges form a single facial structurethat tends to make them look angry or stern to

Humans, and which also gives them an advancedsense of smell and distinctively deep voices.Ixendar women give birth to their children

aer an eight-month gestation period. A babyIxendar is born with several of his skull features(including the nose/browridge) still “so,” andthus requires extremely close attention and carefor the first three months of his life until theyharden to boniness.

Te Ixendar can have superpowers. Te rate ofsuperpower development on Ixendria is roughlyequal to that of Earth, and the average super-human is approximately 50% as powerful as aHuman with superpowers.

IXENDRIA, THE IXENDAR HOMEWORLDIxendria is a terrestrial planet 1.02 times the

size of Earth with 1.0 G gravity. It’s a near-planet-opolis; as of 2011, over 80% of the landmasses arecovered with what’s effectively one gigantic city,and the Ixendar have even begun constructingplatforms out over parts of the oceans so they cankeep expanding their city. In just a few centu-ries the entire planet will be covered with streetsand buildings. Te gigantic towers and glitteringbuildings of Ixendria are known throughoutthe galactic community as the epitome of urbanquality and sophistication.

o prevent this massive urbanization fromdisrupting weather patterns or causing otherenvironmental problems, the Ixendar use weathercontrol satellites and elaborate planetologicalmonitoring and control systems to prevent storms,unusual tidal phenomena, quakes, or the likefrom wreaking too much damage to the planetaryinfrastructure while still maintaining enough ofa weather system to keep the planet functioningproperly.

IXENDAR TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 INT

2 Ixendar Nose: +2 with Normal Smell PER Rolls


Value Complications

NoneTotal Value Of Template Complications: 0




IXENDAR SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Ixendar are as diverse in their customs as

Humanity; characterizing them broadly is diffi-cult. However, a few generalities apply.

First, the Ixendar tend to be very clean, and toprefer clean environments, to the point of fastidi-ousness. Tis is due to their highly-developedolfactory senses; strong, unpleasant odors botherthem, and may even be considered an offense.

Second, social status and social pressures are very important to most Ixendar. Te averageIxendar spends most of his life trying to ascendthe social ladder (and/or prevent himself fromsliding down it). Following social mores, be theysimple fads or elaborate behavior protocols,is important to him. Tus the Ixendar have awell-deserved reputation for being law-abiding;breaking the law, even in trivial ways, wouldcontravene social dicta for proper behavior.

Te Ixendar possess very advanced tech-nology, including fast FL starships, energy beamweapons, and even some control of gravitics.Teir laws strictly forbid giving or selling Ixendar

technology to less advanced species; they believeeach species should make its own breakthroughsthey way they did.

Although they’re not yet a fully post-scarcitysociety (the way the Malvans are), the Ixendarwant for relatively little. Many of the unpleasanttasks on Ixendria are taken care of by robots orsimilar devices, leaving the average Ixendrian alot of leisure time. As a result, the arts, sports,and many similar activities flourish. It’s not at alluncommon for an Ixendar to have half a dozen“hobbies” that he can devote as much time to as aHuman can devote to just one.

Te Jakkari are an advanced alien species thatlives on the other side of the galactic core fromEarth, known to Humanity because the Sentinelshelped them fight a war in 1972 (see page 12).

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s knowledge of the Jakkari comes

entirely from the Sentinels, who got to knowthem well over the months of fighting and filedextensive reports with the US government aerthey returned from the Jakkari-MQro war. Aside

from the members of the Sentinels at that time, noHuman being has ever met a Jakkari.

JAKKARI BIOLOGY Te Jakkari are a humanoid species descended

from an animal somewhat similar to an Eartharmadillo. Te skin along their spine, shoulders,top and back of their wedge-shaped heads, andsometimes other places tends to be thick, leathery,and even somewhat scaly. Skin tones range fromnear-black to a light ochre.

Jakkari are 5’8” tall on average regardless ofgender. While the genders are easily distinguished visually, the Jakkari display far less sexual dimor-phism than most species. Baby Jakkari hatch fromegg-like “sacs.” An adult female can only produceone sac per year, but twin and triplet births arefar more common among the Jakkari than amongHumans.

Te average Jakkari is slightly stronger andtougher than the average Human, but slightly lessdexterous. He can see more clearly at night, buthis sensitive eyes are easily blinded by bright lightsand similar phenomena.

Te Jakkari do not seem to be able to mani-fest superpowers... or at least, the Sentinelsnever encountered or heard of a superpoweredJakkari during their time on ural Jakkar. AJakkari could, however, be highly trained or usesuper-technology.

TURAL JAKKAR,THE JAKKARI HOMEWORLD

ural Jakkar, the Jakkari homeworld, is a smallplanet (roughly 75% the size of Earth) with 0.9G gravity. It has six continents separated by fouroceans that are smaller and shallower than thoseof Earth, as well as three large archipelagos andnumerous smaller island groups. It has a normalrange of arctic-to-tropical climatic zones, andhas been described by the Sentinels as a pleasant,Earth-like planet. It has three moons, though twoare so small and distant that they’re oen hard tosee with the naked eye.

Most Jakkari don’t like to live in large cities.Te only urban area on the planet with a popula-tion above one million is the planetary capital,Vortaal; most cities have 100,000 to half a million

residents. Te planetary government has createdan extensive network of well-maintained roadsand railroad-like mass transit lines so that travelbetween cities is fast and efficient.

JAKKARI TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR

-2 -1 DEX

2 +2 PD

1 +1 ED

5 NightvisionTotal Cost Of Template Abilities: 8

Value Complications

10 Vulnerability: 1½ x Effect from light-based Sight Group Flashes (Common)


2




JAKKARI SOCIETY AND CULTURETe thing that struck the Sentinels most

strongly about Jakkari society is its high degreeof gender equality compared to Human society.Since Jakkari women are just as strong, tough, andtall as men, and lay “eggs” rather than carryinglive young to term, the Jakkari never developeda culture that assigned different jobs or rolesto women. Women are just as oen soldiers,

construction workers, or politicians as men(and have been in nearly every Jakkari culturethroughout history), while men are just as oenhomemakers, nurses, or administrative assistants.Te Sentinels reported that the Jakkari were some-what baffled by the Human idea that differentgenders would gravitate toward certain careers orfunctions in society.

While ural Jakkar is home to a wide variety ofcultures, nearly ninety percent of them are linkedby a common factor: religion. Tousands of yearsago a religious reformer named Yogon syncretizeda pantheon of four deities — a sun god and threemoon goddesses — from a number of competing

religions on one of the Jakkari continents. A seriesof military campaigns forced the local tribes andkingdoms to adopt this new religion, and in timeit spread to the rest of the planet. Tere are liter-ally thousands of minor variations and sects fromregion to region around the planet, but the centraltenets of Yogonism remain the same in nearly allof them.

Tanks to this religious unity, the Jakkarideveloped a planetary government as soon asadvances in communications and travel made itfeasible. Church and state are technically separate,but the High Yogonic Priests wield so much influ-ence in society that the government is a de facto theocracy. No one can be elected to the JakkariParliament, much less to the position of President,without the church’s approval.

Until recent decades the Jakkari were notparticularly militaristic, but the Jakkari-MQroWar changed that. Te conflict devastated muchof the planet and caused the deaths of millions ofpeople, and the Jakkari are determined never tolet it happen again. While they’re definitely notaggressive, since rebuilding their planet they’veincreased their defense and security infrastructureand procedures to such a degree that it’s had aslight but measurable impact on their interstellar

trade. But if that’s the price of safety, the Jakkariseem more than willing to pay it.Jakkari technology is more advanced than

Human technology; they have medium-speed FLstarships, beam weapons, and other sophisticateddevices. Tey participate in interstellar tradewith nearby species who are at a similar level ofdevelopment.

Te Kuzane were the species encountered byMichael Renton and his four colleagues during theincident in which they became the Fabulous Five(see page 9). As far as Humanity knows, the entireremaining population of Kuzane were aboardAjok’s ship when it exploded, and the species isnow extinct.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSWhat little Humanity knows about the Kuzane

is summarized below. It all comes from statementsAjok made to the members of the Fabulous Fiveprior to his death in the explosion that made themsuperheroes, and thus contains significant gaps.It’s not even clear if Ajok were telling the truth ordeliberately exaggerating his species’s abilities andaccomplishments.

KUZANE BIOLOGY As of the 1950s, the Kuzane species existed

only as disembodied intellects, each in its own

“sentience vessel.” As such they were effectivelyimmortal, though the destruction of a Kuzane’s vessel without another container he could imme-diately transfer his intellect into (such as another vessel, or a pre-prepared humanoid body) wouldresult in his death.

According to Ajok, in the distant past theKuzane had humanoid bodies remarkably similarto Humans’, with copper-colored skin. For someunexplained reason they abandoned their bodiesto live as incorporeal beings of pure intellect. Tismade them nearly immortal, but for some reasonthey had decided to seek out humanoid formsthey could transfer themselves into. Humans

would have been nearly perfect for their plan,which is why the Fabulous Five elected to destroythe Kuzane vessel rather than risk letting it get toEarth.

THE KUZANE HOMEWORLDAjok didn’t name the Kuzane homeworld to the

Fabulous Five or describe its location. He spoke ofit as a large terrestrial planet, “full of beauty of alltypes, and natural splendor, and all the arts of thehand lovingly craed.” Patty Renton later claimedthat he has a “wistful” tone to his voice whensaying this, implying that the world was somehowlost or destroyed, but it’s questionable whether she

(or any other Human) could accurately gauge suchemotions in a newly-met alien.

KUZANE SOCIETY AND CULTUREAccording to Ajok, and based on what the

Fabulous Five saw of his ship, Kuzane culturemust have been highly advanced, with technologyfar better than Earth’s (including fast FL star-ships) and an extensive body of art and literature.Given some of Ajok’s comments, Michael Rentonsurmises that the Kuzane were largely solitaryand reproduced using artificial insemination andbirthing machines of some sort.




Te Mandaarians, the most advanced andpowerful galactic civilization known to Humanityaer the Malvans and Odrugarans, control asmall volume of space antispinward and “north”of Earth. Mandaarian scientists have visited Earthseveral times (see page 13).

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s knowledge of the Mandaar-ians comes almost entirely from what visitingMandaarians have told Humans about themselvesand their society, supplemented by what littleHumans could learn through direct observationof the visitors. Tere’s no way to know if what theMandaarians have told Humanity is the truth.

MANDAARIAN BIOLOGY Mandaarians are humanoid, with a range of

skin and hair tones almost identical to those foundin Humans, but more unusual eye colors (typi-cally golden or silver, with slit-pupils something

like those of cats). Tey have Human-like ears,usually with a slight point at the top. Both gendersnormally wear their hair short and with little orno styling. Te average Mandaarian is shorter andslighter than the average Human, but has compa-rable strength and durability.

A high proportion of Mandaarians are psionic.Based on observations of the Mandaarian visitorsand statements they’ve made, Human xenologistsestimate that as much as 75% of the Mandaarianpopulation has mental abilities... oen verypowerful ones, by Human standards.

Besides their native psionic powers, Mandaar-ians can have superpowers (in fact, their tech-

nology may be advanced enough to easily inducethem if desired). Te rate of superpower develop-ment on Mandaar is roughly one-third that ofEarth, and the average superhuman is approxi-mately as powerful as a Human with superpowers(or even more powerful, if he also has psionics).

MANDAAR, THE MANDAARIANHOMEWORLD

Mandaar is a terrestrial world with 1.1 Ggravity. It has four large continents (including twoprominent subcontinents) and deep, cool oceans.Compared to Earth it has much less arid land,allowing for more crop growth and an earlier (and

rapider) development of civilization.As of 2011, Mandaar is both highly-devel-

oped and an extremely pleasant place to live.Mandaarian technology is so advanced that theMandaarians have devised ways to create habit-able areas that complement rather than harmthe environment, and can exploit asteroids andnon-habitable planets for the natural resourcesthey still need.

Compared to Human cities, Mandaarian citiesseem quiet and subdued. Mandaarians typicallycommunicate via telepathy, and their technologyalso allows messages to be “beamed” directlyinto a person’s mind. Tus, the sounds, advertise-ments, and other displays so rampant in Humancities are missing or diminished on Mandaar (or,more accurately, take forms that Humans cannotperceive).

MANDAARIAN SOCIETY AND CULTUREBased on the way Mandaarian society andculture have been described to Humans, they seemto be the epitome of what humanoids can expectto achieve. Peaceful yet vigorous and dynamic,powerful yet altruistic, motivated by curiosity anda love of learning rather than a desire to conqueror enslave, the Mandaarians have a civilizationmost other species can only envy.

Diverse and sophisticated, Mandaarian art,music, and literature are liked even by otherspecies. Mandaarian visitors to Earth havebrought numerous works as “gis to Humanity,”and Mandaarian music in particular has becomeextremely popular in some circles. SinceMandaarian technology allows most Mandaariansto support themselves without having to do muchwork, a high percentage of the populace creates artor participates in creative endeavors.

Besides their creative hobbies, many Mandaar-ians simply love to learn. A Mandaarian philoso-pher once opined that the defining characteristic ofhis species is curiosity, and there’s certainly sometruth to that claim. Many Mandaarians never trulystop “going to school”; they continue taking classes,or self-educating themselves, throughout theirlives. rivia games and other intellectual contests

are major pasttimes on Mandaar.Te Mandaarians have a world governmentbased on meritocratic principles. Every sixMandaarian years a panel called the esting Boardadministers a comprehensive examination to allMandaarians who are interested in becomingpart of the government. Te exam covers politics,sociology, economics, interstellar affairs, scienceand technology, demographics, and many othersubjects. Te 144 highest-scoring Mandaariansform the new Mandaarian Council and governtheir people for the next six-year term. Proceed-ings are typically by majority vote, though somepowers are delegated to specific persons chosen

early in the term.Although sometimes willing to make contact

with pre-interstellar civilizations (as withHumans), the Mandaarians maintain a strict non-interference policy. Tey want to study and learn,not to influence. Tey neither hurt nor harm otherspecies (unless there’s no way to avoid doing so),and do not give away their technology or “upli”less advanced sentients.

Mandaarian technology is among the mostadvanced in the Milky Way Galaxy. Te Mandaar-ians possess very fast FL ships, beam weapons,teleportation, energy manipulation, matter trans-mutation, and other devices that practically seem“magical” to Humans.

2




Te Mon’dabi are a reptilian species at a similarstage of cultural and technological development asHumans.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity knows very little about the Mon’dabi

— basically just brief descriptions provided by

Ironclad and Herculan based on Mon’dabi gladia-tors they met. Te possibility of sentient reptilianlife intrigues many Human xenologists, though,and they hope to learn more about the Mon’dabi inthe near future.

MON’DABI BIOLOGY Te Mon’dabi are large humanoids (with males

averaging about 1.9 m tall) superficially resem-bling Earth reptiles. Tey have scaly skin, eyesmore mammalian than reptilian, teeth strong andsharp enough for painful (though not deadly)bites, and long, heavy tails. Tey walk upright onunclawed feet. Despite their fearsome appearance,

the Mon’dabi consume only leaves, young plants,fruit, and other vegetation.Unlike Earth reptiles Mon’dabi bear live young.

Mon’dabi sexual dimorphism is pronounced —males are considerably larger and stronger thanfemales, and the customary family structureinvolves one male and several wives.

Te Mon’dabi can have superpowers. Te rateof superpower development on Mon’da is approxi-mately half that of Earth, and the average super-human is about 75% as powerful as a Human withsuperpowers.

MON’DA, THE MON’DABI HOMEWORLD

Mon’da is a pleasant and temperate world,slightly larger than Earth with 1.02 G gravity.Te largest cities are clustered in the tropical andtemperate zones, since Mon’dabi, though warm-blooded, dislike cold weather.

Unlike Earth, where the largest and mostsuccessful creatures are almost all mammals, onMon’da reptilian animals rule — in fact, mammalsnever even evolved there, reptiles and insectsfill their ecological niches. For example, theMon’da hunting lizard (HSB 402-03) is renownedfor its speed, ferocity, and willingness to attackhumanoids.

MON’DABI SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Mon’dabi evolved from reptilian creatures

similar in many ways to the apes and monkeys ofEarth. Teir herbivorous diet led them naturallyto agriculture and the beginnings of civilization,with greater social complexity becoming necessaryas growing populations required more extensivefarming projects. Mon’dabi cuisine essentiallyamounts to an endless variety of salads flavoredwith complex combinations of spices and herbs.Tey also brew many types of alcoholic beverages.

Te Mon’dabi have a markedly sexist society.Both law and custom require females to defer tomales in all matters, and some nations don’t allow

women to vote or hold office.

MON’DABI TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 CON

3 Mon’dabi Bite: HKA 1 point; No STR Bonus (-½)

1 Mon’dabi Skin: Resistant (+½) for 1 PD/1 ED

3 Mon’dabi Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups

5 Tail: Extra Limb (1), Inherent (+¼); LimitedManipulation (-¼)


Mon’dabi Males: Add +2 STR. Total cost: +2 points.Mon’dabi Females: For games taking place primarily

in Mon’dabi space, add Social Complication:Mon’dabi Female (Very Frequently, Minor;15 points) (if appropriate, the GM may allowthe character to take this Complication at areduced value for campaigns taking placeoutside Mon’dabi space).

Value Complications





erritorial and possessive, the Mon’dabiconsider land the most important form of wealth.A male who doesn’t own any land at all is unlikelyto attract even one wife. One who owns land (orany other thing of value) fights fiercely, even to thedeath, to protect it. Te authorities impose severepenalties for the and related offenses, up to andincluding maiming or execution.

Te large surplus of single male Mon’dabiposes a problem for their society, and occasion-ally national governments engage in aggressivepolicies simply as a safety valve. However, theMon’dabi are skilled negotiators and traders,especially when they can bluff or posture, andsometimes provoke a crisis simply to get the otherside to the bargaining table.

Science among the Mon’dabi has been a matterof constant slow improvement rather than greatrevolutions. For most of their history mathematicshas been a particularly important area of study; itisn’t clear whether this reflects some innate abilityor just a cultural tradition. Generally, Mon’dabitechnology as of 2011 is roughly equivalent to

Earth technology, though they excel in one field:spaceship design. Te Mon’dabi seem to be espe-cially adept at designing propulsion systems andare eager to explore space; they’ve already sentmanned expeditions to several other planets intheir solar system.

Te MQro are a hostile alien species whoattacked the Jakkari in 1972 and were fought offwith the help of the Star*Guard and the Sentinels.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s knowledge of the MQro comes

entirely from the Sentinels, who fought them in1972. Naturally, the Sentinels only learned certainfacts (primarily ones relating to how the MQrowage war), so Humanity’s information about theMQro is limited.

MQRO BIOLOGY Te biological nature of the MQro is some-

thing of a mystery. Observations of live MQroduring the war revealed a three-legged, vaguelycentauroid, blob-like creature that seemed to beas much energy as it was jelly-like flesh. A deadMQro quickly deliquesces, leaving no body forother species to study.

Neither the Jakkari nor the Sentinels have everlearned if the MQro have genders. All MQro tendto look basically alike to other species, who candistinguish them only based on the color patternsof their skin/flesh (which is usually some combi-nation of blue, purple, and mauve).

It’s unknown whether the MQro can havesuperpowers. No superpowered MQro were everencountered by the Sentinels, nor did they hearany reports of super-MQro active elsewhereduring the war.

THE MQRO HOMEWORLDTe location and nature of the MQro home-

world are unknown. Te Jakkari believe theyevolved on a dark world orbiting a lone star in thespace between galaxies, or possibly that they comefrom some other dimension.

MQRO SOCIETY AND CULTUREBased on the fact that they attacked the Jakkari

without warning or provocation (at least as far asthe Jakkari or the Sentinels can tell), the MQrowould seem to be aggressive and militaristic. Teyconduct military operations with a precise, brutalefficiency, which may suggest a highly-developed,rigidly-governed society, or possibly a “hive mind”or a species psionic ability (though the MQronever attacked the Jakkari telepathically).

MQro technology is at least as advancedas Jakkari devices in most respects, and moreadvanced in some (for example, their averagestarship is slightly faster and more durable). Teirtechnology is difficult for most species to under-stand; it has a sort of quasi-organic aspect that’s

not quite like anything else in the Milky Way.

Founders and overseers of the amazingStar*Guard, the Odrugarans are among the mostpowerful — and in some ways most mysterious —alien species in the Milky Way.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s knowledge of the Odrugarans

comes almost entirely from information providedby various StarGuards (primarily Brin Rei arnand Andre Almena), from superheroes who’veworked with the Guard and met Odrugarans,and from Anna Mills’s book Stand On Guard (seepage 15). In some cases the details may have beendistorted in the interest of making the Star*Guardseem more powerful or competent than it is, ormay have been wittingly or unwittingly providedto Humans in a selective fashion.

ODRUGARAN BIOLOGY Odrugarans are humanoids with ivory-colored

skin and hair that’s some shade of blue, purple, orred. (No Human has ever met an Odrugaran withdifferent skin or hair color; either it’s a speciescharacteristic or they always present themselves

that way to aliens.) Tey’re tall — by Humanmeasurements, typically between seven and eightfeet — with arms and legs that are half again aslong as they should be by Human proportions.Teir ears are pointed, and their eyes large byHuman standards.

As nearly immortal beings (even without theaid of ultra-technology to extend their naturallifespans further), the Odrugarans have a lowbirthrate and have never been a very numerouspeople. As of 2011 there are approximately onebillion of them on Odrugar.

2




Te Odrugarans can have superpowers, thoughthey’re rare: the rate of natural superpower devel-opment on Odrugar is roughly ten percent that ofEarth (though the average superhuman is approxi-mately twice as powerful as a Human with super-powers). However, Odrugaran technology caninduce superpowers if necessary, and Odrugaranweapons and powered armor are easily enough tomake a normal person the equal of a superhuman(witness the Star-Staff, for instance).

ODRUGAR, THE ODRUGARAN HOMEWORLDOdrugar, located far to spinward from Earth,

is a world very similar to Humanity’s homeworld,though it’s somewhat smaller and only has 0.8 Ggravity. Where it differs is that the Odrugaranshave used their super-science to almost seam-lessly blend their cities and residences with thelandscape. If viewed from an aircra Odrugarwould almost look like a wilderness world... but ifyou descend closer to ground level you discoverthat what looked like a forest actually shelters asmall city. A nearby mountain might have beenhollowed out to form a scientific complex ormanufacturing center, but from the outside itlooks like an ordinary mountain range. Only a few very important structures and monuments — suchas the Hall of the Council, where the Council ofOverseers meets and leads the Star*Guard — areallowed to stand out as obviously artificial.

ODRUGARAN SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Odrugarans have what is perhaps the

oldest civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy; theywere technologically and intellectually advancedwhen even the Malvans were still a relativelyprimitive people. But unlike the early Malvans,who rose to the heights they did through drive

and ambition, the Odrugarans were essentiallyisolationist, content to keep to themselves and usetheir science solely for their own benefit.

Tat changed approximately one millionyears ago with the birth of Gloran, the herowho founded the Star*Guard (see Chapter en).Te son of a philosopher, Gloran was a geniusof unparalleled intellect who absorbed all thelearning Odrugar could offer him, and thenexpanded upon it with his own studies and experi-ments. Made aware of the existence of evil by hisfather from an early age, he vowed to use his gisto fight wrongdoing wherever it arose. So inspira-

tional was Gloran that he led his fellow Odruga-rans to follow his example — and with their help,he built the super-computer CONROL ontowhich he imprinted his brain engrams before hedied. Te earliest Guardsmen were all Odrugarans,but the isolationist strain in Odrugaran thinkingremained strong. As the years passed, more andmore non-Odrugaran Guards were recruited,and the Odrugarans decided they could bestemployee their gis and technology to oversee theStar*Guard and use it as the weapon for good thatGloran intended it to be.

Since that day, Odrugaran society has evolvedto fulfill this new role. While not all Odrugaransare directly involved with Star*Guard affairs, theyall help it with its mission in some way or to somedegree. Freed from the need to support themselvesby their ultra-technology, the Odrugarans candevote themselves to whatever hobbies or tasksmost interest them. Teir penchant for philosophy,discussion, learning, and even elaborate intellec-tual practical jokes is well-known to other specieswho frequently interact with them.

In the past Odrugar had a fairly rigid systemof “castes” that governed how they related to oneanother and who did what tasks. CONROL andthe needs of the Star*Guard long ago did awaywith that antiquated system, though Odrugaransstill note what caste they belong to as a pointof pride. Good-humored jibes about a caste’sinability to comprehend higher-order topologyor to handle multi-linguistic puns are common inOdrugaran society.

CONROL also in effect did away with theold Odrugaran religion (replacing it with devo-

tion to the Star*Guard and its ideals of justice,righteous action, and truth) and political system.For nearly a million years CONROL has beenthe nigh-unquestioned leader of the Odrugarans,its steady hand ensuring that they remain “oncourse” as a civilization. It remains to be seen whateffect the extensive damage CONROL suffered inMordace’s 2009 attack (see page 230), and the longtime it will take CONROL to return to full func-tion, will have on Odrugaran society. Te merefact the attack came so close to succeeding hasalready shaken the Odrugaran belief system to thecore and may have serious sociopolitical repercus-sions in the near future.

echnologically the Odrugarans are probablythe most advanced species in the Galaxy aer theMalvans. Teir devices see to their every need,freeing them up to pursue lives of utter leisureor devotion to service, as they choose. Only theenormous size of Mordace’s army, and the elementof surprise, allowed his attack to come as close tosucceeding as it did; otherwise there’s no way hecould have penetrated Odrugar’s potent planetarydefenses.

ODRUGARAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 +5 INT

5 +5 EGO

5 +5 PRE

4 Odrugaran Lifespan: Life Support(Longevity: 1,600 year lifespan)


Value Complications

None





Phi Cassiopeia is a bright, young star whichinexplicably has a lifebearing planet circling it.Since the system contains several much youngerworlds still forming, its native scientists believetheir homeworld, the fourth planet, is a capturedworld — a suspicion supported by its relativelyeccentric orbit. Dorvala would be just an astro-nomical curiosity except that it’s home to anadvanced species, the Dorvalans — better knownto Humans as Perseids.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s source of information on the

Perseids is the superhero Ironclad, who’s amember of that species. He’s been very forth-coming with Human scholars about Perseid civi-lization, art, history, and current affairs. However,out of respect for his people’s safety he’s refrainedfrom discussing military or security matters.Among other omissions, he’s said nothing aboutDorvala being involved in an interstellar war with

the Hzeel... because he doesn’t know about it.When he le Dorvala the war hadn’t started yet.

PERSEID BIOLOGY Like Humans, Perseids arose from an ape-like

species. Te extreme seasons and intense radiationof their environment strongly affected their evolu-tion: their bodies became resistant to all forms ofenergy and to extremes of temperature; their eyescan withstand bright light.

Relatively typical humanoids, Perseids arenotable for their all-black skin which protectsthem from radiant energy, and for bony rows ofknobs on the head and shoulders. As omnivores,

they have a strong urge to store up fat duringtimes of abundance (which today just meansmost Perseids struggle to keep from putting ontoo much weight). Based on studies of Ironclad’smetabolism, some Human scientists surmise thatPerseids and Humans may have a high degree ofbiological compatability, and perhaps even be ableto eat each others’ food.

Te Perseid reproductive cycle relates toDorvala’s seasons. Te lower light levels of latefall trigger the breeding period, so all children areborn during the spring when the vegetation startsto bloom. raditional festivals, important religiousobservances, and many private celebrations markboth occasions. Perseid culture and customsencourage the formation of large families.

Te Perseids can have superpowers. Terate of superpower development on Dorvala isapproximately 40% that of Earth, and the averagesuperhuman is about 75% as powerful as a Humanwith superpowers.

DORVALA, THE PERSEID HOMEWORLDDorvala is a harsh world beset by seasonal

extremes which have given rise to many unusualforms of energy-resistant life (about half of whichengage in some form of hibernation to survivethe winter). Although it’s sufficiently tectonically

PERSEID TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 +5 ED1 Perseid Physiology: Resistant (+½) for 2 ED

6 Perseid Physiology: Life Support (SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, IntenseCold, Intense Heat)

5 Perseid Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense(5 points)


Value Complications

None


2




stable to allow for the rise of sentient life, it suffersfrom a higher-than-usual rate of vulcanism andquakes, especially during the summer when it’scloser to the gravitational pull of Phi Cassiopeia.

Over half of Dorvala’s land is in one super-continent, Tarangia. Varksos, the capital ofthe Perseid Empire, occupies the western tip ofTarangia. A large metropolis, it’s a diverse andcosmopolitan city known in Perseid culture for itswealth, glamour, and non-stop pace of activity.

PERSEID SOCIETY AND CULTURETe need to survive the harsh environment of

Dorvala encouraged the Perseids to form powerfulstates to promote cooperation and prevent theand raiding. Initially they joined together in tribesand clans, but these quickly evolved into city-states, then nation-states, and by the late 1800s (inEarth terms) a a unified world government.

Te Perseids have strong traditions of duty,respect for authority, and altruism, though theymanifest in ways Humans find odd. For instance,a Perseid treats his foes with implacable resistance,but his defeated enemies with mercy and consid-eration. Aging, crippled, or chronically ill Perseidsusually commit nathar, a form of ritual suicide,rather than burden others or society. Perseids aredevoted, loyal, disciplined, and principled — butalso conformist, stubborn, and unquestioning.

Te Perseids refer to their government asthe Perseid Empire, since they’ve reached andcolonized nearby star systems. However, they havenot yet conquered any other sentient species...though that may soon change. For the past fewyears the Empire has been warring with the Hzeel,and unfortunately Earth may get swept up in theconflict. (See Chapter Six for more information.)

Perseid religion evolved in much the same wayas its government — the varying belief systemsthat sprang up among the early inhabitants ofDorvala were slowly but surely pared downand eliminated until only one remained. oday, virtually all Perseids subscribe to this religion, asix-god polytheistic faith called Sal Garath Sal. TeMain emple of the faith, in Varksos, is consideredone of the most beautiful and impressive buildingsin the Galaxy.

Te Perseids have a very rigid and stratifiedsociety. People expect individuals to follow thesame careers as their parents, and Perseids usuallyregard the idea of social mobility as an unset-

tling attack on the social order. Te Perseid socialsystem definitely has its benefits: experience getshanded down from generation to generation,centuries of custom usually provide a ready solu-tion to problems, and crime is very uncommoncompared to Human society. But talent oen goesunrecognized, and society adapts very slowly tonew situations.

Perseid technology is more advanced thanHuman tech in most respects. Te Perseids havelow-speed FL starships, beam weapons, andsimilar devices.

Te first alien species ever encountered byHumanity, the Sirians have not been seen in ornear Human space for over forty years... and hope-fully never will be.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWSHumanity’s knowledge of the Sirians derives

from first-hand experience in two invasions, andis summarized below. Humanity (primarily, theUS government) has obtained numerous examplesof Sirian technology (mainly pieces of ships andground vehicles, and some weapons) as well asSirian corpses and biological samples for study.Based on data retrieved from Sirian computerstorage media, Human scholars have learned topartially translate the Sirian language. (PlayerCharacters may buy Sirian as a Language, but itcosts 2 Character Points for Basic Conversation,which is the highest “level” they can buy absentsuper-translation powers or the like.)

Based on information conveyed by Ironclad,

Humanity also knows that the Sirians foolishlyattacked the Malvans during the Seventies, andwere obliterated.

SIRIAN BIOLOGY Humans have studied Sirian biology in detail

by dissecting corpses and analyzing other biolog-ical samples. Te Sirian species has two “races,” agreen-skinned “upper caste” and a grey-skinned“lower caste.” Grey Caste Sirians are typically threeto four feet tall, while Green Caste Sirians canrange as high as five feet. Tere seems to be little(if any) size dimorphism, though females are visu-ally distinguishable from males.

Te Sirian head is somewhat wedge-shaped,with a broad forehead/upper head and a relativelypointed chin. Greens’ heads bulge outward towardthe back, a sign of their greater intelligence (andsometimes psionic powers; see below). Sirian eyesare large, almond- or oval-shaped, and totallyblack.

Te main difference between Green and GreyCaste Sirians is that the Greens are significantlymore intelligent, and may even possess psionicpowers (typically telepathy and mental domina-tion, but rare instances of psychokinetic abilityhave been observed by Human superheroes).Te Grey Caste Sirians aren’t stupid or mindless— they’re capable of learning advanced scienceand performing sophisticated tasks — but they’remental midgets compared to the Greens. TeGreens, who seem to comprise 15-20% of theSirian population based on information availableto Humans, lead the Sirian species.

Te Sirians cannot have superpowers (or atleast never demonstrated any during their twoattacks on Earth), though the mental powers ofcertain Green Caste Sirians are effectively thesame as superpowers. Additionally, Sirian tech-nology is sufficiently advanced to compete withEarth heroes’ super-tech gadgets.




THE SIRIAN HOMEWORLDExcept for the fact that it orbits one of the

binary stars Humans refer to collectively as Sirius,relatively little is known about the Sirian home-world. Given the Sirians’ size and the fact thatSirius is a binary star, astronomers theorize that(a) Siria (the English translation of their name fortheir homeworld) is a much smaller, denser planetthan Earth, and that (b) it’s probably subject to

strong tides and significant tectonic activity due tohaving two stars in such proximity. Despite theirsize, Sirian eyes seem to be adapted to conditionsof intense light, and Sirians themselves seem toneed relatively little sleep compared to Humans,which both tend to confirm the idea that theycome from a world with a “binary sun.”

According to Sirian prisoners captured by theFabulous Five in 1967, Siria was quickly becominguninhabitable due to environmental collapsecaused largely by a series of industrial disasters.Tus, the Sirians had been searching for a newhome, and Earth was an ideal target.

However, that problem may now be moot. If

the Sirians did in fact attack Malva in the Seven-ties as Ironclad says they did, the odds are thatSiria was so badly ravaged by Malvan counterat-tacks that it’s even less likely to support life. Atthis point the Sirians may effectively be a nomadicspecies on the verge of extinction.

SIRIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURESince Humans have only observed Sirians in

wartime, and have had at best limited access torecords describing Sirian civilization and history,relatively little is known about Sirian society as awhole. Tey seem to be a species of rigid distinc-tions, with Greens unquestioningly ruling Greys,

and both Greens and Greys staying within theirlong-defined lineages and career paths. However,that description may apply more to the militarythan to Sirian society as a whole.

Te Sirians seem to have a world government.References in computer files to the “Great Green”may indicate that a single Sirian leads the entirespecies, or may simply be the name applied tosome sort of governing oligarchy.

Sirian literature seems rather sparse... orperhaps Sirian soldiers simply don’t like to readmuch. Most of the stories and novels Humanshave translated seem to be either myths andlegends about an ancient glorious past, or propa-gandistic tales of noble Sirian heroes fightingto their dying breath for their family, nation, orspecies.

Native to a moon-world about 3,500 light-yearsantispinward of Earth, the Vayathurans have onlyrecently discovered that stars, other planets, andother species exist... but despite that they’re thespecies best-known to Humans as of 2011.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS

As discussed on page 16, Humans have learneda great deal about Vayathurans by interactingwith the Vayathuran superhero Far-Strider andstudying the materials he has brought to Earth.While it’s possible that some or all of the informa-tion he’s provided could be false, most expertswho’ve studied it in detail believe it’s honest andreasonably complete based upon internal consis-tencies and logical analysis.

VAYATHURAN BIOLOGY Vayathurans are golden-skinned, with large

eyes usually of bluish or greenish hue. Tey’rehumanoid and of the same average height and

build as Humans. On their warm homeworld theytend to wear few clothes — loincloths or kilt-likegarments for men, short tunic-like dresses forwomen — and in fact have no real societal tabooagainst nudity.

Vayathuran women give birth aer just fourmonths, but Vayathuran children remain infantilefor nearly five years. A Vayathuran reaches adult-hood (the age at which he/she can impregnatea woman/become pregnant) at age 20, at whichpoint his family inducts him into society througha sort of “coming-out party.”

Te Vayathurans can have superpowers;mentalists and telekinetics tend to predominate

within their superhuman population. Te rate ofsuperpower development on Vayathura is about65% that of Earth, and the average superhumanis approximately as powerful as a Human withsuperpowers.

VAYATHURAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

3 Vayathuran Eyes: +2 PER versus RangeModifier for Sight Group


Value Complications

None


Options

Cost Power

(10) Psychological Complication: Hedonist(Common, Moderate)

2




VAYATHURA, THE VAYATHURAN HOMEWORLDVayathura is not actually a planet, but the

planet-sized moon of a gas giant the Vayathuranscall Mogar. Vayathura is “locked” so that it alwaysremains between the F3V star Pem and Mogar,but still revolves so that it has a night and day.Actually, “night” is something of a misnomerin Human terms, since Mogar virtually fills thesky, and its pinkish-brown glow soly lights the

world. It wasn’t until they developed space travelin recent years that the Vayathurans could actuallysee the stars.

Between sunlight, Mogarlight, and tidal action,Vayathura is a warm and balmy world with a largetropical zone (but fearsome hurricanes). Similarly,the pull of Mogar has prevented the develop-ment of any large continents such as Asia onEarth; instead, Vayathura has a handful of smallcontinents (none much larger than India) andnumerous islands. Te warm climate creates a longand fruitful growing season; the relative tectonicinstability leads to lots of volcanic eruptions andearthquakes. Te Vayathurans have developed an

extensive and intricate geologic science as a result,making them skilled prospectors.

Te Vayathurans have relatively few large cities;they seem to prefer urban areas no bigger thanlarge towns.

VAYATHURAN SOCIETY AND CULTUREVayathuran society is polygamous and

polyandrous; a person can have as many wives(or husbands) as he or she wants, can attract,and can support. Vayathuran families tend tobe large, extended affairs with half a dozen ormore children all regarded as the son/daughterof every adult in the group. Many families areself-sustaining economic units, running their own

businesses and supplying jobs for all the adults(and the children, too, when they’re old enough).In most cities, families with related business inter-ests form bisary, institutions with connotations ofboth “clan” and “guild.” Te bisary (singular bisar)wield an enormous amount of economic andsocial influence; throughout Vayathuran history,wars have resulted more from economic competi-tion or disputes blown out of proportion thanpolitical disagreements.

Compared to Humans, Vayathurans may seemhedonistic, and perhaps given to irresponsibility.While it’s true that the Vayathurans enjoy theirhobbies and pleasures, and oen go to great

lengths to seek out new and stimulating “expe-riences,” they’re just as capable of serious andupright behavior as any other species. Tey simplydon’t consider life a somber thing, and see noreason not to enjoy themselves.

Vayathuran technology is roughly equal toHuman technology in some respects, slightlybehind it in others. For example, Vayathuranaerospace technology isn’t as good as the Humanequivalent.




pace contains more than just strange newworlds and unusual alien civilizations.Although Humanity in general remainsunaware of them, on several occasions

Earth’s superhumans have encountered (or heardof) cosmic entities whose vast power dwarfs thatof even Dr. Destroyer, Mechanon, or Valak theWorld-Ravager. Very little is known about most

of these beings, even by superheroes. Some areso “conceptual” or fundamental in nature that“anthropomorphizing” them into something theHuman mind can comprehend may not even bean accurate way of thinking about them.

Te cosmic entity Chrono controls/is respon-sible for the orderly flow of ime and existence ofSpace. He ensures that one second keeps tickingaer another, that galaxies and universes continuetheir cosmic pirouettes, and that the dimensions

of the Multiverse remain in their proper place.In short, he’s the one who makes sure that allmoments in time do not occur simultaneously (orin incorrect order) and that all places and objectsdo not occupy the same space at once.

Chrono has complete control over time — hecan travel through it, reverse it, speed it up, andotherwise alter it as necessary to fulfill his duties.It’s thought that he keeps a close eye on timetravelers and covertly steps in to stop them if theiractivities become too dangerous. Some scholarsspeculate that the twenty-first century superheroCaptain Chronos was (is? will be?) an avatar orservant of his.

Chrono rarely interacts with other beings(cosmic or otherwise). When his work wouldrequire that, he usually sends a proxy: his servant(child? ally? alternate form? projection?) Entropus,sometimes referred to as “the ime Elemental.”As long as Chrono/Entropus is allowed to do his job properly, not even superheroes are likely tobecome aware of his existence. But if somethinggoes wrong — for example, if another cosmicentity or a crazed supervillain (say, ProfessorParadigm...) attacks him, or he gets “sick” — all ofReality is in danger. Earth’s superheroes are awareof two such instances. Te first was the so-called“Secret Crisis” of 1985, a war across space and

time involving almost all of the heroes that hadever existed (or ever would exist). A mysterioussupervillain named Korrex, who may or maynot have been Human, somehow attacked anddefeated/captured Entropus, throwing the time-line into chaos. Only the bravery and personalsacrifices of literally millions of superheroes wereenough to stop Korrex, free Entropus, and put

Reality to rights. Te second was the so-called“Reality Storm” of 2004, when Dr. Destroyer anda similar villain from another dimension teamedup to launch a scheme that temporarily “shackled”Entropus and nearly caused their respective homerealities to collide, which could have led to adistortion that would have “unravelled” the Multi- verse. Te Champions and their counterparts fromthe other dimension were able to find and freeEntropus, who put things back to the way theyshould be and then teleported everyone home.

Astronomers claim that a massive black holerests at the heart of every galaxy. Some superhe-roes believe otherwise. Tey claim that at the verycenter of some of the most important galaxies inthe Universe — including the Milky Way — theresits a being of power so vast that even gods andGalaxars bow before him. Known as Corelords,these enigmatic entities each seem to have somesort of responsibility to control, monitor, and/or observe their respective galaxies, but to whatend no one knows (and they themselves will notsay). At times they take a hand in events of cosmicimportance, but they rarely leave their galactic

core realms.According to the few heroes who’ve encoun-

tered one, a Corelord appears to anyone who views it as a member of his own species, thou-sands of feet tall, made out of energy and light.Even if two or more people see a Corelord at once,each sees him as a member of his own species.Teir garb and accouterments vary; some seemto wear nothing, while others have on robes,armor, or the like, and some hold weapons, staffs,scepters, orbs, or similar objects in their hands.Tese accouterments likewise tend to vary basedon who’s viewing the Corelord.

2




While several Human superheroes claim tohave seen the Milky Way’s Corelord, only one —the first Amazing Man, leader of the FabulousFive — can actually claim to have “met” him.During an adventure that involved a mysteriousattack on the “time elemental” Entropus (seeabove) which threatened to unravel the entireMilky Way, the Corelord touched Amazing Man’smind to give him the insight and power necessaryto fend off the attack and save the Galaxy. Basedon that “team-up,” Amazing Man says that theMilky Way Corelord’s name can best be expressedin English as “Laktarian.” He appears to Humaneyes as an aged, wise sage with a long, flowingbeard, wears gold and silver robes, and carries astaff from whose tip a lantern as large and brightas a sun hangs by a silver chain. He views himselfas a mostly passive protector of his home galaxy.He prefers to simply observe most events, evenones like the Malva-Elder Worm war which aredevastating to much of the Milky Way, but will getinvolved if something threatens the galaxy’s veryexistence. He’s far less concerned with the beings

who live in the Milky Way Galaxy than he is withthe overall integrity of the galaxy itself.

Te cosmic entities that Human superhe-roes have most frequently encountered are theGalaxars. Tey are a group of humanoid beingswho possess vast cosmic power that they tend touse in strange, idiosyncratic ways.

No one (except, presumably, the Galaxarsthemselves, and perhaps other beings morepowerful still) knows what relation the Galaxars

bear to one another. Each is a distinct individualwith his own powerful personality and notablequirks. Tey don’t seem to have come from thesame species (though there’s no way to know forsure), and don’t necessarily even get along withone another very well. Some theories that havebeen proposed for their origin include:

n each of them is the recipient of the “gestaltenergy” of entire extinct species, and somehowembodies one of the key aspects or traits of thatspecies

n they are the surviving members of a star-ship crew from an ultra-advanced pre-Big

Bang civilization that somehow survived theCollapse/Bang and emerged from the experi-ence with vast cosmic power

n they are from the first group of species toevolve in the Milky Way over ten billion yearsago; each of them is, in effect, a “mutant”member of his own species powerful enough tosurvive for billions of years

n they are living “manifestations” of philosoph-ical concepts, innate sentient tendencies, andthe like

Te three Galaxars that Human superheroeshave most oen interacted with are the Examiner,

the Lawbringer, and the Warmonger.

Personality/Motivation: Te Examiner primarilyuses his power for one purpose: to test people,usually people of great power or will (such assuperheroes). He’s fascinated by how beings of various sorts react to challenges, be those chal-lenges physical, emotional, or spiritual. Sometimeshe tells his victims what he’s doing (and make no

mistake — all too oen, “victims” is exactly whatthey are, for he’s quite pitiless once he sets a chal-lenge in motion). But just as oen he starts a chal-lenge and then observes, revealing his role in thesituation only aer the victim has triumphed orfailed. He applauds, and sometimes rewards, thosewho meet their challenges with determination andstrength; he scorns those who reveal “the flawswithin” by crumbling in the face of his tests.

Quote: “Surely heroes such as yourselves can’tresist a challenge... if the cause is just.”

Powers/Tactics: Like his fellow Galaxars, theExaminer possesses tremendous cosmic power.

He can cross the Galaxy in the blink of an eye,withstand just about any attack, project nigh-irre-sistible bolts of force, transform people and objectsinto other things at will, and perceive just aboutanything. He has so much sheer power that hedoesn’t need tactics; if attacked, he simply standsthere, shrugs off the assault, and counters with anattack his attacker cannot withstand.

Campaign Use: Like all the Galaxars, the Exam-iner is a walking, talking plot device. If he takesit into his head to “challenge” the PCs, he canconfront them with anything the GM has in mind.He could, for example, force them to fight their

evil duplicates, transport them to an “arenaworld”to compete with other heroes to determine who’sthe best, destroy their personal lives and see howthey react to the emotional assault of one tragedyaer another, or drop them in the middle of anintergalactic war. Te possibilities are as limitlessas your imagination.

Te Examiner doesn’t Hunt heroes; that wouldbe beneath him. However, a hero who confrontshis “challenge” in a particularly entertaining orfascinating way may find himself “tested” by theExaminer more than once.

o make the Examiner more powerful,increase the size of his Variable Power Pool.

o weaken him, decrease it and/or some of hisCharacteristics.

Appearance: Te Examiner can change hisappearance and shape at will. He usually takes ahumanoid form about two meters tall, with a thinbody and a slightly elongated, severe-looking face;his skin is a purple-blue. He wears wide-sleeved,wide-shouldered black robes with a wide whitestripe down the center of the front and back.

THE COSMIC GEM

When Humans think

cosmic entities, they

often include beings

who wield the fabled

Cosmic Gems.

Long ago, perhaps

even before the

Multiverse existed, th

Cosmic Gems came

into existence. Some

say there are three

Gems, some say 15,

some other numbers

in between. No one —

not the Malvans, not

the Elder Worm, not

even CONTROL

and the Over-

seers of Odrugar

— knows the

true origin andnature of the Cosmic

Gems. Possibly certa

cosmic beings like th

Galaxars know, but a

who do have kept the

secret from Humanity

What Humanity (and

many other sentient

species) does know

is that a Cosmic Gem

confers vast powers

on the person who

possesses it. (Whethethe Gems are intel-

ligent and choose

their possessors is a

matter of speculation

as is just how much

of a Gem’s power a

possessor can unlock

Beings eager for pow

have sought one or

another of the Gems

for centuries, but few

who actively seek the

succeed in their ques

The only person

known to Humanity

to possess a Cosmic

Gem is the supervil-

lainess Galaxia (see

CV3). Given her powe

and destructiveness,

perhaps it’s for the

best that no Human

has ever met anyone

else who wields one.

See page 293 for mo

information.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes40 STR 30 17- Lift 6,400 kg; 8d6 HTH damage [4]30 DEX 40 15-40 CON 30 17-40 INT 30 17- PER Roll 17-30 EGO 20 15-

100 PRE 90 29- PRE Attack: 20d6

10 OCV 3510 DCV 3510 OMCV 2110 DMCV 218 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12

40 PD 38 Total: 40 PD (40 rPD)40 ED 38 Total: 40 ED (40 rED)20 REC 1680 END 1230 BODY 2070 STUN 25 Total Characteristics Cost: 561

Movement: Running: 12m Flight: 160m

Teleportation: 40m

MegaTeleportation: 4 million light-years

FTL Travel: 250 LY per second

Cost Powers END

1,250 The Examiner’s Cosmic Powers:Variable Power Pool, 500 Pool + 500 Control Cost var

Cosmic (+2)

40 Galaxar Form: Hardened (x2; +½) for 40 PD/40 ED 0

40 Galaxar Form: Impenetrable (x2; +½) for 40 PD/40 ED 0

80 Galaxar Form: Resistant (+½) for 40 PD/40 ED 0Hardened (x2; +½), Impenetrable (x2; +½)

40 Galaxar Form: Life Support (total, including Longevity:Immortality) 0

60 Galaxar Form: Power Defense (40 points) 0Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Ears: Hearing Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0Hardened (x2; +½)

60 Galaxar Mind: Mental Defense (40 points total) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)544 Galaxar Travel: Multipower, 544-point reserve

54f 1) Short-Range Travel: Teleportation 40m, x16 IncreasedMass, Position Shift, No Relative Velocity 0

Safe Blind Teleport (+¼), MegaScale (1m = 100,000light-years; +5½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

38f 2) Galaxar Flight: Flight 160m, x32 Noncombat 0

No Turn Mode (+¼), Usable Underwater (+¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

8f 3) Galaxar Spaceflight: FTL Travel (250 LY/1 Segment(second)) 0

63 Cosmic Awareness (Perceive Everything): DetectPhysical Objects, Energy, and Magic 17- (no Sense

Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Increased Arc OfPerception (360 Degrees), Range, Sense, Targeting,Telescopic (+12 versus Range Modifier), Tracking

315 Cosmic Awareness (Cosmic Scale): MegaScale (1m =1,000 light-years; +5) for Detect Physical Objects,Energy, and Magic

Talents

57 Cosmic Awareness (Threat Awareness): Danger Sense(any area [all Reality], any danger, sense) 17-

20 Universal Translator 17-

Skills

72 +6 Overall26 KS: Everything There Is To Know 40-

21 SS: Every Science Known 35-

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 2,876

Total Cost: 3,437

400 Matching Complications (75)

20 Psychological Complication: Must Test Others(Very Common, Strong)

Total Complications Points: 20

Experience Points: 3,092

2




EXAMPLE POWERS FORTHE EXAMINER’S COSMIC POWERS POOL

Create Testing Arena: Te Examiner can changean area into an “arena” in which to pose chal-lenges to his victims. He can make the arenainto pretty much whatever he wants — anythingfrom a traditional gladiatorial arena, to a dangerroom-like mechanized combat simulator, to abarren wasteland pockmarked with pools of lava.

(If necessary he can also use Summon to populatethe arena with opponents for the PCs.) Te GMshould determine the BODY of a 1m radius areaof the local ground, then use that to determinehow large an overall area each use of this powerransforms into the arena.

Major Transform 20d6 (land into an arena), ImprovedResults Group (any sort of arena; +¼) (225 ActivePoints); Limited Target (land and the like; -½). Total cost:150 points.

Silence!: People who won’t stand still and listen tothe Examiner’s instructions will be made to.

One-Person Version: Entangle 15d6, 20 PD/20 ED,

Takes No Damage From Attacks (+1) (total cost: 400Active Points); Cannot Form Barriers (-¼) (total cost:270 points) plus Darkness to Hearing Group 1m radius(3 Active Points); Linked (-½), Only Affects One Person(-½), Only Prevents Speech, Not Hearing (-½) (total cost:1 point). Total cost: 401 points.

Group Version: Entangle 12d6, 12 PD/12 ED, TakesNo Damage From Attacks (+1), Area Of Effect (32mRadius; +1) (total cost: 360 points) plus Darkness toHearing Group 32m radius (54 Active Points); Linked(-½), Only Prevents Speech, Not Hearing (-½) (total cost:27 points). Total cost: 387 points.

Supreme Protection: If the Examiner’s innate

durability isn’t enough to protect him from anattack, he can create a shield of pure cosmicpower. (If necessary, he can re-arrange how theResistant Protection points are allotted to tailorthe power to particular attacks or attackers.)

Resistant Protection (50 PD/50 ED/30 MentalDefense/30 Power Defense), Hardened (x2; +½). Totalcost: 360 points.

Unconsciousness: Te Examiner can render afoe unconscious, then keep him that way throughrepeated applications of this power as necessary.

Drain STUN 30d6. Total cost: 300 points.

Personality/Motivation: Te Lawbringer isfascinated — some might say obsessed — withthe philosophical concepts of Right and Wrong,Law, Justice, Morality, Ethics, and similar subjects.Depending on his mood he may simply want todiscuss such things with other sentient beings hethinks could have an interesting perspective onthem... or he may take it into his head to punishwhat he regards as Wrongdoing or Evil. It’s inthis role as “cosmic vigilante” that he becomesthe most dangerous, since his punishments(however much they may be deserved) may have

unintended consequences, or he may simply not

understand a situation as well as he thinks he does(though this is rare). For example, in the early2200s he decides the Qularr have caused enoughsuffering, misery, and bloodshed. As a punish-ment he destroys their homeworld, Reqqat, killingbillions of them and causing the Qularr to become

virtually extinct within a few centuries. He couldeasily decide to treat other deserving planets thesame way... or even not so deserving ones, such asEarth.

Quote: “o you Justice may be an abstract thing...but I assure you that it rarely is.”

Powers/Tactics: Like his fellow Galaxars, theLawbringer possesses tremendous cosmic power.He can cross the Galaxy in the blink of an eye,withstand just about any attack, project nigh-irresistible bolts of force, transform people andobjects into other things at will, and perceive just about anything. Although his powers aren’t

necessarily as strong as those of the Examiner orthe Warmonger, he still has enough raw powerthat he doesn’t have to resort to tactics; if attacked,he simply stands there, shrugs off the assault,and counters with an attack his attacker cannotwithstand.

Te Lawbringer carries two Foci that aidhim in his quest to bring Justice to the Universe.Te first is the Lawbringer’s Staff, a large, goldenstaff that provides him with the power to punishwrongdoers (or alter their behavior) and protectthe innocent. It’s a Personal Focus (only he can useit), but it can be taken away from him (though if itis, he typically uses his Variable Power Pool to get

it back as soon as possible).




Val Char Cost Roll Notes60 STR 50 21- Lift 100 tons; 12d6 HTH damage [6]30 DEX 40 15-50 CON 40 17-45 INT 35 18- PER Roll 18-30 EGO 20 15-

100 PRE 90 29- PRE Attack: 20d610 OCV 3510 DCV 3510 OMCV 2110 DMCV 218 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12



Teleportation: 40m



Cost Powers END

1,000 The Lawbringer’s Cosmic Powers:Variable Power Pool, 400 Pool + 400 Control Cost var

Cosmic (+2)

112 The Lawbringer’s Staff: Multipower, 225-point reserve

All OAF (-1)

22v 1) Force Of The Law: Blast 30d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1)

22v 2) Reduction Of Power: Drain Energy Powers 4d6 0

Expanded Effect + Variable Effect (all Energy Powerssimultaneously; +4), Reduced Endurance (0 END;+½); OAF (-1)

22v 3) Shackles Of Judgment:Entangle 15d6, 15 PD/15 ED 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1)

22v 4) Protection Of Justice: Barrier 20 PD/20 ED,20 BODY (up to 47m long, 6m high, and 1m thick),Non-Anchored, Dismissable 0Allocatable (+¼), Configurable (+¼); OAF (-1)

22v 5) Implacable Power Of Justice: Mind Control 30d6 0

ACV (uses OCV against DCV; +0), Reduced Endur-ance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1)



80 Galaxar Form: Resistant (+½) for 40 PD/40 ED 0

Hardened (x2; +½), Impenetrable (x2; +½)


60 Galaxar Form: Power Defense (40 points) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Ears: Hearing Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0Hardened (x2; +½)

60 Galaxar Mind: Mental Defense (40 points total) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

544 Galaxar Travel: Multipower, 544-point reserve

54f 1) Short-Range Travel: Teleportation 40m, x16Increased Mass, Position Shift, No Relative Velocity 0

Safe Blind Teleport (+¼), MegaScale (1m = 100,000light-years; +5½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

38f 2) Galaxar Flight: Flight 160m, x32 Noncombat 0No Turn Mode (+¼), Usable Underwater (+¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

8f 3) Galaxar Spaceflight: FTL Travel(250 LY/1 Segment (second)) 0

13 The Cosmic Heart: Detect Sentient Being’sMoral State (see text) 20- (no Sense Group),

Discriminatory, Analyze, Range 0OAF (-1)

63 Cosmic Awareness (Perceive Everything): DetectPhysical Objects, Energy, and Magic 18- (no SenseGroup), Discriminatory, Analyze, Increased Arc OfPerception (360 Degrees), Range, Sense, Targeting,Telescopic (+12 versus Range Modifier), Tracking


Talents

57 Cosmic Awareness (Threat Awareness): Danger Sense

(any area [all Reality], any danger, sense) 18-20 Universal Translator 18-

Skills

60 +5 Overall

25 KS: Everything There Is To Know 40-

25 KS: Laws And Legal Systems Of The Universe 40-

25 KS: Philosophy 40-



Total Cost: 3,502

400 Matching Complications (75)20 Psychological Complication: Fascinated By Issues OfLaw, Justice, And Morality (Very Common, Strong)

20 Psychological Complication: Determined To PunishWrongdoing And Evil (Very Common, Strong)



2




Te Lawbringer’s other object of power is theCosmic Heart, which looks like a shard of reddish-purple crystal. It is the essence of all Righteous-ness, ruth, and Justice in the Universe and can judge any sentient being’s moral state to utterperfection. When he uses the Heart to perceivesomeone, the Lawbringer becomes aware of everyact of great morality or immorality that person hasever committed or been involved with — from themost heinous crimes (or greatest personal sacri-

fices for that which is Right and rue) down to themost petty, minuscule acts of selfishness (or acts ofkindness toward others) — as well as his current“moral balance” (i.e., whether he’s a generally goodor bad person, and to what degree and why).

Campaign Use: Like all the Galaxars, theLawbringer is a walking, talking plot device. If hedecides the PCs are “wrongdoers,” he will punishthem as he sees fit, which could cause themserious difficulties or lead to strange campaignsubplots. If he thinks he needs their help todeal with some “wrong” situation properly, he’llshanghai them and there’s probably nothing they

can do about it but help him until he’s done withthem. Te possibilities are as limitless as yourimagination.

Te Lawbringer doesn’t Hunt heroes; thatwould be beneath him. However, if he decides aPC is dangerous or evil, he may make a point ofpunishing him or changing him to eliminate thethreat.

o make the Lawbringer more powerful,increase the size of his Variable Power Pool, orconvert his Staff to an OIF (-½) (or even removeFocus altogether, allowing him to summon it tohis hand instantly if it’s taken away from him).o weaken him, decrease it and/or some of his

Characteristics.

Appearance: Te Lawbringer can change hisappearance and shape at will. He usually takes ahumanoid form about three meters tall with beigeskin, minimal, ascetic facial features, and a slightlyenlarged bald cranium. He always has a stern,disciplined look to him, as if he’s never laughed inall his immortal life. He wears black and red robesthat vaguely suggest those of either a high judicialor high religious figure, and carries a staff made ofgolden metal that’s even taller than he is. Te headof the staff is always surrounded by a swirl of blue-black, coruscating energy.

EXAMPLE POWERS FOR THELAWBRINGER’S COSMIC POWERS POOL

Execution: If necessary the Lawbringer can simplyobliterate a being who’s too evil to be allowedto live.

RKA 15d6, Penetrating (+½) (337 Active Points);Only Works On Evil Beings (-1). Total cost: 168 points.

Impose Righteousness: In some cases theLawbringer will simply make someone behave...though he rarely does this, rightly regarding it as apoor way to show what’s Right and what’s Wrong.

Mind Control 40d6, Telepathic (+¼). Total cost:250 points.

Remove The Evil From Your Soul: Te Lawbringercan make a person he considers evil, but salvage-able, into a better person.

Major Transform 8d6 (sentient being with Psycho-logical Complications pertaining to evil, wrongdoing,or negative behavior into sentient being without thoseComplications; heals back through another applicationof this or a similar power), ACV (uses OMCV againstDMCV; +¼), AVAD (Mental Defense; +0), Works AgainstEGO, Not BODY (+¼) (120 Active Points); Limited Target

(sentient beings; -¼). Total cost: 96 points.

Personality/Motivation: Te Warmonger livesand breathes for battle. He revels in every aspectof combat — the strategic planning of war, one-on-one duels, small-unit tactics, superpoweredbrawls, weapons and their use, philosophicaldiscussions about the ethics of war and conflict,and much, much more. He most enjoys fightingother beings who match his power, but a closesecond is watching other sentients fight so he can

observe their skills and the play of battle. If thereare no “entertaining” conflicts known to him atpresent, he has no qualms about starting one justfor fun.

Quote: “Do you dare to meet he who is theparagon of combat on the field of battle?”

Powers/Tactics: Te Warmonger possesses lessraw cosmic power than most Galaxars (thoughhe has the same movement and sensory capabili-ties they do), but he makes up for it by being farmore physically powerful. He’s strong enough toli entire buildings singlehandedly and is nearlyimpervious to most forms of injury. (And he

oen uses his Variable Power Pool to augment hisstrength or resilience even further.)Although he seems to be able to use any

weapon ever devised by any species, the Warmon-ger’s weapon of preference is his enormous battleaxe, Starsplitter. With a blade said to be madefrom the core of a dead star, Starsplitter’s capableof cleaving starships in two or injuring nearly anybeing. It’s not a Personal Focus, so it can be takenaway from the Warmonger, but for game purposesyou should assume it weighs ten tons.

Campaign Use: Like all the Galaxars, theWarmonger is a walking, talking plot device. Allhe wants to do is fight, or watch other peoplefight, and few people fight as entertainingly assuperheroes. It’s even said he’s a devotee of theMalvan arena and oen visits it in disguise (orperhaps competes while using only a fraction ofhis power). Te PCs could easily get wrappedup in his “entertainment.” Te possibilities are aslimitless as your imagination.

Te Warmonger and the Lawbringer oenclash, since the Lawbringer regards many of hisactivities as lawless, needlessly destructive, andharmful to the galactic well-being. Neither candestroy the other in open combat, so they oenresort to solving their differences in other ways...

such as using selected beings as “champions” insome contest.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes120 STR 110 33- Lift 400 ktons; 24d6 HTH damage [12]35 DEX 50 16-80 CON 70 25-

30 INT 20 15- PER Roll 15-30 EGO 20 15-120 PRE 110 33- PRE Attack: 24d6

12 OCV 4512 DCV 4510 OMCV 2110 DMCV 2110 SPD 80 Phases: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

60 PD 58 Total: 60 PD (60 rPD)60 ED 58 Total: 60 ED (60 rED)30 REC 26180 END 32

50 BODY 40120 STUN 50 Total Characteristics Cost: 856

Movement: Running: 12m

Flight: 160m

Teleportation: 40m



Cost Powers END

750 The Warmonger’s Cosmic Powers:Variable Power Pool, 300 Pool + 300 Control Cost varCosmic (+2)

75 Starsplitter: HKA 8d6 (16d6 with STR) 6Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OAF (-1)



120 Galaxar Form: Resistant (+½) for 60 PD/60 ED 0Hardened (x2; +½), Impenetrable (x2; +½)

60 Warmonger’s Form: Physical and Energy DamageReduction, 50%, Resistant 0


60 Galaxar Form: Power Defense (40 points) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0Hardened (x2; +½)

45 Galaxar Ears: Hearing Group Flash Defense (30 points) 0

Hardened (x2; +½)

60 Galaxar Mind: Mental Defense (40 points total) 0Hardened (x2; +½)

544 Galaxar Travel: Multipower, 544-point reserve

54f 1) Short-Range Travel: Teleportation 40m, x16 IncreasedMass, Position Shift, No Relative Velocity 0Safe Blind Teleport (+¼), MegaScale (1m = 100,000light-years; +5½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

38f 2) Galaxar Flight: Flight 160m, x32 Noncombat 0

No Turn Mode (+¼), Usable Underwater (+¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

8f 3) Galaxar Spaceflight: FTL Travel (250 LY/1 Segment(second)) 0

63 Cosmic Awareness (Perceive Everything): Detect Phys-ical Objects, Energy, and Magic 15- (no Sense Group),Discriminatory, Analyze, Increased Arc Of Perception(360 Degrees), Range, Sense, Targeting, Telescopic(+12 versus Range Modifier), Tracking


Talents

57 Cosmic Awareness (Threat Awareness): Danger Sense(any area [all Reality], any danger, sense) 15-


Skills

48 +4 Overall

60 +6 with All Combat

31 Combat Driving 30-

31 Combat Piloting 30-


28 KS: Military Science Of The Universe 40-


16 Systems Operation 30-; Only To Operate Weapon Systems

(-1)33 Tactics 30-

100 WF: Every Weapon Known


Total Cost: 3,726


25 Psychological Complication: Devoted To Warfare,Fighting, And Battle (Very Common, Total)



2




Te Warmonger doesn’t Hunt heroes; thatwould be beneath him. However, if he thinks oneof them could give him a challenging fight, hewon’t hesitate to seek that hero out and lure himinto battle somehow.

o make the Warmonger more powerful,increase the size of his Variable Power Pool, ormake Starsplitter a Multipower with an RKA slot(so he can throw it at his foes). o weaken him,decrease Starsplitter’s HKA and/or some of hisCharacteristics.

Appearance: Te Warmonger can change hisappearance and shape at will. His usual form isthat of a four meter-tall, broad-shoulered, heavilymuscled humanoid with skin that’s the color ofblood for the species viewing it. (Tus, his skinis red for Humans, but a Lorghil viewing him atthe same time would see his skin as blue-black.)A mane of shaggy black hair cascades from thetop of his head midway down his back. His eyesare solid yellow and slightly slanted, his nose isslightly pug, and orange-yellow fangs are visiblein his mouth, giving him a sort of bestial/demonic

appearance. As his weapon he carries an enor-mous battle axe, Starsplitter.

EXAMPLE POWERS FOR THE WARMONGER’S COSMIC POWERS POOLIgnite The Fires Of War: If he wants to “liventhings up a bit” on a world or continent, theWarmonger can make everyone on that world (orsome lesser area) angry, conflict-prone, and eagerto fight.

Mind Control 12d6, Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼),MegaScale (Area covers up to an entire planet; +2)(195 Active Points); Set Effect (only to cause conflict andfighting; -1). Total cost: 97 points.

Lifting Asteroids: Te Warmonger increases hisSR to the point where he can li medium-sizedasteroids.

+80 STR. Total cost: 80 points.

Cosmic Sword: Te Warmonger can create anenergy blade thousands of kilometers long.

RKA 6d6, Area Of Effect (16m Line; +¼), MegaArea(1m of Line is 10,000 km long; +2) (292 Active Points);Extra Time (Full Phase; -½), No Range (-½). Total cost:146 points.

Some of the other Galaxars that Human super-heroes have encountered or heard of include:

THE ARCHITECTTe Architect is a builder and engineer par

excellence. Fascinated by structures and buildingsof all sorts, he’s studied the architectural styles andmethods of uncounted millions of cultures. Hespends a lot of his time “in disguise” as a normalcivil or architectural engineer, lending his assis-tance to construction projects that have caughthis attention. Other Galaxars who want to buildstructures worthy of their grandeur call on him todo the job.

THE GEOMETERTe Geometer’s love is

patterns, shapes, mathematics,and motion. He only rarelyinteracts with lesser species,since he spends most of histime using his powers toobserve the vast cosmic danceof the millions of galaxiesand stars in the Universe.But sometimes he decides toremove or add a star or planetto “improve the pattern,”which may wreak havoc innearby regions.

GEONGeon’s obsession runs to planets, asteroids, and

similar bodies of rock and earth. Teir endlessshapes and colors fascinate him. Most oen he

prefers to simply study ones that have evolvednaturally, much like a mathematician studyingfractal patterns. But at other times he oen enjoysmolding and shaping them to suit his aestheticsensibilities. Many other Galaxars have “hired”him to hand-cra personal planets for them.

THE RECORDERTe Recorder loves to observe unique

and interesting events, ranging from stellarphenomena (two galaxies colliding, a star goingsupernova in an interesting way), to giganticbattles (with or without superhumans), to particu-larly noteworthy sunsets. He is the Ultimate

Historian, the Cosmic Chronicler for whom nonoteworthy event is too small to remember forposterity and no galaxy-wide historical trend is to vast to escape his watchful eye and mind.

o record an event, being, or object of interest,the Recorder creates a “Recorder Window” thatcaptures an indestructible three-dimensionalimage of the entire phenomenon. He displays hisarchive of Windows — trillions upon trillions ofthem, all carefully and lovingly indexed — in hisGallery of the Universe, a “museum” the size of asupergiant star.




THE SHAPERTe Shaper is an artistic, creative soul. He’s

learned the art forms of a million million cultures,and still he hungers for more. When he’s notstudying art, he’s creating his own, ranging fromsymphonies so beautiful they make the listenerweep to sculptures whose forms are disturbing tothe Human mind. Some of his art forms, includingthe shaping of living flesh or the molding of small

sections of Reality, are both bizarre and dangerousto others.

THE ZOOLOGISTSentient life holds little interest for the Zoolo-

gist; he cares only for the trillions and trillions ofanimals that have evolved on habitable worlds. Heloves everything about them, from their appear-ance to the way they live their lives and interactwith other animals. Usually he’s content to simplyobserve them and let the Law of the Jungle governwhether they live or die, but he has been known tointervene when a natural disaster — or worse, theunthinking actions of sentients threaten to wipe

out an animal species. Sometimes he’ll act directlyto put a stop to what’s happening, but usually he just makes sure that he has a sufficient breedingpopulation for his Galactic Zoo. Tis “zoo” isan entire solar system that he’s craed with thehelp of Geon and the Geometer. It has dozensof planets where his goal is to keep a breedingpopulation of every animal in existence (a goalhe knows he’ll probably never succeed at, but thatdoesn’t stop him from trying). His Zoo includesthe only living examples of a number of extinctEarth species, such as the dodo, the passengerpigeon, the aurochs, the wooly rhinoceros, and thetyrannosaurus rex.

If the gods themselves have gods to worship,those deities are the beings known simply as theGods Celestial. Powerful beyond measure, theytread the Universe as a man treads a forest path,revealing themselves to lesser beings only in timesof great crisis or when whimsy takes them. If theyhave names, they do not tell them to mortals.If they have motivations and personalities, theyare not apparent (or at best can be glimpsed onlydimly) by lesser species such as Humans.

Te Gods Celestial seem to have no fixed oruniform shape; each is an individual, with hisown form and powers. (And given their power,presumably they can vary their shape and appear-ance as they choose.) One, encountered by theChampions of the early twenty-first century,resembled to their eyes a gigantic, glowingpyramid whose sides did not seem to have thesame shape even though the edges met in waysthat made the heroes’ eyes hurt to look at.

Some people believe the forces of decay,corruption, and cessation are the most powerfulin the Universe. If so, then Lord Entropy, theultimate embodiment of those concepts, mustbe the most powerful of all the cosmic entities.While many of the superheroes who’ve encoun-tered him think of him as “evil” (since he usually

only appears when great destruction, chaos, ordeath are in the offing), in truth he’s nothing of thesort. Like many other conceptual space gods, hisagenda transcends good and evil, even if mortalscannot perceive that.

For reasons unknown to superheroes (andperhaps to anyone), Lord Entropy sometimesmanifests a child(?)/offshoot(?)/alternateself(?)/“shadow”(?) known as Tanaton. WhereasLord Entropy himself is a conceptual/naturalforce, Tanaton is as evil as many superheroesthink his “father” is. Tanaton embodies/exaltsDeath and Destruction and wants to spread themas far and as wide as he can. As such he’s a gross violation of the Cosmic Order; his appearanceusually signals the appearance of Mortalus (seebelow) to combat him... but he’s so powerful thatthe Lord of Life may need to call on Galaxars,superheroes, and other beings of great power forassistance.

One of the most abstract of the cosmic enti-ties, Mortalus is the embodiment of the universallife-force — or, perhaps more accurately, heembodies (and is the guardian of) the normal

flow of Life and Death. Life requires Death andDeath requires Life, and Mortalus sees to it thatthe cycle continues as is it supposed to, on and onfor eternity.

Tus, Mortalus is an enemy of all who wouldattempt to disrupt or interfere with that cycle,which usually means opposing those who wouldcause death on a far greater scale than is permitted.Te Great Cycle allows for the possibility of eventsthat will kill enormous numbers of people, such asnatural disasters, wars, and even crazed supervil-lains. But sometimes things threaten to go too far,and at that point Mortalus takes action to protectLife. (He’d do the same if Life somehow became

ascendant over Death, but that’s a problem he’salmost never encountered.) His most frequentenemy in these situations is Tanaton (see above);others include certain death-gods from variouspantheons, ultra-powerful supervillains devoted toslaughter, and the like.

Mortalus appears to Humans as a tall manwith leaf-green hair and beard. His face looks alittle aged and extremely wise, and usually has abeneficent expression (unless something’s angeredhim); his pupilless eyes are the golden color oflate-aernoon sunlight on Earth. He wears simpleearth-brown robes and carries no weapons. Vinesand other plants twine around him, but neverseem to impede his movement or vision.

BEINGS OFGREAT MYSTIC

POWER

While they’re not

truly “cosmic enti-

ties” in the same

sense as most of the

beings discussed in

this section, beings

who possess great

mystic power can

effectively func-

tion at the same

“level” as some

cosmic entities.

This might include

the Prime Avatars

of Order, Chaos,

Art, and Nature;

the awe-inspiring

dimensional overlord

Tyrannon the

Conqueror (and his

lesser counterpart,

Skarn the Shaper);and the horrifying

Kings Of Edom (and

other Qliphothic

beings, and perhaps

those who oppose

them).

See Champions

Villains and The

Mystic World for

more information on

these beings.

2



THE MOON

Chapter

Three



50 n The Moon Hero System 6th Edition

s far as most Humans are concerned, theMoon is just what they see in the sky: alifeless satellite of Earth that shines itspearly light on their world at night. But

in truth the Moon is far from lifeless; many beingssecretly live there — as does one civilization, theSelenites.

Hidden in an area of the Moon that Humans

can’t see from Earth is Selenus, an ancient, myste-rious ruined city. Few Humans have visited it, andnone have studied it in any detail. Based on whatcan be surmised from the acquisition of lunar dust(which covers approximately 90% of the ruins),Selenus must be approximately one million yearsold.

Who built Selenus is a mystery — and mayalways remain so, particularly if the Selenitespersist in refusing to let Human archaeologistsexcavatate the ruins (see below). It appears to havebeen some sort of observatory, and given its place-ment the only thing it could observe was Earth.Human superheroes are unaware of anything

occuring on Earth at that time that would beworth observing. Te Progenitors had lehundreds or thousands of years before, and wouldnot return to create the Empyreans for anotherfive thousand centuries. It’s possible some otheradvanced species wanted to observe the progress/

results of the Progenitors’ first experiments, butgiven Humanity’s level of development at the timeit would hardly have been necessary to hide theobservatory on the Moon.

Most of Selenus is totally buried by lunar dust,

so until Human archaeologists are allowed toat least explore with ground-penetrating radar,determining the full scope and layout of Selenusis impossible. In the modern era only a smallportion, presumably the central section of the city,remains open to the lunar sky. Tis is where theSelenites live and work.

At the very center of Selenus is a small plateauthat may have been artificially raised when thecity was built. Four broad staircases, one at eachpoint of the compass, lead up to it. On top ofit is a large oval building with four cupola-likedomes (two equidistantly placed at either end ofthe oval). Tese domes contain strange devices

that no longer function. Presumably these arethe “telescopes” and other sensors the buildersput there to watch Earth with, since the domessuperficially resemble Human observatories(though they do not open). Te Selenites call thisbuilding the Great Hall of Selenus; it’s where they

3



Champions Beyond n Chapter Three 5

hold “government” meetings and other importantpublic functions.

Surrounding the observatory is an open area— a “forum,” so to speak. Surrounding that is aring of buildings that aren’t covered by lunar dustbecause the Selenites and/or Revenger clearedthem off and returned them to use. Most of theSelenites “slept” in a pair of twin rectangularbuildings on the western side of the area, and stillregard those buildings as a “dormitory” of sorts ifthey want to “sleep” or relax.

Te other “cleared” buildings are used by theSelenites to some degree for personal projectsor whatever else interests them. Since they don’thave to grow or store food (see below), there’s noneed for kitchens, pantries, dining halls, or similarareas that most sentient species require. Someof these buildings contain strange, old machinesbuilt by the city’s creators; none of them seem tofunction anymore but some of the Selenites enjoymaintaining or tinkering with them. (Perhaps thisresults from some long-dormant instinct bred intothem by their creators.)

wo buildings to the southeast were Revenger’sprimary facilities when he ruled the Selenitesin the Sixties. One was his laboratory, where heconducted all sorts of experiments (many of thempotentially dangerous). Until recently this buildingwas sealed (it had, and still has, an internal oxygensupply, unlike most of the Selenus buildings). In2008 Grlthk reopened it and has been analyzingsome of Revenger’s equipment, trying to findout how it works and how he can make use of it(see below).

Te other building was Revenger’s armory;it includes an attached structure with four siloscapable of launching nuclear bomb-tipped

interplanetary ballistic missiles (and also has aninternal environment). In 1970 the Fabulous Fourdisabled the weapons, missiles, and launchingsystems, but did not remove them for fear oftriggering an undetected booby trap or causingan accident that would wipe out the Selenitesfor good. Aer Grlshl reactivated some of themin 1984, MeteorMan disabled them further, butagain chose not to move them. Since 2008 Grlthkand his followers have been working to reactivate the weapons (including the twelve nuclearmissiles) and have achieved some success... butnot as much as they’d like.

Te Selenites themselves are one of thestrangest species known to Humanity.

SELENITE BIOLOGY A Selenite is a three-foot-tall insect-like silico-

noid being with a long, narrow face, a beetle-like,purple-gray chitinous shell, and ten limbs. (Bothgenders look identical to Human eyes. Individualscan be told apart based on facial features and thecoloration pattern of the shell.) He doesn’t wearclothing, but may have a “belt” or “harness” for

carrying tools and other items.

Te Selenites can with-stand the cold and vacuum ofspace unharmed and “eat” byabsorbing sunlight or similarenergies (though they’re notplant creatures). When notdoing something else theyoen lie on the roof of one ofSelenus’s buildings (or insidethe dormitories) and “bask”in the light from the sun (andreflected Earthlight). Despitethe fact that they look shortand in some ways spindly byHuman standards, Selenitesare plenty tough. Teir thinlimbs can li as much as anathletic Human’s can, andtheir chitinous skin/shellprotects them against injuriesthat could disable a Human.

Besides durability, theSelenites’ “designer” bred

other useful traits into themas well. Tey can use all tenof their limbs with equalfacility (all function as hands,and they do not suffer from“handedness”), and they havesenses far beyond those ofHumans: they can perceiveultraviolet light and ultrasonicsound; their eyes can easilysee objects too small for theunaided Human eye; andthey have an innate sense ofdirection.

Te Selenites seem to have extremely longlifespans and a very low birthrate. Most of theSelenites alive today say they’ve been in Selenussince the Human year 1938, though they don’tknow how they got there or how long they mighthave been there previously. According to whatthey’ve told Humans, some of them “awakened”in 1938 and then “released” or “roused” the restof the population. Some of the equipment in thedormitories implies that the Selenites might have“hibernated” there for centuries or millennia, butuntil Human scientists can study it in detail there’sno way to know for certain.

Selenites speak to one another through a combi-nation of gestures and sounds (mostly ultrasonic)that they create by rubbing their mandibles togetherin various ways. Humans can’t reproduce (orhear) this speech naturally; to communicate withSelenites they need super-tech translation devices.

SELENITE SOCIETY AND CULTUREIn 1970 Amazing Man opined that the Selenites

are a “servant species,” bred by the species whocreated Selenus to perform all sorts of mundanetasks. Tat struck most scientists as accurate,and nothing Humanity’s learned since then haschanged anyone’s opinion. A Selenite seems tohave an instinctive need to do something, even

if it’s something most species would consider

SELENITE TEMPLATECost Ability

9 Selenite Skin: Resistant Protection (3PD/3 ED)

10 Selenite Shell: Resistant Protect (5 PDED); Activation Roll 11- (only protectagainst attacks from behind; -½)

5 Selenite Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception(Sight Group)

10 Selenite Eyes: Microscopic Perception(x100) for Sight Group

3 Selenite Ears: Ultrasonic Perception(Hearing Group)

24 Selenite Form: Life Support (DiminisheEating: no need to eat; Longevity:Immortal; Safe Environments:High Radiation, Intense Cold, LowPressure/Vacuum; Self-ContainedBreathing)

6 Selenite Limbs: Extra Limbs (totalof 10 limbs), Inherent (+¼)

3 Ambidexterity (no Off Handpenalty)

3 Bump Of Direction


Value Complications

None





incredibly boring, and will happily spend houraer hour working on the most mundane of tasks.For example, since 1938 some Selenites have spentliterally decades doing nothing but tending to thestrange, non-functional machines in the buildings.Tey buff, polish, dust, move switches back andforth, whatever seems worth doing even though ithas no effect other than keeping a machine clean.

In recent years some Selenites have directedtheir energies into new fields of endeavor. For thefirst time Selenite “scholars” have begun trying tochronicle their species’s history since 1938 (theyhave no knowledge of their history before that), orare trying to figure out what some of the ancientmachines once did. Others have become passion-ately interested in politics and social debate,which is putting some strain on Selenite society(see below). Oddly, no Selenite seems to have anyinterest in digging any of the other Selenus build-ings out from underneath their heavy coatings oflunar dust.

Te Selenites have been off most of Human-ity’s radar since 1984, when the renegade Grlshlthreatened to destroy Earth with Revenger’sleover nuclear missiles, which he’d found a wayto reactivate (see page 15). Aer MeteorMan puta stop to that scheme, the Selenites went back totheir usual activities... more or less.

Te Selenites have a strong, possibly instinc-tual, isolationist streak at most times. Tat’s partof what led to the 1970 “non-interference” treatynegotiated by the Fabulous Five — the Selenitessimply want to be le alone (and are quite satisfied

with the way Humanity’s obeyed the treaty, evenaer the 1984 Grlshl incident). But at some timesin some individuals, that isolationism transformsinto xenophobia: a hatred of outsiders in general,and Humans in particular (as the nearest outsiderslikely to come to Selenus, since the Selenites areunaware of the Forum Malvanum). Grlshl wasone such Selenite, and he convinced enough of

his fellows that he was right that he could workon restoring Revenger’s old technology withoutinterference.

In the mid-2000s, a Selenite named Grlthk,who is the son of Grlshl, began stirring up thesesame feelings among the Selenites. Intense debateand societal turmoil followed, but in the endGrlthk’s powers of persuasion were enough toconvince a majority of the Selenites that he wascorrect: however they may have acted or portrayedthemselves in the past, Humans are not friendsof Selenus or saviors of the Selenites. Tey are aterrible threat; they enslave, they destroy, theyharm. And they will remain the single greatestthreat to Selenus’s peaceful existence unless theSelenites destroy them first.

In 2008, when he finally swayed enoughSelenites to his way of thinking that he could“seize power,” Grlthk stopped the periodic radiocommunications the Selenites had kept withthe Sentinels since 1984 and began “re-arming”his people by working to reactivate Revenger’slong-dormant devices. (Neither he nor any other

Selenite knows Revenger is still alive and on theMoon; see page 55.) Aware that his father madethe mistake of announcing his intentions toosoon, Grlthk plans to keep working until every-thing is ready to go... and then inform Humanityof its doom mere seconds before his missiles enterEarth’s atmosphere.

Most Selenites seem basically the same toHumans; even telling them apart is difficult unlessthey can be distinguished by the work they do. But

a few stand out in Selenite society.

Background/History: Grlthk is the son of Grlshl,the renegade Selenite who threatened Earth withnuclear annihilation in 1984. (“Son” is an approxi-mation in Human terms, since how the Selenitesreproduce remains unclear. It may be more accu-rate to describe him as “genetic descendant” or asa sort of “budded” offspring.) He grew up hearingstories from his father’s supporters about how hisfather bravely tried to protect his people from the

dangerous Humans, and the Humans murderedhim for it. It didn’t take long for him to develop anintense hatred for the people of Earth.

Grlthk came of age at a time when Selenitesociety was becoming more interested in discus-sion, debate, and to some extent its own history.He proved adept at political discussions and wassoon the leading orator for the growing anti-Human faction among the Selenites. By 2008 hisinfluence had grown so strong that he became thede facto ruler of Selenite society, cut off the peri-odic radio contact with the Sentinels... and beganpreparing for an attack on Earth that will succeedwhere his father’s failed.

3




Personality/Motivation: Grlthk hates Humanswith a passion that can only be mustered bya species capable of doing the same task forcenturies on end without question or complaint.So strong are the fires of his belief that Humanityneeds to be wiped out to protect Selenus that he’sswayed nearly three-fourths of the Selenites tohis cause (though some are less strong in theirsupport than others). If he’s not stopped he’s likelyto cause serious harm to Earth.

Quote: “Tat blue world shining its weak lightupon us is the biggest threat our people have everknown. Unless its inhabitants are destroyed, theywill destroy us!”

Powers/Tactics: Grlthk is pretty much an ordi-nary Selenite, though he’s unusually well-spoken,persuasive, and energetic for one of his species.He’s already learned a lot about Revenger’s leovertechnology and adapted some of it (including ablaster pistol) toward his scheme. If confrontedwith force he’ll attempt to flee (or if that’s notpossible, take cover and use his blaster). Te only

thing that might stop him is if other Selenites arewatching; in that case he might put up a bold faceagainst Humans even if that’s likely to get himhurt.

Campaign Use: Grlthk is a walking plot. Hisefforts to destroy Humanity to protect hispeople are ultimately going to require the PCs tointervene.

When using Grlthk in a scenario, play him in away that conveys his fanaticism but doesn’t makehim out to be a two-dimensional demagogue.Remember, he genuinely believes Humanity is athreat (possibly a genocidal threat) to his species.He thinks his father was legitimately trying to do

a Good Ting to protect the Selenites from thebarbaric Humans, and that his actions are likewise justified. He’s not manipulating the masses forpolitical purposes or working to fulfill some ulte-rior motive — he’s an utterly dedicated do-gooderin his own mind, and he acts the part without ashred of hypocrisy.

Generally you shouldn’t need to make Grlthktougher; he’s not intended as a combat opponent.If you want to convert him into one, make him a“brick” Selenite, with super-strength (SR 40-50)and lots of durability (defenses in the 30-40 range,plus Damage Negation or Damage Reduction).

o weaken him, reduce his technological Skills toProficiencies.

Appearance: Grlthk looks like a typical Selenite;based on his physical appearance alone it wouldbe difficult for most Humans to tell him apartfrom his fellows without closely studying the colorpatterns on his shell. His accouterments make himdistinctive, though: he wears a gold belt with hisblaster pistol in a holster, and a gold necklace ashis “badge of office.”

Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [1]12 DEX 4 11-14 CON 4 12-15 INT 5 12- PER Roll 12-13 EGO 3 12-


5 OCV 106 DCV 153 OMCV 05 DMCV 63 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12



Cost Powers END

37 Refurbished Revenger Raygun: Blast 10d6 [16]Double Knockback (+½); OAF (-1), 16 Charges (-0)

9 Selenite Skin: Resistant Protection (3 PD/3 ED) 010 Selenite Shell: Resistant Protect (5 PD/5 ED) 0

Activation Roll 11- (only protects against attacks frombehind; -½)

5 Selenite Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 010 Selenite Eyes: Microscopic Perception (x100) for Sight

Group 03 Selenite Ears: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 0

24 Selenite Form: Life Support (Diminished Eating: noneed to eat; Longevity: Immortal; Safe Environments:High Radiation, Intense Cold, Low Pressure/Vacuum;Self-Contained Breathing) 0

6 Selenite Limbs: Extra Limbs (total of 10 limbs) 0Inherent (+¼)

Talents

3 Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty)3 Bump Of Direction

Skills

3 Computer Programming 12-3 Electronics 12-

1 Mechanics 8-3 Oratory 12-3 Persuasion 12-7 Stealth 13-3 Systems Operation 12-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 133

Total Cost: 213


15 Psychological Complication: Powerhungry (Common,Strong)

25 Psychological Complication: Xenophobic; Intense HatredOf Humans (Very Common, Total)


Experience Points: 0




Notes: Grlthk’s chief political opponent in SeleniteSociety is Kntla, a female who was one of thefirst to awaken in 1938. Compared to manySelenites she’s positively friendly toward outsiders,including Humans. While she’s wary of the large,potentially destructive Earthlings, she also knowsthey’re capable of great compassion, bravery, andheroism — she witnessed the Fabulous Five savethe Selenites from Revenger and MeteorMan stop

Grlthl’s “insane” plot. She argues that Selenusshould return to the policy of maintaining limitedcontact with Humanity, and should even considerexchanging “ambassadors” with Earth. About aquarter of the Selenites agree with her to someextent, but her support would erode quickly if theSelenites ever learned that their hated oppressorRevenger is still alive and on the Moon.

Kntla might have more success in the politicalarena if she were a better speaker, but unfortu-nately she doesn’t possess the same gis Grlthkdoes. Her way of orating comes across in astrident, lecturing sort of way that many Selenitesdon’t find appealling. Human PCs might not like

it either... but she’s likely to be one of their earliestallies if they get involved in Selenite affairs.

Kntla’s studies of Humanity have revealedto her Earth’s rich cultural heritage. She keepspressing her people to explore this facet ofexistence, and has even tried her hand at writingpoetry and painting moonscapes. So far her effortsdon’t seem to attract much attention among theSelenites... but she keeps trying.

Notes: Elgrm, sometimes known as Elgrm theElder, is possibly the oldest Selenite alive (noone can say for certain at this point). When heawoke in 1938 he already seemed older than hiscompanions, and none of the other Selenites theyall “roused” proved to be any older. Of all theSelenites, he’s the only one who has any “memory”of their lives before 1938, and all he can see arefoggy glimpses: a large, green, multi-limbed being

shouting at him; constructing a building on whatseems to be the Moon; tending a now-nonfunc-tioning machine in the observatory when it wasshiny and had moving parts.

Elgrm hates seeing divisiveness and fear tearhis people apart, but even though they deeplyrespect his wisdom they don’t seem inclinedto listen to him preach moderation. He’s moresympathetic toward Kntla’s viewpoint thanGrlthk’s... but he remembers Revenger’s painchamber and has no desire for anyone to subjecthim, or any other Selenite, to such things everagain. He wants life to go back to the way it was,with no political arguments or factions, just

Selenites peacefully pursuing their tasks — but hecan’t seem to find a way to make that happen.

8 STR 10 DEX 11 CON 15 INT 14 EGO 13 PRE

3 OCV 5 DCV 3 OECV 5 DECV 2 SPD

6 PD 6 ED 4 REC

25 END 10 BODY 20 STUN Abilities: Resistant Protection (3 PD/3 ED); Resis-tant Protect (5 PD/5 ED), Activation Roll 11- (onlyprotects against attacks from behind; -½); Ultra-violet Perception (Sight Group); Microscopic Percep-tion (x100) for Sight Group; Ultrasonic Perception(Hearing Group); Life Support (Diminished Eating:no need to eat; Longevity: Immortal; Safe Environ-ments: High Radiation, Intense Cold, Low Pressure/ Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing); Extra Limbs(total of 10 limbs), Inherent (+¼); Ambidexterity (noOff Hand penalty); Bump Of Direction; Conversation12-; KS: Human Arts And Literature 11-; Persuasion10-; Stealth 10-; Systems Operation 8-.

Complications: Psychological Complication: Can’tWe All Just Get Along?

6 STR 10 DEX 11 CON 15 INT 14 EGO 13 PRE

3 OCV 5 DCV 3 OECV 5 DECV 2 SPD

6 PD 6 ED 4 REC

25 END 10 BODY 20 STUN Abilities: Resistant Protection (3 PD/3 ED); Resis-tant Protect (5 PD/5 ED), Activation Roll 11- (onlyprotects against attacks from behind; -½); Ultra-violet Perception (Sight Group); Microscopic Percep-tion (x10) for Sight Group; Ultrasonic Perception(Hearing Group); Life Support (Diminished Eating:no need to eat; Longevity: Immortal; Safe Environ-ments: High Radiation, Intense Cold, Low Pressure/ Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing); Extra Limbs(total of 10 limbs), Inherent (+¼); Ambidexterity (noOff Hand penalty); Bump Of Direction.

Complications: Physical Complication: Bad

Eyes (-2 on Sight Group PER Rolls); PsychologicalComplication: Can’t We All Just Get Along?3




f all the many potential threats to Earthlurking on the Moon, perhaps thegreatest is one no Human, not even asuperhero, knows about: a master villain

everyone thinks has been dead for four decades.

Background/History: Richard Carson was agenius. He knew it, everyone else knew it. Aerhe breezed through college, earning two Ph.Ds byhis twentieth birthday, the world expected greatthings from him. And it got them... in deadly anddisastrous ways.

Seeking a life of pure research and inven-tion, Carson became a professor at a prestigiousuniversity. His work focused on power storageand transmission — he was determined to createa better battery, and more efficient ways forbatteries’ power to be exploited. Tat would makehim rich and a household name. Te day would

come when every house had a “Carson battery” orfive to handle its power needs.Carson’s work went well, and he felt he was on

the verge of a major breakthrough. Ten cameinto his lab one day and found several itemsdisarranged — a beaker a few inches to the le ofwhere it should be, a paper or two on his desk outof order. Most people would have shrugged thisoff, but the meticulous Carson was instantly suspi-cious. Someone must have been snooping in hislab! ypical behavior from the mouth-breathingfaculty members in his department, really. Carsonimmediately had new locks installed and then gotback to work, hoping no serious problems would

result from the break-in.His worst fears were realized a few days later

when Dr. Robert Peterson Barnes, the only otherman in the department whose intellect evenapproached his own and his hated rival, held apress conference announcing a major new break-through that he’d made in battery technology.Carson heard the news and discovered that Barneshad stolen his work. He went to the head of thedepartment, but he failed to convince the man thatthe discovery was really his own. He hadn’t docu-mented his work as well as he should have... andof course Dr. Barnes was one of the most popularmen at the university, whereas Carson was basi-cally a pariah.

Te realization that he’d never get credit (ormoney!) for his own work pushed Carson overthe edge. Te system wouldn’t give him justice?Well, then, he’d use his genius and take justicefor himself! Doctor Barnes... and the world...were about to learn a hard, bitter lesson aboutmistreating Richard Carson.

A few months later Carson had completed

work on a suit of powered armor. Gold and red,sleek and beautiful, it was the perfect weapon forobtaining vengeance. In fact, he planned to callhimself “the Avenger,” to let people know he wasrighting a wrong rather than simply attackingsomeone.

Garbed in his armor, Carson smashed hisway into a faculty meeting and grabbed Barnes,slamming him into a wall. As panicked profes-sors fled, Barnes blurted out, “Who are you? Whyare you doing this?” Carson, who at the time hadnever been comfortable in the public spotlight,lost a bit of his composure and said, “I am... theRevenger!”. For years aerward he cursed himself

for his blunder, but the name stuck, and in time hedecided it was a better and more fateful choice.

REVENGER FACTS

Here are some facts characters and NPCs might

know about Revenger if they succeed with an

appropriate Skill Roll:

N/R: Revenger was a powered armor-wearing

master villain who fought the Fabulous Five back

in the Sixties.

K/R: Revenger faked his death in 1963 and

escaped to the Moon to plot his next attempt

to conquer Humanity. There he found Selenus,

conquered the Selenites, and used them as

servants in his plan to threaten Earth with

interplanetary ballistic missiles. He announced

his intentions to Humanity in 1970. His arch-

enemies the Fabulous Five traveled to the Moon

and defeated him; he was killed by a cave-in at

one of his hidden laboratories during the conflict.

-1: Revenger wore a suit of powered armor that

contained various weapons including pulson

blasters, a laser beam, mini-rockets, and an

electro-bola projector.

-10: His Secret Identity was Richard Carson.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes10+50 STR 33* 11- (21-) Lift 100 kg (100 tons); 2d6

(12d6) HTH damage [1 (6)]10+12 DEX 16* 11- (13-)10+20 CON 13* 11- (15-)30 INT 20 15- PER Roll 15-

20 EGO 10 13-10+30 PRE 20* 11- (17-) PRE Attack: 2d6 (8d6)

3+6 OCV 20*3+6 DCV 20*3 OMCV 07 DMCV 122+5 SPD 33* Phases: 6, 12

(2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12)

4 PD 2 Total: 34 PD (30 rPD)4 ED 2 Total: 34 ED (30 rED)4 REC 020 END 010 BODY 0

20 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 201 *: OIF (Powered Armor; -½)


Flight: 30m

Cost Powers END

51 Armor Batteries: Endurance Reserve(240 END, 24 REC) 0OIF (-½)

15 Backup Armor Batteries: Endurance Reserve(60 END, 12 REC) 0

OIF (-½)

60 Revenger Weapon Systems: Multipower, 90-pointreserveAll OIF (-½)

3f 1) Revenge-Blast: Blast 18d6 40

OIF (-½), Increased Endurance Cost (x5 END; -2)

5f 2) Pulson Blast: Blast 14d6 7OIF (-½)

6f 3) Pulson Auto-Blast: Blast 12d6 9

Autofire (5 shots; +½); OIF (-½)

6f 4) Pulson Pulse-Blast: Blast 12d6 9Penetrating (+½); OIF (-½)

3f 5) Laser Beam Projector: RKA 4d6 6

OIF (-½), Beam (-¼)

6f 6) Mini-Rockets: Blast 12d6 9Area Of Effect (26m Radius Explosion; +½); OIF (-½)

4f 7) Flare Beam: Sight Group Flash 12d6 6

OIF (-½)

6f 8) Enervator Ray: Drain Characteristics 6d6 9Variable Effect (any one Characteristic at a time;+½); OIF (-½)

4f 9) Electro-Bolas: Entangle 7d6, 7 PD/7 ED [12]

OIF (-½), 12 Charges (-¼)

60 Revenger Armor: Resistant Protection (30 PD/30 ED) 0OIF (-½)

27 Revenger Armor: Damage Negation (-4 DCs Physicaland Energy) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Psychic Defense Screen: Mental Defense (10 points) 0OIF (-½)

7 Internal Force-Field: Power Defense (10 points) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Flare-Resistant Helmet: Sight Group Flash Defense(10 points) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Hearing Protection: Hearing Group Flash Defense(10 points) 0OIF (-½)

13 Life Support Systems: Life Support (Safe Environ-ments: High Pressure, High Radiation, Intense Cold,

Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-ContainedBreathing) 0

OIF (-½)

20 Boot-Jets: Flight 30m 3OIF (-½)

6 Helmet Communication System: HRRP (Radio Group) 0

OIF (-½), Affected As Sight And Hearing Groups AsWell As Radio Group (-½)

13 Radar System: Radar (Radio Group), Increased Arc OfPerception (360 Degrees) 0

OIF (-½)

3 Thermosensors: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

OIF (-½)3 Ultrasensors: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 0

OIF (-½)

7 360-View Cameras: Increased Arc Of Perception(360 Degrees) for Sight Group 0OIF (-½)

10 Magnified Vision System: +10 versus Range Modifierfor Sight Group 0

OIF (-½)

2 Ultrasensors: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 0OIF (-½)

Perks89 Followers: 250 Lunar Amazons built on 246 Total Points

each

Talents

2 Onboard Computer: Absolute Range Sense

OIF (-½)

2 Onboard Computer: Absolute Time Sense

OIF (-½)

2 Onboard Computer: Bump Of Direction

OIF (-½)

2 Onboard Computer: Lightning Calculator

OIF (-½)

3




Unfortunately before Revenger could forceBarnes to confess what he’d done, the man had aheart attack and died. Cheated of his vengeanceand the means to prove that he was the onewho invented the new battery, Carson torchedBarnes’s office, destroying all of his notes andsamples of his work, then fled campus to become asupervillain.

For the next several years Revenger was amajor supervillain menace. He clashed with theFabulous Five several times, becoming one of theteam’s arch-nemeses, and also occasionally teamedup with some of the Silver Age’s other notablesupervillains (such as Dr. Macabre and the Book-worm). But he soon discovered that the constantclashes with superheroes were diminishing thetime and attention he could spend on research,inventing, and thus ultimately conquering theworld. He needed some time to himself, awayfrom costumed busybodies.

With that in mind, in 1963 he launched anattempt to conquer first New York City, and thenthe world, with the aid of a new “disintegrator

cannon” he’d invented. Although no one realizedit at the time, it wasn’t a real attempt at conquest— it was a feint. As the Fabulous Five closed inon him, Revenger turned the cannon on them...

and it malfunctioned and exploded, instantlydisintegrating him.

Or so the superheroes of the world thought.What it really did was teleport him to a secretheadquarters. From there he traveled to the mostout of the way place he could think of: the Moon.Tere he could work in peace and comfort foryears until he’d invented weapons so powerfuland awe-inspiring that not even Earth’s strongestsuperheroes could stop him.

He set up shop in a small cle in a lunar moun-tain range. While exploring the region around hisnew home, he was astonished to discover an entireruined city... inhabited by insect-people! Revengerhad discovered Selenus and the Selenites. Hopinghe might have stumbled onto a cache of long-buried super-weapons, he quickly conquered theSelenites and put them to work.

His dreams of finding ancient wonder-tech-nology were never fulfilled, but the Selenites wereexcellent subjects and workers. For years theylabored on his behalf, making real the deviceshe created on paper. By 1970 he’d perfected the

weapons with which he would conquer Earth:missiles tipped with ultra-yield nuclear warheads.Humanity would agree to his demands... or theworld’s greatest cities would be wiped from themap in atomic fireballs.

Skills


3 Computer Programming 15-

3 Deduction 15-

3 Electronics 15-

2 KS: World History 11-

2 KS: World Literature 11-3 Mechanics 15-

3 Systems Operation 15-

2 Tactics 10-

3 Scientist

2 1) SS: Astronomy 15-

2 2) SS: Biology 15-

2 3) SS: Chemistry 15-

2 4) SS: Mathematics 15-

2 5) SS: Physics 15-

2 6) SS: Robotics 15-

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 514

Total Cost: 715


15 Psychological Complication: Vengeful (Common,Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Power-Hungry(Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Complication: Occasional MemoryLapses (see text) (Common, Moderate)

15 Social Complication: Secret Identity (RichardCarson) (Frequently, Major)






Revenger’s announcement of his scheme tothe people of Earth spurred his old foes, theFabulous Five, into action. As related on page 12,they journeyed to the Moon, allied themselveswith the Selenites, and stopped his missiles fromlaunching in the nick of time. Revenger retreatedto his first base on the Moon, the small laboratoryin the lunar cle, to make his last stand. Siren andDiamond attacked, and the force of the battle wasso strong that the mountains surrounding the labcollapsed. Te two heroes barely made it out intime... and Revenger was crushed to death.

Or so everyone believed. While the Selenitesrejoiced in their new freedom, Revenger lay neardeath under the rubble, his life preserved only bythe systems in his armor. wo large boulders hadfallen in such a way as to shelter him from the fullforce of the mountain collapse, but in the processhe’d suffered a severe blow to the head.

Revenger “awoke” two years later, his healthhaving been semi-restored by his armor. But hismemory was a blur. He knew who he was andwhat he was, but beyond that could recall little. He

had the vaguest recollection of a place he’d foundlong ago — Hama-something, he thought it wascalled — and having a base there. Spurred by thesesemi-memories, Revenger eventually found hisway to the cavern in Hamazakar Crater that is hishome today. Tere he located his “base” (actuallya small laboratory outpost), made it inside, andcollapsed.

Years, then decades, passed. Slowly Revengerexpanded the lab, turning it into a sort of lunar villa. Even more slowly, his memory returned,albeit in pieces that le maddening gaps in hispersonal history and knowledge base. He had tore-teach himself much science, but fortunately the

injury that robbed him of his memories hadn’timpaired his intellectual faculties in any other wayas far as he could tell.

oday Revenger is nearly back to his fullformer self, though of course he’s much older(and thus physically weaker) than he was in 1970.He’s rebuilt and even improved his armor, createda group of Lunar Amazons (see below) to servehim, and made a comfortable, secret home forhimself on the Moon. Now his thoughts begin toturn once more to his greatest desire, revenge —revenge against the Fabulous Five, and against allof Humanity.

Personality/Motivation: Revenger is a mandriven by intense passions. His belief in hisown intelligence, gis, and “destiny” is strongand unswerving. Equally intense is his desireto preserve himself from wrongs, and to getrevenge on those who wrong him (which caninclude simply outdoing him, such as beatinghim in combat, out-thinking one of his plans, orinventing something he wants to invent beforehe does). Even compared to most master villainshe’s paranoid about secrecy, security, defense, andhaving a Plan B Alternate Escape Route in casethings go wrong.

Due to the head injury he suffered in 1970,

Revenger still has some serious gaps in his

memory and is prone to forgetting things (whereasprior to the collapse he’d have Eidetic Memory).Anytime he has to remember a crucial fact thatyou haven’t already established that he knows, hehas to make an EGO Roll; if the roll fails, he stillhasn’t recovered that particular memory.

Te biggest gap in Revenger’s memory is thathe has no recollection whatsoever of Selenus orthe Selenites. If he ever does remember them —which he will if they’re mentioned or shown tohim — his desire for revenge on his traitorous“subjects” will become the paramount drivingforce in his life.

Revenger still has an intense hatred of theFabulous Five (particularly Amazing Man); thatwas one of the first things he remembered. When-ever he learns the group broke up decades ago,he’ll be intensely disappointed. He’ll shi his ire toDiamond (who’s still heroing) and the descendantsof the original members.

Quote: “Revenge is the sweetest gi a man can givehimself.”

Powers/Tactics: Revenger wears a suit of poweredarmor he designed himself. For its day back in

the Silver Age it was pretty sophisticated, andthe past several decades of isolation and studyhave allowed him to improve it somewhat. Butcompared to some modern powered armor suits itseems a bit “primitive” and “blunt force” in somerespects, and it definitely has a more Silver Age-ylook to it.

Te suit’s weapons include various pulsonblasters, a powerful laser in the right gauntlet,mini-rocket launchers that pop up from the shoul-ders, and electro-bolas to tie up his foes. Te mostrecent addition is Revenger’s “Enervator Ray” that

lets him interfere with the target’s neurologicalfunctions and physical properties in various ways(in game terms, to Drain Characteristics).

For all his weaponry, Revenger doesn’t enjoyfighting; he prefers to let minions, robots, andhirelings do his dirty work for him. Only when hislust for revenge becomes so strong that he wantsto personally take a hand in humbling a foe doeshe really “get into” combat.

Campaign Use: Revenger is a major adventurewaiting to happen. Once he decides he’s powerfulenough to attack Earth, he’ll step back onto thesupervillainous stage, shocking the many people

(including Diamond) who think he’s been deadsince 1970. Depending on how you want to playit, this could become a regular conquer-the-world scenario of the usual sort, or you could addan element of man-out-of-his-time poignancyby portraying what happens when Revengerdiscovers that his most-hated foes, the FabulousFive, aren’t around anymore. A further (potentiallyhumorous) spin would be to have him try to getrevenge on Dr. Destroyer (whenever he himselfreappears) for robbing him (Revenger) of thepleasure of killing Kid Chameleon.

On the other hand, there’s potential tragedy inRevenger’s return as well. If and when he remem-

bers the Selenites, he’s bound to attack them. Tat

3




in itself could set the cause of Human-Seleniterelations back to zero and add fuel to the fireGrlthk’s building (see page 52), resulting in moredeadly threats to Earth.

Revenger doesn’t just Hunt heroes, he loves to Hunt heroes. Revenge, aer all, is his name!He needs an arch-enemy or eleven to pursue andbanter with, and now that the Fabulous Five aren’taround anymore your PCs might make an excel-lent replacement. His attacks on his Huntees are ofa grandiose Silver Age variety rarely seen anymorein the modern age: gigantic insects and robots;shrink rays; weird time travel traps.

Associates, Allies, And Adversaries: Revengerdoesn’t really have any allies in the SupervillainWorld anymore; all the villains he once (occasion-ally) associated with are now dead, retired, orliving out the rest of their pathetic lives in someprison. If a new Dr. Macabre ever emerges, theJanus Key might compel him to team up withRevenger — the two of them launched several“science mixed with sorcery!” sorts of plots in theearly Sixties that went fairly well (though they ulti-

mately fell apart due to the usual supervillainouspersonality clashes).

Appearance: Back in the Sixties and Seventies,Revenger was a muscular, healthy super-scientistwearing powered armor. oday he’s a littlewizened and weakened compared to his formerself, but still quite strong and vigorous comparedto most men his age (he’s in his early 80s, thoughhe looks more like late 50s/early 60s). He still haspowered armor, though, and it’s more powerfulthan ever. It’s dull red and gold. Te front centerpart of the chest, the helmet, the belt, the boots,and the gauntlets are red; the sides of the chest,

stomach, arms, and legs are gold. (Despite beingof relatively modern design, it still has somethingof a Silver Age aesthetic; Revenger, like us all, isa child of his times.) Te helmet has some goldhighlightings.

Background/History: Some years ago, Revengerrealized that, despite his preference for workingin isolation, he was... lonely. He needed minions

around to do his chores and see to his needs, androbots just weren’t enough. He had a vague recol-lection of having once had lots of servants, but asso oen happens the gaps in his memory kept himfrom fully recalling anything about them. So hedecided to create some new ones.

Among the supplies in his lab were somestrange spores he’d found... somewhere. Hecouldn’t remember where, but they looked like justthe thing he needed. Combining various samplesof Human DNA with similar biomatter from thespores in his Cloning Chamber, he created theLunar Amazons — seven foot tall, blue-skinnedsuperwomen to — serve him.



7 OCV 207 DCV 203 OMCV 03 DMCV 04 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12



Cost Powers END

13 Energy-Tipped Spear: HKA 2d6 3OAF (-1), No STR Bonus (-½)

plus: Reach +3mOAF (-1)

12 Energy Javelins: RKA 1d6 [12]Penetrating (+½), +2 Increased STUN Multiplier (+½);OAF (-1), Range Based On STR (-¼), 12 Charges (-¼)

12 Shield Force-Field: Resistant Protection (8 PD/8 ED) 0OAF (-1)

7 Shield Blocking: Resistant Protection (+6 PD/+6 ED) 0

OAF (-1), Requires A DEX Roll (-½)4 Long Legs: Running +4m (16m total) 1

Skills

16 +2 HTH

2 Gambling 12- (Card Games)2 KS: Selene Religious Doctrine 11-3 KS: Revenger 12-3 KS: Things Revenger Likes 12-2 SS: Biology 11-2 SS: Chemistry 11-2 SS: Physics 11-

3 Stealth 12-3 Tactics 12-20 Miscellaneous Skills relating to a specific Amazon’s typical

jobs, tasks, and hobbiesTotal Powers & Skills Cost: 106

Total Cost: 246


10 Physical Limitation: Laboratory-Grown Being (see text)(Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

25 Psychological Complication: Totally Devoted ToRevenger






Personality/Motivation: Te Lunar Amazons aregenetically created to be utterly loyal to Revenger.Tey’ll do whatever he tells them to, includingfight and die for him, and are interested in what-ever interests him.

Secondary to that, Revenger created a sortof “religion” for them as a way of occupyingtheir imaginations and creative thoughts. Teyworship Selene, the moon-goddess, using variousrituals and doctrine set forth in a book written byRevenger. Te book also contains a rich lore andmythology for Selene, the personification of themoon (and thus, for them, an earth-goddess) anda goddess of battle. If Revenger defeats the PCs,the Amazons might even decide to sacrifice them(at least the male ones) to Selene....

Quote: “As you command, Lord Revenger.”

Powers/Tactics: Te Lunar Amazons are tall,strong, physically fit, and beautiful. In battle theywield super-tech spears with energy spearheadsand carry shields. Te shields project a force-fieldaround them at all times, and can also be used to

block attacks in the traditional shield manner.Because Revenger creates them in his labora-tory, the Lunar Amazons contain various minorgenetic flaws. o prevent these from becomingcrippling, Revenger administers special treat-ments each month. For each month that passeswithout an Amazon receiving her treatment, shesuffers a -3 to all main Characteristics, -1 SPD (toa minimum of 2), -1 PD and ED, -1 REC, -5 END,and -2 SUN.

Appearance: Revenger’s Lunar Amazons are eachseven to eight feet tall with classical good looksand well-proportioned, attractive figures seem-ingly inspired by Greek statuary. Teir skin is a

sort of blue-grey shade (more blue than grey), andtheir hair is a darker, glossier blue. At most timesthey wear gowns seemingly patterned aer ancientGreek fashions, but if prepared for battle theyswitch to a kilt/mini-skirt type garment and a sortof breastplate. Tey carry super-tech shields andspears created for them by Revenger.

Hamazakar Crater is a small but deep crater

on the Moon. o all Human scientists who’vestudied it via telescope (and there aren’t many), it’sa totally unremarkable crater. But from their anglethey can’t see something that makes Hamazakar very special indeed.

Underneath a sort of overhang on the craterwall there’s a cavern — a large one. Exactly howa cavern like this formed on the Moon, Revengerdoesn’t know, but he doesn’t look a gi horse inthe mouth. When he discovered the cavern in1965 he immediately grasped its potential for hisschemes.

At the time he was busy with other matters andonly explored the place and built a small base/lab/supply depot there. Somehow that facility stuck inhis head enough that he remembered it when hewoke up aer the Fabulous Five defeated him. Hemade his way there and turned it into his home.

oday that small base has grown into a full-blown “villa,” complete with sufficient scientificresources to keep a supervillain thoroughlyoccupied. Te rest of the cavern is home to threeLunar Amazon communities, their associatedfungus-farms where they grow plant matter thatRevenger processes into all sorts of foods, and athriving fungus “jungle.” Using the same strangealien spores whose biomaterial went into theAmazons, Revenger created a fungal jungle oftree-sized mushrooms and other weird plant life.Many of the fungi glow with a so blue phospho-rescence that lights the cavern and seems to havean oddly calming effect on people (or at least onRevenger). (Heroes who haven’t spent at least oneday acclimating to the odd, low lighting suffer a -2on all Sight PER Rolls in the cavern. Te buildings

have ordinary artificial lighting.)Revenger maintains an atmosphere in the cave

by sealing its entrance with a force-field tunedto keep air molecules in but allow denser matter(such as people) through. He uses artificial gravitygeneration to increase the gravity in the cavern toabout 0.5 G, making it much more Earth-like butstill keeping it low enough for the fungus “trees”to grow.

FUNGUS-WASPSUnfortunately, that calmness is sometimes

deceptive. Revenger didn’t always monitor the jungle as it grew, and somehow a few bizarre

fungal “animal” life-forms evolved as well. Temost dangerous of these are large fungus “wasps”that fly slowly on membranous wings but arestrong enough in a pack to carry off an unwary orunconscious Lunar Amazon. Tey have poisonousstingers which the “females” also use to implantfungal “eggs” in living humanoid bodies to createmore of their kind. (And an egg planted in asuper human body might somehow give birth to aneven larger super -fungus wasp!) (For the fungus-wasps, use the Giant Wasp character sheet on HSB163, but reduce the PD to 3 and ED to 2, and theFlight to 6m.)

Te other fungus-animals are mostly harm-

less — fungal equivalents of squirrels and rats.However, one species of “rat” is enough of ascavenger that it might attack an unconscious (orbetter yet, wounded) humanoid. Even if the victimescaped, just coming into contact with such acreature could result in his contracting a strange,alien disease.

3









His former digs in Selenus itself and the lab(now villa) in the Hamazakar Crater cavernweren’t Revenger’s only facilities on the Moon. Acautious person, even paranoid at times, Revengerpreferred to have secret “backup” bases whennecessary... and sometimes double secret backupbases for the secret backups. Unfortunately forhim, his memory of most of these facilities waslost during his long period of recovery and has yetto return.

One such location on the Moon is a smalllaboratory/outpost he hid in a mountain rangeseveral hundred miles from Selenus. A normallunar sha sinks into the mountain for about twodozen feet before ending in an airlock door (whichisn’t visible from the surface). Te airlock (whichis electronically locked; -3 to Lockpicking rolls toopen from the outside) leads to a large vehicle baythat’s currently empty (aside from some work-tables and a “closet” containing the lab’s life

support systems). o the east another airlock givesaccess to the original suite of labs Revenger builtwhen he first constructed the base; to the west arehis living quarters. Later he expanded the basedto the south, adding a second, larger, area of labswith a catwalk overlooking them.

Tanks to Revenger’s faulty memory, noHuman being has any idea this lab even exists...but the Qularr do. During their 2009 invasion, aQularr sensor officer happened to scan that partof the lunar surface, and his scans were strongenough to penetrate Revenger’s Sixties-era elec-tronic countermeasures. Investigating the outpost,the Qularr discovered it included a small cloning

facility where some Human scientist kept a grownbut dormant Human body. (Tis was a clone ofRevenger, kept by him as a “replacement” body inthe event of life-threatening injury.)

A cloned Human body — a “pure” geneticconstruct from Human DNA — was a treasure tothe Qularr. Aer much discussion, their scien-tists decided to “fuse” the clone with samples ofGadroon genetic material they possessed to seehow easily Human biomaterial could be adaptedto various purposes pertaining to their war withthe green-skinned aliens (see page 262). At firstthe experiment went well; the process of intro-ducing the Gadroon “DNA” into the Human body

was flawless, and the growth/adaptation of thenew body under the Qularr stimulator rays hadfew complications (though the resulting creaturewas hideous-looking even to Qularr eyes).

Ten they awoke their creation. At first it stareddumbly around itself and responded only slug-gishly to their commands, so one of the Qularrgave it a mild zap with a cattle prod-like device.Te creature’s seemingly slow-witted natureinstantly vanished, replaced by berserk rage.

It grabbed the offending scientist, ripped offone of his arms, and hurled his body at anotherscientist with such force that both of them werekilled. Within ten minutes it had located the otherscientists and the two soldiers assigned to guardthem and killed all of them while suffering onlyminimal injury.

Te creature’s remained trapped in the labsince then, because it has no way of surviving thelunar environment. It has no idea who it is (sinceRevenger never downloaded any memories intothe clone’s brain), and doesn’t even have a name.It can’t speak coherently, read, or operate most ofthe machinery in the lab, though it has learned toactivate some of the television monitors to play video entertainments (mostly “reruns” of televi-sion shows from the late Fiies and early Sixties).It’s become more unbalanced, more desperate,and fiercer with every passing month. If andwhen someone finds the poor creature, their onlyreward may be to be savagely attacked by a super-humanly powerful brute who simply doesn’t knowany better.

Background/History: See above.

Personality/Motivation: Te Creature is totallyuneducated (he can’t even speak) and has moreor less the mind of a child. As long as he’s notBerserk, if confronted with an authority figure(such as a PC with a PRE of 15 or higher), theCreature has to succeed with an EGO Roll or doas he’s told (or as he thinks the authority figurewants him to act). On the other hand, if he suffersany sort of pain, or if he’s not given somethinghe decides he wants, he’s likely to go Berserk andattack everyone and everything around him untilhe calms down.

While the Creature is relatively feebleminded,he’s not mindless. If exposed to language, he’llquickly learn to speak (just individual words atfirst, with simple sentences following eventually).If shown how to do basic tasks he can learn to dothem (and will become a tireless worker, able toperform the same task for hours at a time, longpast the point where a normal Human wouldbecome bored).

Quote: “GRRRaaaaRR!!”

Powers/Tactics: Te Creature is immenselystrong and tough compared to most Humans orGadroon, though a bit on the weak side comparedto typical superheroes (until it goes Berserk).Trough instinct more than training he canuse his strength in various ways other than justpunching. For example, he can sweep his enor-mous arms to hit many targets, or literally rip aGrabbed enemy limb from limb.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes50 STR 40 19- Lift 25 tons; 10d6 HTH damage [5]14 DEX 8 12-33 CON 23 16-5 INT -5 10- PER Roll 10-

5 EGO -5 10-25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6

5 OCV 104 DCV 53 OMCV 03 DMCV 05 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12



Cost Powers END

22 Berserk Strength: +30 STR 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Only WhenBerserk (-1)

11 Agile Haymaker: HA +4d6 (22

Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼), Extra Time (ExtraSegment; -½)

12 Armsweep: Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼) for up to50 STR 1

20 Tear You Limb From Limb: HKA 2d6 (5d6+1 with STR) 3

Must Follow Grab (-½)

15 Incredibly Tough: Resistant (+½) for 15 PD/15 ED 0

45 Even Tougher When Berserk: Damage Reduction, 75%Physical and 50% Energy, Resistant 0

Only When Berserk (-1)

2 Long, Strong Legs: Running +2m (14m total) 1

Skills

32 +4 HTH

-1 No Everyman Language (can only speak in grunts, growls,and the like)


Total Cost: 403


35 Enraged: Berserk when hurt or injured (i.e., when hesuffers STUN or BODY damage) (Common), go 14-,recover 11-

35 Enraged: Berserk when he doesn’t get something hewants (see text) (Common), go 14-, recover 11-

15 Psychological Complication: Childlike Mind (see text)(Common, Strong)



Campaign Use: Te Creature presents someintriguing possibilities. On the one hand hecould simply be a Frankenstein’s Monster-likeadversary (particularly if you give him some LifeSupport and let him shuffle around the Moonattacking people). On the other hand, he couldbe an unfortunate someone the PCs could rescuewithout having to use their superpowers. Not evena mentalist can entirely solve the Creature’s prob-

lems; it’s going to take the sort of time, effort, andpersonal investment that it takes to raise a child...combined with the ability to withstand tantrumsthrown by a SR 80 monster.

On the other other hand, the Creature couldbecome a pawn in the interspecies conflictsbetween Humanity and various alien invaders.Since he has Gadroon genetic material, theGadroon may consider him their “property” andtry to capture him; they’d want to learn how theirgenetics and Human DNA interact. Te Qularrdefinitely consider the Creature theirs and plan to“retrieve” him at some point.

Appearance: Te Human-Gadroon Creature is

a seven foot tall, muscular, broad-shoulderedHuman infused with Gadroon genetic material.As such his skin has become a muddy green, hehas a hunchback and a sort of stoop, his arms aredisproportionately long (and his hands dispro-portionately large), and his head/face are as muchbatrachoid as Human. If he wears anything, it’s just a few scraps of cloth he’s wrapped aroundhimself for warmth when necessary.

3




erhaps the strangest thing on the Moonis an arena for superhuman gladiatorialcombat that neither Humanity nor Earth’ssuperheroes are aware of... despite the

fact that many heroes have taken part in battles onthe arena floor.

Some years ago, a Malvan named ateklys —a clever and unusually dynamic member of his

species, known far and wide in galactic society as“the Fashionable One” — approached the Phazorof Malva (an old friend of his father’s) with anidea. “Oh my Phazor,” he said, simultaneouslyconveying sincerity and flattery in a way only aMalvan can, “the popularity of the Arena gamesis as high as it has ever been, eclipsing all otherpasttimes on our wondrous world. And the mostpopular of all the fights are the ones featuringgladiators who have superhuman powers.”

“You tell us nothing We do not know, my son,”the Phazor said gently.

“Recently You learned of a backwater worldcalled Earth, where superhumans are plentiful.

Te raitorous One who is not to be named livesthere now, engaging the other superhumans incombat to test his prowess.”

“rue,” the Phazor growled, his equanimitydisturbed by thoughts of Tone. “But We shallhave him back here soon enough to serve Us.”

“I believe, oh my Phazor, that this Earth hasmore potential for Your amusement than justthat one aspect. So rich a source of superhumansmeans so rich a source of gladiators. Capturingthem and transporting them all here would betime-consuming... but this world Earth has alarge moon. I propose to build for You a newarena there, on Earth’s moon, and hold gladiato-

rial games which I will broadcast to Malva for the viewing pleasure of Yourself and Your subjects.”

Te Phazor considered. Te possibilities were...intriguing. Very intriguing, in fact. “Very well. Weare convinced. You may create this Earth arena.However, once it is built you may not use Malvantechnology there that is better than that possessedby these superhumans. Keeping so many powerfulindividuals in proximity is dangerous enough; youmust not allow them access to Malva’s wondersas well.”

“As You command, oh my Phazor. I will sendreports informing You of my progress and hope tobroadcast the first fights within just a few weeks.”

And so it was. Journeying to the Sol Systemwith a cohort of Malvan labor-bots, ateklysconceived of and designed an arena modeled inpart aer several classical Malvan arenas, and inpart aer arenas used for similar entertainments

by one of Earth’s most vibrant historical cultures,the Romans, whom he had studied. Planningfor success, he included spaces for luxury shops,restaurants, and suites for visitors who’d come tosee the games in person.

Te robots went to work and soon had finishedthe project to ateklys’s satisfaction, right downto the decors in the rooms and the number ofparking slots for star-yachts. Aer sending themhome to comply with the Phazor’s edict, hecontacted the bounty hunters who provided theMalvan arenas with so many of the beasts andsentient gladiators that were necessary to keepthe games going. He informed them of his new

arena... and his need for combatants, primarilysuperhumans from Earth.

Tese bounty hunters went to work, and soonateklys, billing himself as “Praetor of the LunarGames,” was broadcasting his first fights to Malva.It took a little while for the Malvans to becomeaware of this new attraction, but once they foundout about it they were captivated. Before longateklys had a major hit on his hands and a newfad was sweeping Malva — an intense interest inthe Lunar Games. ateklys’s planning paid off asMalvans and other galactic sophisticates cameto see these fascinating new gladiatorial bouts inperson. Since then the Lunar Games’ popularity

has continued unabated, with the FashionableOne, ever living up to his name, as their benignproducer and overseer.




Te Forum is a large oval structure nearlytwo kilometers long along its largest axis. Froma distance most of it appears to be open to space,but in fact a powerful Malvan force-field protects visitors and gladiators alike while allowing theman unobstructed view of Earth.

Te centerpiece of the Forum is, of course, theMain Arena, which is discussed below. Flankingit are two “open arenas,” named Vidrash Arenaand Satrol Arena aer legendary gladiators fromMalva’s distant past. Tere the Forum holds lessercontests, oen featuring non-superpoweredgladiators pitted against each other or ferociousanimals from planets all over the Galaxy. TeOpen Arenas are definitely a “lesser attraction” formost visitors, but they give fight fans somethingto watch in between events at the Main Arena.Additionally, Munerator Dominus (see below) canmore easily re-arrange or change the Open Arenafight schedule to cater to the tastes of specific

groups of visitors... or even specific highly influen-tial visitors.

SHOPS AND SUITESTe “wall” structure that defines the Arena is

actually a large, contiguous building primarilydevoted to two features. Te first are luxury shops,gourmet restaurants, and other businesses andservices catering to the visitors. Tese are locatedin the parts of the Forum nearer the Main Arenaand feature goods and foods from all over theintergalactic community. Whether you want acoat made with the fur of an Ackálian “bear,” afine example of the crystal artwork of Catavala, ora massage given by one of the exquisitely-skilledtentacled “relaxation experts” from V Bluudearumini, you can find it in the Shops at theForum Malvanum... but of course the merchantsonly take accepted forms of galactic currency, notHuman currencies.

Te shops also include other entertainment venues for visitors who want something to doother than watch gladiatorial matches. Tere arecasinos for every conceivable form of gambling,theaters and auditoria for live performances ofmany varieties, cinemas showing the latest galactic“movies,” and much, much more.

At the other end of the Forum “wall” are the

luxury hotel suites for visitors, and the quarters(sometimes less luxurious, sometimes not) forpermanent residents. Tese rooms feature everyamenity that visitors from dozens of species couldpossibly desire — and if necessary, the Praetor’sservant robots can easily re-arrange or rebuildrooms or even entire blocks of suites to suitspecific guests. Te rates for rooms are steep, butnot totally exorbitant.

THE STEALTH FIELDA powerful Malvan “stealth field” protects the

Forum Malvanum from discovery by unwantedpersons (i.e., Humanity and other such undesire-ables). Viewed from Earth or space, either withthe naked eye or the most sophisticated sensors inthe Galaxy, the Forum looks like ordinary lunarlandscape.

VISITING PROCEDURESVisitors who want to attend the fights at the

Forum Malvanum must have sufficient stealthtechnology of their own to enter and leave the SolSystem undetected by Humanity. Visitors who’venever been before have to obtain permission fromateklys’s office on Malva, which they can easilyobtain by proving they’re properly “stealthed.”Any Malvan possesses such technology, and ifnecessary important visitors can be accomodatedby renting them a Malvan stealth field for theirconvenience.

While at the Forum, visitors are of courseexpected to conduct themselves with all due

propriety, and in particular to not do anythingthat would somehow make the Forum’s presenceknown to Humanity. ateklys’s security robots arenoted for their humorlessness and obstinacy onthese points.

Ringing the outer walls of the Forum areparking slots large enough to accomodate nearlyany personal starcra or small cargo vessel. Inmany cases a visitor can park right outside hissuite and walk right into his room via airlock.

TECHNOLOGY RESTRICTIONSExcept where absolutely necessary (e.g., the

stealth field), no technology is found in the Forum

Malvanum, or can be brought there by visitors,that exceeds what’s available to Human super-heroes (though admittedly that allows for quitea lot). Te Phazor has decreed this, because he’sworried about what might happen if Humanityobtained working examples of the hyper-advancedMalvan technology (particularly weapons) —and no sensible being in the Milky Way Galaxydisobeys a command from the Phazor of Malva.

o ensure that no one tries anything funny,ateklys has installed sensors in all the starshipparking bays, the suites, the shops, and the arenas.If they detect any contraband technology, theyimmediately send in the security robots to seize it.

If that’s not enough, ateklys enlists the services ofKovarl, Munerator Dominus, any bounty hunterswho happen to be at the Forum, and various gladi-ators to assist the robots.

FORUMSECURITYROBOTS

Tateklys maintains

a force of security

robots to keep the

Forum Malvanum

safe for visitors and

prevent “unpleas-antness” from

occurring between

attendees at the

gladiatorial fights

and other entertain-

ments. Designed

to resemble a sort

of cross between

one of the “Golden

Hunters” of Malva’s

early history and a

Roman centurion,

they’re fully

sentient and

can interact

with the visi-

tors in any way

necessary — from

offering directions,

to politely admon-

ishing misbehavior,

to stern warnings,

to restraining (or

even injuring)

wrongdoers. (They

are, however,

programmed forobedience to the

Forum staff, and

ultimately utter

loyalty to Tateklys

himself.)

For the security

robots, use the Type

I-37 Combat Unit

character sheet

from CV1 114.

3







3




Te heart of the Forum Malvanum is the MainArena, a large, circular auditorium at one end ofthe structure. In addition to numerous groundentrances, it has three major entrances via walk-ways from the Forum’s “wall.” Te Arena is thetallest structure in the Forum, reaching well abovethe “wall,” but uses Malvan technology so that the view from every seat is as good as sitting at “ring-side.” (Te actual ringside seats that don’t requirethis remain the most expensive and prestigiousones in the Arena, though.) Fans desiring betteramenities can reserve (for even higher prices) oneof the Arena’s many “luxury viewing suites” — buta true gladiatorial afficionado will claim you have

to be out in the same air with the fighters to getthe full experience.

TYPE OF FIGHTSTe Main Arena can handle nearly any type of

fight, following nearly any convention, as a stan-dard Malvan arena, though its smaller size limitsthings somewhat. (See page 112 for more informa-tion on Malvan gladiatorial bouts.)

FIGHTERSTe Forum Malvanum specializes in fights

between gladiators possessing superpowers, since

it can draw on the large superhuman populationof Earth for fighters. (See page 114 regardingthe Malvan system of ranking super-gladiators,and below for how ateklys obtains fighters forhis matches.) But fights between non-poweredsentients, or that pit a non-powered sentientagainst some strange alien creature, definitelyaren’t unknown.

Since the Forum Malvanum is the “hot newthing” in Malvan gladiatorial combat, bothrenowned fighters and newcomers looking tomake a name for themselves are eager to fightthere. ateklys receives dozens of requests eachweek from free fighters eager to get on a ForumMalvanum “card.” Malvan gladiatorial regulations(and in some cases contracts) limit his discretionto a certain extent (see page 112), but he has areputation both for making quirky choices andfor spotting up-and-coming talent that deserves achance to break into the big time. More than a fewfighters on the Malvan “circuit” are indebted to theFashionable One for giving them their first time inthe spotlight or some major audience exposure.




ARENA ENVIRONMENTSWhile the standard “bare sand floor” match

that eliminates environmental factors and justtests the gladiators’ skills remains the favorite atthe Forum Malvanum as on Malva itself, ateklysoen likes to “mix things up” and challenge hisgladiators by altering the Arena’s environment,and the fans have responded positively. Some ofhis most common choices include:

n turning off the artificial gravity (makingKnockback a much more significant factor; heenhances the Arena’s protective force-field sono spectators get hurt)

n randomly placing floating metal platformsthroughout the Arena and giving all gladia-tors jump-boots so they can move from one toanother

n partially flooding the arena floor with some-thing dangerous (such as lava or acid) so thatgladiators can only safely fight on the “islands”le uncovered

n randomly placing stone columns that gladia-

tors can use for cover, as weapons, and the like.GLADIATOR “RECRUITMENT”

Despite all the petitions from free gladia-tors who want to fight at the Forum Malvanum,ateklys needs a constant stream of superpoweredindividuals to enter the Arena; that’s his meat andpotatoes, the stuff his customers really want tosee. Aside from a few gladiators who’ve becomesemi-permanent residents of the Forum insteadof remaining on Malva (see below), that means heneeds Human superheroes and villains... who ofcourse generally don’t want to be part of a gladi-atorial game, and who certainly can’t be told thatthe Forum Malvanum exists.

Tat means ateklys has to kidnap them andforce them to fight. For this task he hires bountyhunters. Kanrok the Acquisitioner (CV3 169-71)gets most of his business, but various other well-known galactic bounty hunters also get some ofhis business. Sometimes ateklys puts in an orderfor a specific superhuman or type of superhuman(“Bring me Witchcra by this time next week” or“I’m paying a 10% bonus for all superhumans withsonic powers that you bring me this month”), butat other times he simply tells the bounty hunterhow many superhumans he needs of what powerlevel and leaves the rest to him to figure out.

Te kidnapee awakens in a cell in the Cata-combs (see below) that negates his powers (similarto the cells in Stronghold) and otherwise restrainshim as necessary. ateklys, Munerator Dominus,or Gladiator Master Kovarl explains the situa-tion to the captive. If he agrees to fight and seemstrustworthy (based on Malvan truth-readingmachines implanted in the cell, which are virtuallyinfallible), they release him into the free gladiatorarea so he can train or otherwise prepare for hisfight(s). If he refuses or can’t be trusted, ateklysuses Malvan mind-control technology to force thesuperhuman to fight. He strongly prefers not to dothis, because he thinks it can inhibit the gladiator’s

performance in the Arena. He’d much rather that

a superhuman agree to fight, but not everyone canbe reasonable about these matters.

Once a superhuman has finished (andsurvived) the fight or fights ateklys wanted himfor, he has to be returned to Earth in as close tothe same condition as possible... and without anyknowledge of the Forum Malvanum. Erasing hismemories is an easy enough task given Malvantechnology (though it’s never possible to guar-antee that a sufficiently powerful mentalist, suchas Menton, can’t dig up buried memory fragments,or at least determine that something was removedor altered). Te Arena’s devices can also repairdamage to costumes and gear, replace used equip-ment (such as ammunition), and so on.

On the other hand, explaining the superhu-man’s absence from Earth may be difficult, espe-cially if he’s been gone for a long time. ateklys hasa team of “specialists” whose job is to use Malvantechnology to try to cover up inconsistenciesand provide the former gladiator with a plausible“cover story” or explanation sufficient to keep himfrom investigating further, but sometimes there’s

only so much they can do. Te Fashionable Onedoes his best to avoid such situations becausethey’re a major security risk, but sometimes sacri-fices must be made to ensure that just the rightgladiators compete in the Main Arena.

THE CATACOMBSLocated beneath the Main Arena and other

parts of the Forum Malvanum, well out of sight of visitors, are the Catacombs — an extensive seriesof underground corridors and chambers thatcontain some of the Forum’s essential infrastruc-ture as well as some of its less savory elements. TeCatacombs include:

n living quarters for free gladiators fighting in theArena voluntarily (the more popular the gladi-ator, the better his accomodations)

n prison cells for kidnapped gladiators. Wherenecessary the cells are equipped with power-dampening technology that makes it impos-sible to use any superpowers.

n pens and feeding areas for beasts used in gladi-atorial fights

n training areas for free gladiators and forkidnapped gladiators (the two are separate,since kidnapped gladiators need securitymeasures that free gladiators don’t)

n

equipment storage areas for weapons providedto gladiators, gear needed to alter the arena forparticular types of battles, and so forth

n power generation systems for the Forum n storage, repair, and recharging areas for the

Forum’s robots (including the security robots)

Te Forum Malvanum is home to a number ofinteresting individuals. Some of them work there;others are more or less permanent visitors whohave their own reasons for attending the Lunar

Games.

MUNERATORDOMINUS

The person in charge

of keeping the arenas

and fights in the

Forum Malvanum

operating smoothly

is a tall, suave

Ixendar known asMunerator Dominus.

Apparently an old

friend of Tateklys’s,

he convinced the

Praetor to give

him a job to save

himself the tedium

of handling admin-

istrative matters on

a day to day basis.

Dominus has been

earning an excellent

salary ever since.

Among his

other duties,

Munerator

Dominus is in

charge of scheduling

arena matches and

determining who

fights in each match

(subject to Tateklys’s

oversight and input,

of course — ulti-

mately if the Praetor

wants two gladiators

paired off to fight,they get paired off).

If the PCs want to

get involved in the

gladiatorial scene

voluntarily without

having to butter up

Tateklys, Munerator

Dominus is the man

they should talk to.

3




Background/History: Te man who one daywould be known as ateklys — literally “Te Fash-ionable One,” a name he adopted years ago that’sbecome so well-known that few people rememberhis real name — was born on the now-abandonedMalvan colony world of aka in the Human year

1540 AD. His father Haran is an influential andcontroversial military man opposed to the slowcollapse of the Malvan Empire. A friend of thePhazor, Haran splits his time between the Phazor’scourt on Malva and various other worlds. He lethe raising and supervision of his son to roboticcaretakers. ateklys largely grew up in the careof technological tutors, where he gained a love ofrobots, computers, and technology that he stillpossesses.

When the young Malvan came of age hefollowed his father’s example and joined the mili-tary, where his extraordinary skill with languageslanded him a position as a translator. During his

brief 100-year career he traveled widely, visitingPerseid and Velarian space among other places.He also spent some time at home on Malva,becoming a favorite of the court with his quick witand engaging personality.

Eventually he realized he enjoyed travel andmingling with people a lot more than he enjoyedmilitary life. In the Human year 1890 he resignedhis commission and became a traveling merchantspecializing in luxury goods and hard-to-finditems. He went wherever he thought he couldfind goods worth buying, or a market for whathe was selling. He didn’t need the money — likeall Malvans he’s essentially ultra-rich — but hisearnings were a mark of how well he was doing,a prize of sorts. In the late twentieth century histravels brought him to an extraordinary planetcalled Earth. Te bustling, many-cultured worldand its colorful cast of superpowered heroes and villains fascinated ateklys — as did the presenceof his fellow Malvan Ariax Tone, now known asFirewing.

It occurred to him that many of Earth’s super-humans might be willing to fight in the Malvanarena — though probably not to go all the wayto Malva. Aer some thought he proposed to thePhazor that a small arena be established on Earth’s

Moon, with a colony of Malvans led by himselfto run things. Te fights there would be broad-cast back to Malva, offering a different type ofbloodsport for the Malvans to watch. Te idea metwith the Phazor’s approval. Christening himselfthe “Praetor” of the “Lunar Games,” and evensometimes donning Roman-style garb, ateklysnow runs the Forum Malvanum... not just thelegitimate games, but the crime and corruptionthat has inevitably sprung up around the wavesof galactic tourists that come in stealthed ships towatch the spectacle.

Personality/Motivation: Boredom. Boredom soimmense, so overwhelming, so all-consumingthat it creates a vacuum at the center of the soulwhich wealth, sexual pleasure, and diversion cannever entirely fill. Imagine that boredom hasspread throughout your being to the point whereit dominates every waking moment of every dayof your life. Now, imagine that this has gone on forcenturies. Tat is the inner essence of ateklys.

Like all Malvans ateklys exists to be enter-tained, and thus distracted from the unendingtediousness of immortality. Unlike most Malvans— who for all their pretense are hopelessly provin-cial — ateklys possesses a certain amount ofdepth, and is thus even more difficult to entertain.His sensibilities have been formed by centuries oftravel and interaction with other species, some-thing almost unheard of for one of his kind inthis day and age. In fact, the Fashionable One isconsidered a bit stodgy and an aesthete by Malvanstandards. He simply isn’t as interested in thepursuit of pleasure as most members of his species— at least as they define it.

ateklys is particularly intrigued by rare and valuable objects — the more unusual, the better.He maintains a large collection of such objects,and also assists other collectors to find items thathe personally doesn’t want for himself. Tere’s noquicker way to get into his good graces than tobring him an item for his collection... particularlyif it’s one he’s never heard of until it’s given to him.

ateklys’s military experience has led to aninterest in the Malvan gladiatorial games (thoughhe’s nowhere near the afficionado of them thatsome Malvans are). Since becoming Praetor of theLunar Games he’s developed a new appreciationfor the bravery and skill displayed by the gladia-

tors, and a fascination with their community andculture. Te games have yet to become tiresome tohim, and hopefully won’t for decades to come.

As noted above, the Fashionable One has noneed for money. He considers his earnings to be asort of “points system” that indicate how cleverlyhe’s conducting his businesses. If he earns a lot,he’s doing well, and that’s what he wants. If hedoesn’t, or if a competitor earns more, then he’sfailing... something he distinctly dislikes.

Quote: “You’re beginning to bore me.”

Powers/Tactics: Although he comes from aspecies whose members are mostly idle “dilet-

tantes” catering solely to their own personaldesires and whims, ateklys is a rare example of aMalvan who wants to do things and learn things. In his years as a Malvan military man and later atrader, he’s seen a lot of the Galaxy and encoun-tered many of its species. He finds the endless variety of life and customs fascinating (whereasmost Malvans think non-Malvans are “provincialand quaint” or simply “backwards savages”). He’salso an accomplished scientist and technolo-gist. Tough he’s no closer to fathoming the truesecrets of Malvan technology than any othermember of his species, with what he does know hecan build some powerful devices.




Praetor of the Lunar Games

Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [1]17 DEX 14 12-14 CON 4 12-23 INT 13 14- PER Roll 14-20 EGO 10 13-20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6



40 STUN 10 Total Characteristics Cost: 134


Cost Powers END

70 Fashionable Malvan Bracers:Multipower, 105-point reserve

All OIF (-½)

7f 1) Blaster: Blast 14d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF (-½)

7f 2) Stunner: Drain STUN 7d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF (-½)

7f 3) Paralyzer: Entangle 4d6, 4 PD/4 ED 0

Takes No Damage From Attacks (+1), ReducedEndurance (0 END; +½); OIF (-½)

2f 4) Escape Teleporter: Teleportation 100m [1]

OIF (-½), Lockout (prevents use of any otherMultipower slot for 20 Minutes until bracer’s batteryself-recharges; -½), 1 Charge (-2)

Martial Arts: Malvan Combat Training

Maneuver OCV DCV Damage/Effect

4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort

4 Counterstrike +2 +2 7d6 Strike, Must Follow Block 4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 35 STR to Disarm4 Killing Blow -2 +0 HKA 1d6 (1½d6 with STR)3 Strike +1 +0 7d6 Strike12 +3 Damage Classes (already added in)40 Fashionable Malvan Necklace: Resistant Protection

(20 PD/20 ED) 0OIF (-½)

15 Malvan Mind: Mental Defense (15 points) 0

5 Unimpressed: +10 PRE 0

Only To Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1)

11 Fashionable Malvan Necklace: Life Support (SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, Intense Cold, Low

Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing)OIF (-½)

5 Malvan Immortality: Life Support (Longevity: Immortality) 0

4 Observant: +2 PER with Sight Group 0

Perks

15 Money: Filthy Rich

Talents

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

5 Eidetic Memory

6 Striking Appearance: +2/+2d6


Skills


3 Breakfall 12-

3 Bribery 13-

3 Bureaucratics 13-



3 Conversation 13-

3




wo such devices that he keeps with him at alltimes are his bracers and necklace. Te bracerscontain several powerful weapons, and can alsoteleport him up to 100m if necessary (thoughdoing so drains their battery for twenty minutes).Te necklace protects him with an invisibleforce-field that not only shields him from injury,it provides him with breathing gases and is proofagainst the icy dangers of outer space.

An immortal genius, ateklys has a photo-graphic memory, picks up new languages soquickly that he has Universal ranslator, and hasmastered numerous professions and sciences.ateklys has a wide variety of Knowledge Skills ontopics as diverse as history, politics, and art. He’salso a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, thoughhe strongly prefers not to soil his hands with suchthings.

Campaign Use: Te Fashionable One is basicallya plot device on two legs. In his current role asthe Praetor of the Lunar Games he’s most likelyto interact with the PCs when they’re kidnappedand forced to fight gladiatorial matches. But

depending on how that turns out they may returnto the Arena as free gladiators, and perhaps evendevelop ateklys as a “galactic contact.” He couldcertainly prove to be an invaluable resource insome circumstances.

Beyond that, you can easily use the Fashion-able One to test and torment the PCs in the mostinteresting ways you can think of. He could easilyrecruit or force them to obtain an esoteric artobject he wants, or simply use Malvan technologyto put them into some difficult or dangerous situa-tion to see how they react.

Tough he’s by no means indestructible orundefeatable, ateklys’s skills and gadgets shouldplace him so far out of the PCs’ league that they’reforced to out-think rather than outfight him.Generally he rewards wit, ingenuity, and bravery,but punishes directness and indiscriminate violence. Physical violence in particular boresateklys; his interest in that subject is dedicated tostaging and watching Malvan gladiatorial games.By nature he’s not violent or a killer, but he has nopatience for idiots or for those who deliberatelyannoy him.

Appearance: ateklys is an unusually tall Malvanwith golden skin and narrow, aquiline featuresthat many consider handsome. He has one

green and one red eye (though he oen wearsdistinctive violet-tinted sunglasses) and wearshis black hair shoulder length. Much of his bodyis covered in abstract tattoos. As Praetor of theForum Malvanum, he wears a purple garmentthat’s obviously inspired by the Roman toga; thereare prominent, super-tech golden bracers on hiswrists, and a matching necklace around his neck(all in the Malvan style).

10 Cramming (x2)

3 Deduction 14-

3 Disguise 14-

3 Electronics 14-

2 Gambling (Card Games) 14-

3 High Society 13-

3 Inventor 14-

3 Mechanics 14-

3 Persuasion 13-

3 Streetwise 13-


3 Trading 13-

2 TF: Malvan Space Vehicles

2 WF: Advanced Malvan Weapons

3 Weaponsmith (Energy Weapons, MalvanHyperdimensional Weapons) 14-

3 Jack of All Trades

2 1) PS: Artist 12-

2 2) PS: Merchant 13-

2 3) PS: Soldier 13-3 Scholar

2 1) KS: Earth Civilization And History 14-

2 2) KS: Earth Superhumans 14-

1 3) KS: The Espionage World 11-

2 4) KS: Galactic Politics 14-

2 5) KS: Malvan Gladiatorial Games 14-

2 6) KS: Malvan History 14-

3 Scientist

1 1) SS: Anthropology 11-



1 4) SS: Chemistry 11-2 5) SS: Physics 14-

2 6) SS: Psychology 14-


1 8) SS: Xenoanthropology 11-

1 9) SS: Xenology 11-

3 Traveler

2 1) AK: Malva 14-

2 2) AK: The Milky Way Galaxy 14-

2 3) AK: The Sol System 14-

2 4) CuK: Human Culture 14-

2 5) CuK: Malvan Culture 14-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 395

Total Cost: 529


25 Psychological Limitation: Malvan Boredom(Very Common, Total)

25 Psychological Limitation: ObsessedWith Things That Are Truly Rare (VeryCommon, Total)






Background/History: Several years ago, beforehe’d conceived of the Forum Malvanum, ateklysfound himself in a cutthroat game of cards on abackwater planet whose name he doesn’t evenremember anymore. One of the players was abig, burly Roin’esh who said little but seemed to

radiate malice. Te luck of the night was with theRoin’esh; by the time the game ended ateklys wasin debt to him for over a million credits... moneyhe’d claimed he had with him in cash when thegame started, but actually didn’t.

It took all of ateklys’s not inconsiderablecharms and powers of persuasion to hold off theRoin’esh, whose name was Kovarl, with prom-ises of triple payment at a future date. ateklysintended to forget about the arrangement oncehe was safe — but then the idea for the ForumMalvanum came to him. He realized he’d needsomeone tough and powerful to keep superpow-ered gladiators (particularly kidnapped ones) in

line, and he remembered Kovarl.It took awhile to track the man down, but

he finally did. Impressed that ateklys had kept

Master Of Gladiators Val Char Cost Roll Notes40 STR 30 17- Lift 6,400 kg; 8d6 HTH damage [4]20 DEX 20 13-25 CON 15 14-18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13-15 EGO 5 12-





Cost Powers END160 Superior Roin’esh Shapeshifting Pool:

Variable Power Pool, 80 Pool + 80 Control Cost varCosmic (+2); Only For Multiform, Shape Shift, AndRelated Abilities (-½)

10 Tough: Resistant (+½) for 10 PD/10 ED 024 Force-Field Belt: Resistant Protect (12 PD/12 ED) 0

OIF (-½)6 Swift: Running +6m (18m total) 13 Roin’esh Senses: +1 to PER Rolls with all Sense Groups

Perks10 Money: Well Off

Talents3 Lightsleep

Skills20 +2 with All Combat24 +3 HTH

3 Bribery 13-3 Conversation 13-1 Electronics 8-2 Gambling (Card Games) 13-3 Interrogation 13-3 KS: Malvan Gladiatorial Games 13-3 Persuasion 13-3 Security Systems 13-3 Stealth 13-2 Systems Operation 10-2 TF: Roin’esh Space Vehicles8 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Small Arms, Beam

Weapons, Energy WeaponsTotal Powers & Skills Cost: 296Total Cost: 518

400 Matching Complications (75)10 Enraged: in combat (Common), go 8-, recover 14-15 Psychological Complication: Ruthless And Cruel; Enjoys

Victimizing Those Weaker Than Himself (Common,Strong)



3




his word, Kovarl listened to his offer: instead of just paying him off, ateklys would give him ahigh-paying job and use Malvan technology togrant him superpowers (in addition to his naturalshapechanging powers). It was too good a dealfor Kovarl to pass up, and he became the Fashion-able One’s “Master of Gladiators” (i.e., head ofsecurity).

Personality/Motivation: ateklys’s job offer was

too good for Kovarl to pass up because Kovarl isa cruel, heartless bully. He loves intimidating andhurting people weaker than himself, and beingMaster of Gladiators means he essentially gets todo just those things for a living.

Quote: “Move, scum! Te Games aren’t going to bedelayed for the likes of you.”

Powers/Tactics: As far as most people know,Kovarl is a superhumanly strong and toughRoin’esh with the basic shapechanging powersavailable to his species (i.e., he can assume a fewdifferent humanoid forms). He doesn’t advertisethe fact that he actually possesses the full suite of

Roin’esh shapechanging abilities, allowing himto change his shape into nearly anything. He cantransform himself into alien animals, any sort ofhumanoid being, or even flawlessly imitate otherhumanoids.

If forced to fight superhuman opponents,Kovarl oen changes shape into a larger, moreintimidating version of himself with more SR(60), higher defenses (add another 10-12 pointsof Resistant Protection in both categories), andnatural weapons like claws. If he has time toprepare he’ll also equip himself with some of theForum’s weaponry and restraining devices so hehas an even greater edge against his foe.

In combat Kovarl has no restraint. As far ashe’s concerned there are no rules in battle andno trick that’s too underhanded or vicious touse — his aim is to win, and win as quickly aspossible. He doesn’t exactly go berserk, but thereare times when he gets angry enough at whoeverhe’s fighting that he disregards his personal safetyentirely for the chance to hurt his opponent asmuch as possible.

Campaign Use: Kovarl is a fairly one-dimensionalcharacter in most respects — the cruel overseerwhom the PCs will quickly love to hate — but hehas a few tricks up his sleeve. Te full extent of his

shapechanging powers isn’t well-known (thoughateklys knows what Kovarl can do) and shouldcome as a real surprise to the PCs the first timethey encounter him.

If you want to make Kovarl tougher to beginwith, increase his superhuman SR, defenses,and possibly DEX so he can more easily handlemultiple foes at once (perhaps a little DamageReduction or Damage Negation would also help).o weaken him, reduce his SR to 30 and hisdefenses to 15-20. o really weaken him, reducehis Roin’esh shapechanging abilities so he can onlychange into other humanoid shapes (includingimitating other peoples’ forms).

Appearance: As a Roin’esh, Kovarl is a naturalshapechanger who can look like nearly anyone oranything, but he typically adopts the appearanceof a tall, beefy Malvan whose skintone is on theyellowish side of golden. He makes his hair redand keeps it long and pulled back in a ponytail; hiseyebrows are also red, and he makes them particu-larly long and luxurious as a point of distinction.He gives his skin the appearance that he’s tattooedhis le arm, upper chest, and le side of his facewith flowing geometrical patterns that are simul-taneously swirling and angular, like a maelstromof curved claws and blades. (Te tattoos are blue,deep orange, and a red that matches his hair.) Hehas a “glove” of similar tattoos on his right handand lower arm. He typically wears nothing butpants and boots so that his body art is displayed tobest effect.

Background/History: Tere was a time, years

ago, when erala Shain was just about the biggestdevotee of the Malvan gladiatorial games youcould imagine. Even as a child she watched thefights on holoscope as long as her nanny-botswould let her, and as an adult she went to thePhazarian Arena nearly every day and kept anelaborate personal logbook of statistics on herfavorite (and not-so-favorite) gladiators.

Shain’s interest in the games was so intensethat she did something most Malvans could neverimagine: she became a gladiator. She decidedthat just watching the fights wasn’t enough; shewanted to be a part of the action. Using Malvanhyper-science she made herself stronger andtougher, with the power to kick her body into“overdrive” to move at blindingly fast speeds. Tenshe spent months training, developing a personalfighting style to complement her new superhumanabilities.

Shain won her debut match in the arena, andsoon worked her way up to regular bouts in thePhazarian Arena itself. Te gladiatorial fights wereeverything she thought they would be: exciting,challenging, a true test for body, mind, and spirit.But aer several years she realized there was acorruption at the heart of the arena. Instead ofadhering to a gladiatorial code and striving to

make the games the best they could, most gladi-ators preferred to cut corners and even cheat toobtain victory. She looked into the problemfurther, hoping to find a solution, and soondiscovered that the problem went as high as thePhazor himself. He wanted exciting, fast-paced,deadly fights to amuse himself and the Malvanpeople, and he didn’t seem to care how he gotthem.

Shain went on fighting for a year or two aerthat, but her heart wasn’t in it. Eventually sheretired from the arena and began a one-womancrusade to clean up the games. She attractedsome interest, and eventually a small but devoted

following... but also the unwanted attention of






12 OCV 4510 DCV 353 OMCV 05 DMCV 67 SPD 50 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12



Cost Powers END

Martial Arts: Overdrive Fighting

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes


4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, 50 STR

4 Dodge +0 +5 Dodge all attacks, Abort

5 Kick -2 +1 12d6 Strike

4 Knife Hand -2 +0 HKA 1d6+1 (3d6+1 with STR)

3 Legsweep +2 -1 9d6 Strike, Target Falls

4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 3d6 NND (1)

4 Punch +0 +2 10d6 Strike

8 +2 Damage Classes (already added in)

10 Overdrive: +2 SPD 4Costs Endurance (-½), Increased Endurance Cost(x2 END; -½)

8 Fast On Her Feet: Running +8m (20m total) 1

10 Overdrive Running: Running +20m (40m total) 6

Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1)

Perks

5 Money: Well Off

Talents


2 Overdrive: Lightning Reflexes: +10 DEX to act first withAll HTH Attacks 4

Costs Endurance (-½), Increased Endurance Cost(x4 END; -1½)

Skills

32 +4 HTH

12 Targeting Skill Levels: +4 versus Hit Location penaltieswith All Attacks

3 Bureaucratics 13-

5 KS: Malvan Gladiatorial Games 14-

3 Oratory 12-

3 Persuasion 12-

1 Security Systems 8-

3 Stealth 14-


Total Cost: 427

400 Matching Complications (75)10 Hunted: the Phazor (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

10 Hunted: Tateklys (Frequently, As Pow, NCI, Watching)

15 Psychological Complication: Wants To Protect The“Purity” Of The Games (Common, Strong)



3




the Phazor and his Shadow Guard. Te ruler ofMalva is a tolerant man, but his tolerance has itslimits, and Shain was pushing against them. Lifeon Malva soon become difficult for her — toodifficult to tolerate.

She needed a victory of some sort, some way toprove she was right so the people would demandthe Phazor purify the games. Ten she thought ofthe Forum Malvanum. With a man like ateklysrunning it, it had to be just as corrupt as thearenas on Malva. She le Malva for the Moon,and has been making the Fashionable One’s lifedifficult ever since.

Personality/Motivation: erala Shain has devotedherself to “cleaning up” the Malvan gladiatorialgames with the same fervor that once drove herto mutate her own body and become a gladiator.She’s the sort of person who gets an idea in herhead and simply won’t let go until she makes itwork, no matter how dangerous making it workmight be to her personally. Although her inten-sity (even fanaticism) may be off-putting in somerespects, she’d be a valuable ally to anyone who

wanted to get rid of the crime and corruption atthe Forum Malvanum... such as the PCs.

Quote: “Te Malvan gladiatorial games are awonderful thing at heart — but the actions ofthose who control them have corrupted them.It’s time to clean them up and return them to theglory they once were.”

Powers/Tactics: Tanks to the treatmentsprovided her by Malvan hyper-science, eralaShain possesses superhuman powers, mostlyrelated to speed and reflexes. She’s much strongerand tougher than most Malvans (or Humans), butswiness and agility are where she shines. Shain is

already one of the fastest gladiators ever to gracethe Malvan arenas, but when she kicks herself into“overdrive state” she becomes really fast, gaining+10 DEX Lightning Reflexes, +2 SPD, and +20mRunning (though this comes at the cost of 14 ENDper Phase, so even with her 80 END she can’t stayin overdrive for long). Couple that speed withher phenomenal accuracy and you’ve got a HHCombat fighter that other gladiators were right-fully wary of.

Shain’s primary weakness is that her defensesare fairly weak compared to many gladiators’attacks. She has to rely on her speed and agility to

keep out of the way of attacks. When she foughtregularly she wore a force-field belt that offeredsome added protection (in game terms, it madeher 15 PD/15 ED Resistant), but she doesn’tusually have it with her any more.

Campaign Use: erala Shain is a potential allyfor the PCs... assuming they can get past the factthat she’s likely to look upon them as backwaterbarbarians. (Just because she’s a progressive onissues pertaining to the arena doesn’t mean she’snot still a typical Malvan in many respects.) Likethem she wants to clean up the Forum Malvanum,though her reasons for doing so are different thantheir’s. Sometimes crimefighting makes strange

bedfellows!

o make Shain more powerful, increase herdefenses (or give her a standard force-field belt shecan wear at all times). You could perhaps also giveher some “speedster trick” abilities (see ChampionsPowers for examples), though she’s not a typicalspeedster at all (in fact she’s as much martial artistas speedster, if not more). o weaken her, reduceher DEX to 20-22 and SPD to 5-6, forcing her torely on her overdrive powers a lot more. Reducingher END also weakens her, since it prevents herfrom keeping her overdrive powers functioningfor more than a couple of Phases.

Appearance: erala Shain is a beautiful Malvanwoman with lustrous golden skin, hair andeyebrows the color of leaping flame, and violeteyes. Since coming to the Moon she’s taken towearing ostentatious gowns in traditional Malvanstyle in defiance of ateklys’s fad for “Roman”garb.

Te card at the Forum Malvanum is newwith every week’s matches since superhumanskidnapped from Earth make up such a large partof the “stable” of fighters. But there are a fewregulars — gladiators who’ve moved to the Moonfrom Malva for whatever reasons, new fightersthat ateklys “discovered” and is shepherding togreater gladiatorial glory, and so on. Here are afew of those noteworthy gladiators that kidnappedPCs might find themselves fighting.

Background/History: Most Malvans are gestated(and raised) via Malvan medical technology ratherthan in the traditional biological way. But everynow and then a fad for live gestation and birthoccurs on Malva, and oronec Surl was bornduring one such time. Raised by two loving (byMalvan standards) parents who actually interactedwith him once or twice a week, he grew up evenhappier and more contented than other Malvanchildren.

Ten came adolescence... and things began togo wrong. He experienced strange “cold flashes”and other problems regulating his body tempera-ture. Even more disturbingly, his skin began

turning blue. His parents took him to Malva’s bestmedical computers. Te computers tested himand eventually determined that he was somethingthat hadn’t been recorded in centuries: a mutantMalvan, with the power to lower the temperaturearound him in various ways.

Tis caused quite a sensation on Malva andmade Surl a celebrity for a few years. As he gotolder, everyone wondered what he’d do with hispowers, and public pressure mounted for him tobecome a gladiator and “represent Malva’s honorin the arena.” Te more he thought about it, themore he liked the idea, and when he was oldenough that was exactly what he did, taking thefighting name Frostbite.




Unfortunately for Frostbite, his powers weren’tstrong enough or flashy enough to make him areally good gladiator, and public interest in himand his career waned somewhat. But he kept atit, determined to be the best gladiator he couldbe, and resisting all efforts to get him to submitto Malvan hyper-scientific processes that wouldaugment his powers. Tat just didn’t seem rightto him; neither did using drugs, which it wasrumored some other gladiators did.

Over the years Surl developed a particularlyintense rivalry with another gladiator namedAriax Tone, who had fire powers. Partly this wasa result of the natural clash of their powers (whichcaused the arena’s overseers to pit them againstone another in fights frequently), but partly thetwo men simply didn’t get along. o Surl, Tonewas an insufferable, arrogant blowhard whodeserved a good humbling as oen as possible.Unfortunately he was also more powerful thanSurl, as their record — 13 wins for Tone, 5 forSurl as of Tone’s transformation to Firewing —showed. Surl’s hatred of Tone deepened when it

was revealed he’d used combat drugs to enhancehis performance in the arena.

When Tone became Firewing and le Malva,seemingly for good, Surl was content at first,thinking he’d proved who was not only the bettergladiator, but the better Malvan. But he soonfound that gladiatorial combat had lost some ofits savor without rematches with Tone to lookforward to.

Ten ateklys announced the founding of theForum Malvanum. Frostbite knew that Tone hadgone to this planet Earth to challenge its warriorsin combat. Well, he could do the same, but in adifferent way. He was one of the first established

gladiators to “sign” with the Fashionable One, andhe hasn’t regretted it for a moment. Te popularityof the Forum has really given his career a boost,and he knows somehow he’s going to get a rematchwith Tone and show him once and for all who’sthe better gladiator.

Personality/Motivation: For the most part Frost-bite is a pretty normal guy, for a Malvan — it’s justthat instead of devoting himself to art, sex, visualentertainments, partying, exploration, or someother pursuit, he chose to become a gladiator. Hewants for nothing, and if something came alongthat interested him more he’d quit fighting and

pursue that. Fortunately for gladiatorial fans, thethrill of the arena battle is his passion and he hasno intention of leaving the games behind anytimesoon.

Frostbite desperately wants a chance to fightAriax Tone — Firewing — again and decisivelydefeat him. He’s aware that Firewing’s powerdwarfs his own, and has been seeking a wayto even the odds. If push comes to shove, hislongstanding resistance to using Malvan hyper-technology to augment his powers may crumble inthe face of his desire to triumph over Tone.

Quote: “Te fires in your blood may burn strong— but I can cool them and cast you down indefeat!”

Powers/Tactics: Frostbite is a Malvan mutant withthe power to reduce the temperature. Unlike manyHuman superhumans such as Winter Dragon orFreon, he cannot create ice out of ambient mois-ture (and even if he could, that wouldn’t do himmuch good in the arid lunar environment). He can

simply freeze whatever liquids or other materialsexist in the environment. Depending on the effecthe wants to have, this can stun and weaken anopponent, or he can literally freeze their bodilyfluids, causing horrific internal injuries that fewgladiators can resist.

Like many super-gladiators, Frostbite’s defensesare relatively low compared to the power of his(and his opponents’) attacks. Sometimes this suitsKovarl well, since he wants a fight with a lot ofblood and injuries; at other times the Master ofGladiators issues Frostbite a force-field device sothe fight lasts longer.

Frostbite has developed a reputation for being

a skilled member of gladiator teams (such as intwo-versus-two or three-versus-three matches).Tis allows his teammates to protect him whilehe uses his oen-irresistible attacks to weaken thefoe.

Campaign Use: Plots involving Frostbite as a maincharacter typically center around his desire todefeat Firewing and what he might do to achieveit. He could team up to help the PCs (providedthey agree to let him tackle Firewing one-on-one),secretly provide them with advice to help themhumble his old rival, or go to extremes to get thepower to stand toe-to-toe with Tone once more.

If Frostbite having a rivalry with Firewingwon’t work well in your campaign, make a PChis rival instead. Arrange a battle between themearly in the campaign that the PC wins (possiblyin some way that’s humiliating to Frostbite). Ten just wind Surl up and let him go.

o make Frostbite more powerful, considergiving him more “traditional” ice and cold powers(see the “Ice And Cold Powers” section of Cham- pions Powers for plenty of ideas). o weaken him,reduce his END and SUN.

Appearance: Frostbite’s skin is ice-blue (and staysthat shade no matter what sort of dyes he tries),

and he’s nearly bald: all he has is a fringe of snow-white hair around the sides of his skull that hegrows long and straight; his eyebrows are no largerthan a Human’s, which looks very odd to otherMalvans. When fighting in the Arena he wearswhite boots (with a blue line outlining the cuff anddown the front center of the boot that matches hisskin), white pants, a black belt, a white vest-likegarment, and white gloves.

3









Cost Powers END

60 Freezing Powers: Multipower, 60-point reserve

6f 1) Deep Freeze I: Blast 6d6 6

NND (defense is Life Support [Safe Environment:Intense Cold]; +1)

6f 2) Deep Freeze II: Drain SPD 6d6 6NND (defense is Life Support [Safe Environment:Intense Cold]; +0)

4f 3) Freeze Your Flesh: RKA 1d6 6AVAD (Power Defense; +1), Does BODY (+1),

Constant (+½), +2 Increased STUN Multiplier (+½);Only Versus Targets With Normal Organic BodyChemistry (-½)

6f 4) Dampen The Fires: Drain Fire/Heat Powers 4d6 6Variable Effect (any one Fire/Heat power at a time;+½)

4f 5) Freeze Your Eyes: Sight Group Flash 12d6 6NND (defense is Life Support [Safe Environment:Intense Cold]; +0); Only Versus Targets With NormalOrganic Body Chemistry (-½)

25 Chill Factor: Change Environment (create area offreezing cold), -5 Temperature Levels 0Area Of Effect (32m Radius; +1), Reduced Endurance

(0 END; +½); No Range (-½)20 Resistant To Heat: Resistant Protection (0 PD/20 ED) 0

Only Works Against Fire/Heat (-½)

4 Soothing Cold: Life Support (Safe Environments: IntenseCold, Intense Heat) 0

Perks

4 Positive Reputation: the mutant gladiator (amongMalvans) 11-, +2/+2d6

Talents

8 Lightning Reflexes: +8 DEX to act first with All Attacks

Skills15 +3 with Freezing Powers Multipower

2 Gambling (Malvan Card Games) 12-

2 KS: Malvan Gladiatorial Games 11-

2 PS: Sculpting 11-

3 Stealth 12-

3 Teamwork 12-

2 TF: Malvan Personal Spacecraft


Total Cost: 333


10 Distinctive Features: Malvan Mutant (Not Concealable;Always Noticed; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses)

15 Psychological Complication: Malvan Gladiator’s Code(Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Complication: Determined To DefeatFirewing (see text) (Uncommon, Strong)






Background/History: Jaa’lu’s background islargely unknown to anyone on Malva or at theForum Malvanum. One day a Malvan roboticship returned from a trip into near-Malva spaceto gather asteroids and other raw materials withJaa’lu aboard. He refused to explain himself but

asked for a chance to fight in the Malvan gladi-atorial games. Te security robots contacted theirMalvan overseer, who happened to be a big fanof the games and was amused by the Ackálian’srequest. Aer Jaa’lu showed what he could do, theoverseer arranged for him to start fighting at someof the lesser arenas.

A few years on the lower-ranked circuitgarnered Jaa’lu enough attention to move up tothe bigger leagues, and eventually to the Phaz-arian Arena itself, where he earned the nickname“Darkmaw” because he ended so many fights inanimal form with his opponents’ blood all overhis enormous jaws. For several years his career

went well, but then his rankings began to slip asyounger gladiators willing to take combat drugsslowly but surely surpassed him.

Ten ateklys started the Forum Malvanum.Tinking that a fresh start might help his career,Jaa’lu relocated to the Moon and soon becamea Forum regular. His plan worked, too; as theForum became immensely popular on Malva, hegot lots of “screen time” and was soon among theranks of Malvans’ favorite gladiators once more.

Ten came the fateful day when Master ofGladiators Kovarl pitted Jaa’lu against an ogreishautochthon from some planet Jaa’lu had neverheard of. Ordinarily Jaa’lu could have beaten thesemi-intelligent humanoid easily... but on atek-lys’s orders Kovarl had administered powerfuldrugs to the autochthon to enhance his strengthand speed, while secretly slipping other drugs intoJaa’lu’s food to slow him down. An overconfidentJaa’lu entered the arena expecting to win, and winhe ultimately did, but he paid a high price for his victory: he lost his le mouth-claw, his upper leeye, and half of his le ear.

Tanks to his strong metabolism it wasn’t longbefore Jaa’lu was back in the arena, wearing hisdisfigurements as a badge of pride. But his mindwas no longer as strong as his body. He realized

that ateklys had fixed the fight that resulted inhis mutilation, and he became determined toget revenge on the Fashionable One, Kovarl, andanyone else associated with ateklys’s “regime.”For now he goes on fighting, defeating his oppo-nents in ever more vicious ways, and waits for anopportunity to strike.

Personality/Motivation: Jaa’lu was once a fairlyordinary gladiator out for money, fame, and theexcitement of battle. Since his disfigurement, that’schanged. He’s become moody, unbalanced... andeager for revenge. Although he hides it well, now

he really lives for one thing: the chance to getrevenge on ateklys, Kovarl, and however many oftheir flunkies he can reach. He doesn’t even care ifhe gets hurt or killed in the process... though he’dprefer to escape intact if possible.

Jaa’lu’s powers affect his personality some-what. He oen subconsciously (and sometimesconsciously) adopts animalistic behavior patterns.For example, unless he concentrates on usingutensils, he’s prone to eating food with his hands.Tis trait becomes particularly pronounced in thearena, where he’s been known to take bites out ofhis opponents and swallow them right then andthere.

Quote: “Hrrrrr... soon your carcass will decoratethe arena’s floor, little one.”

Powers/Tactics: Besides being unusually strong,tough, and fast, Jaa’lu has the power to transformhimself into any type of animal that he’s seenor studied (which is a lot of them, from manyworlds — he’s a skilled naturalist/zoologist in hisown right). He can change entirely into a given

type of animal, or just change part of his body(for example, grow Arcturan tiger claws, or causeBetelgeusan hawk-bat wings to sprout from hisback). His Combat Skill Levels with HH Combatpartly represent his abilities as a fighter, and partlyhis power to change shape so rapidly that he canexploit weaknesses and openings in his opponents’defenses.

In game terms, Jaa’lu’s powers are all abilitiesLinked to his Shape Shi: Growth and Shrinkingto take the shape of animals larger and smallerthan himself; an HKA to represent claws, fangs,horns, and the like; and a Multipower of animal-based movement abilities. See Te HERO System

Bestiary for guidelines about various animals’abilities, and extrapolate as necessary from therefor alien animals (don’t forget Jaa’lu’s SR whendetermining his HKA’s damage). Jaa’lu cannotassume the form of animals whose bodies aremade of energy, gas, liquid, or the like (such as theAz’arc “panther” described in Chapter Five).

Jaa’lu’s facial mutilations don’t carry over fromform to form; when he changes shape he looks likean ordinary version of that animal (though a large,fierce specimen of the species, to be sure).

Campaign Use: Jaa’lu is a ticking time bomb who’slikely to go off at the worst possible moment for

the PCs. Depending on how the situation at theForum plays out aer they get there, Jaa’lu couldeven become a pawn of erala Shain’s as she strug-gles to end the corruption at the Lunar Games,with potentially disastrous consequences.

o make Jaa’lu a tougher opponent, make himmore brick-like: increase his SR and defenses,and perhaps give him another point of SPD torepresent animal swiness. o weaken him,apply Extra ime to his Shape Shi so he can’tinstantly change from one animal or hybrid formto another.

Appearance: Jaa’lu

Darkmaw is an Ackálian

male. His once-

handsome (by Ackálian

standards) features

were badly disfigured in

one of Tateklys’s fixedfights: his left mouth-

claw was ripped off, his

upper left eye gouged

out, and half of his left

ear ripped off. He’s stub-

bornly refused to have

these deformities fixed

with plastic surgery. Like

many Ackálian males, he

wears only a pants-like

garment.

3






8 OCV 258 DCV 253 OMCV 05 DMCV 66 SPD 40 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12



Cost Powers END

31 The Forms Of Animals From A Thousand Worlds:Shape Shift (Sight, Hearing, Smell/Taste, andTouch Groups, any animal or hybrid-animal shapebased on any animal he’s studied) 2Costs Endurance Only To Change Shape (+¼)

28 Natural Weaponry: HKA 2d6 (4½d6 with STR), Alter-able Origin Point (can originate at any of severalpoints on Jaa’lu’s body, depending on his shape) 3Linked (to Shape Shift; -¼)

50 Large Or Small Animal Forms: Multipower, 62-pointreserve; all Linked (to Shape Shift; -¼ )

4f 1) Larger Form: Growth (+30 STR, +10 CON, +10 PRE,+6 PD, +6 ED, +6 BODY, +12 STUN, +3m Reach,+24m Running, -12m KB, 6,400 kg, +4 OCV to hitcharacter, +4 PER Rolls to perceive character, 8mtall, 4m wide) 5Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+¼); Linked (toShape Shift; -½)

1f 2) Smaller Form: Shrinking (.5 m tall, 1.6 kg mass,-4 to PER Rolls to perceive character, +4 DCV,takes +12m KB) 1

Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+¼); Linked (toShape Shift; -½)

3 Ackálian Bite: HKA 1 point 1No STR Bonus (-½)

12 Tough Body: Resistant (+½) for 12 PD/12 ED 0

20 Animal Form Movement: Multipower, 30-point reserveAll Linked (to Shape Shift; -½)

1f 1) Winged Flight: Flight 30m 3

Restrainable (-½), Linked (to Shape Shift; -½)

1f 2) Swift Running: Running +22m 2Linked (to Shape Shift; -½)

1f 3) Swift Swimming: Swimming +14m (18m total) 1

Linked (to Shape Shift; -½)

3 Ackálian Legs: Running +6m (18m total) 1

2 Ackálian Eyes: +1 with Sight Group PER Rolls 0

Perks

5 Money: Well Off

Talents3 Lightsleep

Skills

48 +6 HTH

7 KS: Ackálian Animals 16-

4 KS: Xeno-Animals 13-

2 SS: Zoology 11-

2 SS: Xenozoology 11-


Total Cost: 522

400 Matching Complications (75)5 Distinctive Features: facial mutilations (see text) (Easily

Concealed; Noticed And Recognizable)

20 Psychological Complication: Seeks Revenge OnTateklys And His Underlings (Common, Total)


10 Psychological Complication: Animalistic Behaviors (seetext) (Common, Moderate)






Background/History: Years ago, when thegladiator Ironclad fled Malva, the Phazor wasaggrieved. He’d enjoyed watching the metallicPerseid fight, and he’d been popular with theMalvan people as well. Perhaps he could bereplaced....

Te Phazor’s wish was soon reality. Malvanrobots traveled to Perseid space, kidnapped ahapless Perseid, erased/suppressed his memoriesand replaced them with absolute loyalty to thePhazor and a love of fighting, and used Malvanhyper-science to alter his body and give himsuperpowers. Tis time, the Phazor decided, we’llmake him a man of stone rather than metal — andcolorful stone, so he’s easy to watch in the fights. Tus was born Malachite.

For the past decade Malachite’s been ahighly-ranked gladiator in the Malvan arenaand a favorite with the populace. When ateklyslaunched the Forum Malvanum, the Phazor sent

him Malachite to attract attention and boost hisearly “ratings.” Tat seemed to work, and thePhazor’s been content to leave Malachite at theLunar Games for the time being.

Personality/Motivation: Whatever personalityand memories Malachite once had are longgone, removed (or perhaps deeply suppressed)by Malvan technology. In their place he’s beengiven two personality traits. Te first is utter,unswerving loyalty to the Phazor of Malva.

Everything Malachite does is for the greater gloryof the Phazor. He fights because the Phazor tellshim to, he eats because that’s how he stays healthyto serve the Phazor, he listens to or reads everyword the Phazor utters. In the event the Phazorneeded a superpowered bodyguard, Malachitewould be one of the first he’d call on.

Te second trait is a love of fighting so strongthat Malachite literally will not stop fighting untilhe either (a) wins a fight (typically by KnockingOut an opponent, but sometimes by cripplingor killing him), or (b) is rendered unconsciousor otherwise unable to fight. Tis isn’t much ofa hindrance in gladiatorial combat, but it couldbecome a real problem if he ever had to live a lifeoutside the confines of the arena.

Any character who scans Malachite with evenEGO +0 elepathy can tell that his memory hasbeen radically altered/suppressed; the Phazor’smedi-bots didn’t bother to hide what they did.However, if any of his old memories remain,finding them and restoring them would requirerepeated EGO +40 elepathy rolls (to find them)

and at least one use of “psionic surgery” Mentalransform (to restore them).

Quote: “Oh my Phazor! Te gladiators of theArena salute you!” (traditional Malvan gladiatorialpronouncement)

Powers/Tactics: Malachite is a Perseid withsuperhuman strength and durability. Malvanhyper-science has transformed his body into agreen “organic stone” that makes him extremelydifficult to hurt (or move), and he’s strong enoughto li 400 tons.

In combat Malachite usually prefers a straight-forward, aggressive approach. He picks the biggest,

toughest, and/or most dangerous foe (assuminghe’s facing multiple enemies) and charges right in.He won’t usually risk a Move Trough right away,but that and Haymaker are his favorite CombatManeuvers to use against foes who aren’t likely toget away.

Campaign Use: Te biggest plot seed relatedto Malachite is: who was he? Was he a famousPerseid astronaut, or perhaps a superhuman ofsome sort? How many of his memories still existsomewhere in his mind, and how many are goneforever? Is it possible to transform him back(assuming he’d want that) and return him to the

life he was snatched away from a decade ago?o make Malachite tougher, you could increasehis CON and defenses (or give him some DamageNegation or Damage Reduction), or make himfaster (increase his DEX to 20-23 and SPD to 7).o weaken him, reduce his SR to 60.

Appearance: Malachite is a muscular Perseid justover two meters tall whose body’s been trans-formed into malachite (or a mineral with the samecolor and patterning). Te typical Perseid bumpson his head and shoulders are pure malachite-colored crystals. When fighting in the Arena hewears just a black loincloth-like garment.

3








Movement: Running: 12m Leaping: 40m

Cost Powers END

20 Organic Stone Physiology: Resistant (+½)for 20 PD/20 ED 0

9 Organic Stone Body: Life Support (Safe Environment:Low Pressure/Vacuum, High Pressure, HighRadiation, Intense Cold, Intense Heat) 0

5 Perseid Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense (5 points) 0

12 Stone Body: Knockback Resistance -12m 0

18 Super-Strong Legs: Leaping +36m (40m forward,

20m upward) 1 Talents

3 Lightning Reflexes: +6 DEX to act first with All HTHAttacks

Skills

24 +3 HTH

1 Language: Malvan (basic conversation; Perseid is Native)


Total Cost: 382


25 Psychological Complication: Loves To Fight (VeryCommon, Total)

25 Psychological Complication: Loyal To The Phazor (VeryCommon, Total)





30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d612 OCV 4512 DCV 453 OMCV 07 DMCV 128 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12



Cost Powers END

30 Large Xenovore Claws: HKA 2d6 (5d6 with STR) 337 Claw Flurry: HKA 2d6 3

Autofire (8 shots; +1), Reduced Endurance (½ END;+½); Extra Time (Full Phase; -½), No STR Bonus (-½)

25 Large Xenovore Sting: HKA 2d6 4Armor Piercing (+¼); No STR Bonus (-½)

20 Enhanced Xenovore Skin: Resistant (+½)for 20 PD/20 ED 0

8 Swift Runner: Running +8m (20m total) 18 Strong Leaper: Leaping +16m (20m forward,

10m upward) 11 Xenovore Digestion: Life Support (Diminished Eating:

can digest any type of protein) 05 Tail: Extra Limb 0

Inherent (+¼); Limited Manipulation (-¼)

Skills

16 +2 HTH

3 Climbing 15-3 Stealth 15-3 Teamwork 15-

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 159Total Cost: 521


20 Negative Reputation: prone to using lethal force, and toeating his defeated foes (Very Frequently, Extreme)

15 Psychological Complication: Vicious Anthropophage;Loves To Kill And Consume Sentients (Common,Strong)

20 Vulnerability: 2 x Effect from Chemicals/Drugs/Gases/ Poisons (Common)






Background/History: In 2003 one of the Phazor’sbounty hunters returned to Malva with anintriguing prize: a large, particularly fiercemember of a strange species known as the Xenov-ores due to their penchant for eating the fleshof sentient beings (even other members of their

own species). With its claws, armor-tough skin,and skill at hand-to-hand combat, this Xenovoreseemed like an ideal gladiator.

And so it was. Put into the Malvan games, theXenovore — called alon since it refused to giveits true name — did very well. He became popularenough that the Phazor decreed that he be givensuperpowers and moved to the highest gladiatorialbracket.

Malvan medi-bots went to work. Under theirheartless “care,” alon became bigger, and muchstronger and tougher; his claws grew and becamesharper. When he emerged from the laboratorieshe was a gladiator’s nightmare. Equipped with

weapons able to eviscerate most opponents andamazingly fast, he soon earned a reputation as themost lethal gladiator on the circuit. Tis causedsome unrest among the other fighters, few ofwhom cared to face the killing machine.

Aer the Forum Malvanum became popular,the Phazor decided that alon needed a bit of a“cooling off” period and the other gladiators somerelief from him. He sent the Xenovore to ateklys,who now oen pits him against kidnappedHuman superhumans whom he doesn’t think willbe missed if they lose their matches.

Personality/Motivation: Whatever he may havebeen before the bounty hunter captured him,

alon has become a Malvan gladiator par excel-lence. He enjoys the thrill of the fight and theaccolades he receives for winning. Most of all,though, he loves having the chance to prove hissuperiority by slaughtering other gladiators (and,to the Malvan crowd’s simultaneous disgust andmorbid interest, he oen eats the flesh of hisdowned adversaries until the arena handlers stophim). Every other Malvan gladiator loathes himand looks forward to the day when one of themmanages to cripple or kill him.

Quote: None. alon almost never speaks, thoughhe sometimes emits a semi-bestial growl to

unnerve his opponent.Powers/Tactics: alon is an augmented Xenovorewho uses his strength and phenomenal speed toinflict lethal wounds on his foes with his enor-mous claws and barbed tail. If cornered he can useall of his natural weaponry in a flurry of blows thatmay leave everyone around him dead or bleeding.

Despite his monstrous appearance, alon is not just sentient, but devilishly clever. Gladiators whounderestimate him usually end up paying a bloodyprice for their arrogance. He’s even a surprisinglygood team fighter, though he prefers one-on-onebattles.

Campaign Use: Besides simply being a foe to giveyour PCs nightmares, alon is likely to be their

(and thus Humanity’s) first exposure to the fear-some Xenovores. Learning more about his species— and perhaps finding a way to protect the restof the Galaxy from them — could lead to a wholeseries of deep space adventures. It might evenbecome necessary to team up with the Star*Guardto eradicate the Xenovores altogether.

o make alon tougher, give him some addi-tional powers to broaden his tactical flexibility.Te best bet are biological powers: poison; theability to emit clouds of deadly pheromones orspores; and so on. o weaken him, reduce his DEX

to 25-27 and his SPD to 6. Appearance: alon is an eight foot-tall Xenovorewith jet-black skin and claws and fangs about50% longer than those of a typical member of hisspecies — in short, he’s a walking nightmare.

3




Background/History: Te stealth field thatateklys built around the Forum Malvanum worksperfectly for shielding his facility from detectionfrom Earth or space. However, it didn’t occurto ateklys to use the same degree of protectionagainst scans from the lunar surface. Tus the field

sometimes has weaknesses or “gaps” at its lowestlevels.One day while Mechanon was scanning parts

of the Moon from its Installation Alpha-8 (seepage 259) it chanced to “see” the Forum throughone of these “gaps.” Alarmed and intrigued, itbegan studying the area further and soon learnedwhat it was. Enraged at the presence of so manyorganics, and at the implications their existencehad for what the rest of the Galaxy was like, Mech-anon decided it had to study the situation furtherto learn more about these organics and how bestto destroy them.

It soon realized that the Forum was used

for gladiatorial games, a particularly barbaricorganic custom. It decided this provided an idealopportunity to insert an agent into the Forum. Itsummoned one of its ype I-37 Combat Units andmodified it extensively, giving it different weap-onry and abilities and changing its appearance soit resembled an alien warrior. When its creation,dubbed Zpartykys, was ready, it equipped himwith a “hyperspace” ship and sent it to the Forumto become a gladiator.

ateklys was immediately impressed by thepowerful-looking “free gladiator,” though neitherhe nor anyone among his staff recognized whatspecies this Zpartykys might come from. Still,talent was talent, and Zpartykys soon made it intothe arena rotation. It’s been fighting in the Forumever since, carefully concealing its nature andgathering as much data as it can about the hatedorganics.

Personality/Motivation: Like Mechanon’s otherrobotic servants, Zpartykys is utterly loyal to itscreator. It does whatever its told — in this case,“become a gladiator and spy on all the organicsin that facility” — to the utmost of its ability untilordered to do otherwise.

Quote: None. Zpartykys almost never speaks to itsfellow gladiators, in battle or out.

Powers/Tactics: Zpartykys masquerades as asuper-strong alien with bony claws/spikes that itcan use as weapons, and its fighting style reflectsthat deception. It never uses its built-in rangedweaponry in arena combat; it’s saving thosesurprises for an emergency (such as having to fleethe Forum and return to Mechanon in the face ofopposition).

Zpartykys’s built-in computers allow it toanalyze arena combats as they develop and initiatethe appropriate tactical response. Among otherthings this makes it an ideal partner for multiple-gladiator matches.

Campaign Use: Te main plot point for Zpar-tykys is its connection to Mechanon, of course,and what its presence in the Forum implies aboutMechanon’s plans and resources. Ironically, evenif ateklys knew the truth about Zpartykys, hewouldn’t care. A good gladiator is a good gladi-ator, and while robotic fighters are unusual (anddiscouraged) he’d consider Zpartykys sufficientlyadvanced to qualify as an “artificial life-form” (aterm that would send Mechanon into a rage). Nordoes he care about Mechanon’s plans; if the evil

robot ever becomes a problem, Malvan technologycan easily reduce it to its component atoms.

o make Zpartykys tougher, increase hisSR or change his “cover story” to allow himto have energy powers (and thus to use hisbuilt-in weapons). o weaken him, remove hisMultipower.

Appearance: As far as anyone can tell, Zpartykysis a humanoid of unknown species with pale greyskin and rust-red bony “claws” or spines projectingfrom his knuckles, his elbows, his knees, along thesides of his forearms, and down his shins.





30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d68 OCV 257 DCV 203 OMCV 03 DMCV 06 SPD 40 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12



Cost Powers END

19 Knuckle-Claws: HKA 1d6 (4d6-1 with STR)Armor Piercing (+¼)

18 Spines And Sharp Projections: RKA 1d6 0Area Of Effect (personal Surface — Damage Shield;+¼), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½),Persistent (+¼), Inherent (+¼); Always On (-½), Activa-tion Roll 13- (-¼), No Range (-½)

60 Weapons Array: Multipower, 60-point reserve6f 1) Phasic Energy Bolt: Blast 12d6 66f 2) Neural Agonizer: Blast 8d6 6

NND (defense is Mental Defense or not being a livingorganic being; +½)3f 3) Tangle-Cable: Entangle 6d6, 6 PD/6 ED [4]

4 Charges (-1)4f 4) Flare: Sight Group Flash 8d6 6

Area Of Effect (16m Cone; +½); No Range (-½)6f 5) Bio-Dissipator Ray: Drain Characteristics 3d6 6

Expanded Effect + Variable Effect (any twoCharacteristics at a time; +1)

10 Robotic Form: Hardened (+¼) for 20 PD/20 ED 025 Robotic Form: Resistant (+½) for 20 PD/20 ED 0

Hardened (+¼)

5 Psychic Shield: Mental Defense (5 points) 05 Structural Support Field: Power Defense (5 points) 05 Hardened Visual Sensors:

Sight Group Flash Defense (5 points) 05 Electronic Countermeasures: Radio Group Flash

Defense (5 points) 012 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -12m 010 Emotional Control: +20 Presence 0

Only To Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1)35 Robotic Form: Life Support: Total 027 Robotic Legs: Leaping +36m (40m forward,

20m upward) 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

12 Robotic Legs: Running +12m (24m total) 1

5 Visual Sensors: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 05 Visual Sensors: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 010 Visual Sensors: Increased Arc Of Perception (360

Degrees) (Sight Group) 010 Visual Sensors: x100 Microscopic for Sight Group 09 Visual Sensors: Telescopic (+6 versus Range for Sight

Group) 015 Auditory Sensors: Active Sonar (Hearing Group) 03 Auditory Systems: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 012 Radio Sensors: HRRP (Radio Group) 015 Radar: Radar (Radio Group) 06 Sensor Enhancements: +2 to PER Rolls with all Sense

Groups 020 Shielded Radio Link: Mind Link, specific group of up to

any 16 minds, No LOS Needed 0Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +¼); Only Can BeMaintained With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), FlashedAs Radio And Hearing Groups, Not Mental Group (-½)

20 Encrypted Transmitter: Detect Broadcast SpectrumOf Transmissions 13- (no Sense Group),Concealed (-8), Increased Arc Of Perception(360 -Degrees), Transmit 0

49 Self-Destruct Mechanism: RKA 6d6 [1nr]NND (defense is ED Resistant Protection defined as aforce-field or the like; +1), Does BODY (+1), Trigger(encrypted radio signal from self or base; +¼); Self Only(-1), 1 Charge which Never Recovers (-4)

Talents

3 Absolute Range Sense3 Absolute Time Sense3 Bump Of Direction5 Eidetic Memory3 Lightning Calculator6 Speed Reading: x100 times normal speed20 Universal Translator 13-

Skills


3 Computer Programming 13-3 Cryptography 13-3 Deduction 13-3 Electronics 13-3 AK: Earth 13-15 KS: Everything 25-3 KS: The Forum Malvanum And What Goes On There 13-3 Tactics 13-3 Teamwork 13-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 574

Total Cost: 878


10 Physical Complication: can be affected by MentalPowers that affect either the Human or Machine classof minds (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

25 Psychological Complication: Loyal To Mechanon (VeryCommon, Total)

15 Social Complication: Dangerous Secret (is really aMechanon robot) (Frequently, Major)

20 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN From Gravity, Magnetic, Or ForceAttacks (Common)



3




n addition to being the first Human agencyto establish a permanently-manned orbitalfacility, UNIL also has the distinction ofbeing the first entity to establish a perma-

nently-manned base on the Moon. Established in2000 as part of UNIL’s efforts to monitor for, andif necessary prevent, alien super-menaces fromattacking Earth (and Human supervillains from

establishing their own lunar hideouts), MoonbaseSerenity has also become a major outpost forscientific research.

When it was first constructed, Serenity waslarge enough to support a crew of two dozenpeople — scientists, technicians, analysts, andpilots from around the world — commanded byMajor reva Roma, an American. As of 2011,Major Roma is still in charge, but the size of hiscommand has nearly doubled to just over fortypeople, with a corresponding increase in the sizeof the base itself.

Te main part of “MBS” (as UNIL docu-ments usually refer to it) is a large dome-likestructure that’s built partly into the side of a lunarcrater, and partly on the flat area at the crater’srim. Initially this building was subdivided into various sections; by 2011, most of the dividingwalls have been moved (or removed) so that thebuilding serves just three primary functions.

Te first section contains a series of laboratoriesthat conduct research in microgravity environ-ments; all data collected becomes the propertyof Humanity via the United Nations and is freefor anyone to obtain and use. Te second is atraining area where UNIL agents (mostly fromthe Wilderness Division) can train for lunar andouter space tactical situations. At any given timethe station might have as many as two dozenagents training there, but they don’t stay at thebase — they’re quartered on GAEWAY andshuttle back and forth to it via UNIL spacecra.




Te third, and smallest, section is MBS’s adminis-trative headquarters and a meeting space where allpersonnel can assemble if necessary. Daily brief-ings are held there most mornings.

Flanking the main structure are several smallerdomes and buildings, each connected to its neigh-bors by a semi-circular pressurized corridor. Someof these buildings include:

n other laboratories and research areas not

appropriate for the main building

n the communications and sensor building(which is attached to MBS’s large communica-tions tower)

n several residential domes

n the dining and recreation building

n a hangar and vehicle maintenance facility(located next to MBS’s starship landing pad)

Since it has at least some military purposes,Serenity is well-defended (the walls are PD 20/ED 20) and has turreted pulson cannons mounted

on several of the buildings (Blast 14d6, Autofire,50,000m range with No Range Modifier, 1,200Charges). However, most of its personnel, despitebeing UNIL agents, are more scientists thanfighters and aren’t likely to pick a quarrel withanyone they’re not confident they can handleeasily. Tey’d rather serve as a forward observationpost and analysis center, sending intelligence toGAEWAY or other UNIL forces as needed.

3



THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Chapter

Four



90 n The Solar System Hero System 6th Edition

he Moon isn’t the only part of the SolSystem that Humans have visited,explored... or even established permanentresidency in. While Humans have yet to

colonize their solar system the way some moreadvanced species have, they’ve taken the first stepsdown what’s likely to be a long, fascinating — andperhaps dangerous — road.

Humanity has established a small footholdon Venus... sort of. In late 2004 the United Statescompleted work on the Venus Scientific Outpost(VSO), an orbital station designed to study thehothouse planet in detail. It has a crew of eight ledby Lt. Colonel Arron Fee; most personnel rotateonto the station for six-month tours of duty, butLt. Col. Fee and a few are essentially permanentresidents at this point. Te superheroine Victoryoen visits the station to bring additional supplies,

news from home, and a welcome break in theroutine.Te VSO’s mission is to study Venus in all

ways, including how it evolved into a “hothouse”world and what effects similar processes drivenby global warming might someday have on Earth.Most of the research is conducted remotely usingtelescopes and six small unmanned vehicles thatcarry sensor packages and can enter the upperVenusian atmosphere. Additionally, the Outposthas three one-man vehicles capable of descendingto the middle ranges of the atmosphere. Each oneof them is only used about once a week understrict safety protocols due to the danger involved,

but between them and the station’s other workHumanity is developing a better and more thor-ough picture of Venus than it’s ever had before.

Venus isn’t the only planet in the solar systemwhere Americans have put down roots. Buildingon what they learned from establishing the VSO,and based on several superheroes’ assurances toNASA that they’d be willing to help out in theevent an emergency rescue becomes necessary,the United States established Ares I, also knownsimply as the Mars Research Base (or “Marsbase”)in May, 2008. Located in the Utopia Planitiaregion of the planet, Marsbase currently houses acrew of one dozen scientists, though plans call forexpanding it to almost four times that size overthe next twenty years.

Te commander of Marsbase, Colonel JohnSchad, is both an astronomer and a geologist, andmost of the men and women under his commandare geologists as well. However, two are archae-ologists studying the ancient Martian civilization(see below), and two are biologists examining how

life once existed on Mars. All of them have madesignificant strides with their respective projects,and news of their activities and discoveries isfeatured in the news practically every month.Most of them post text and pictures several timesa week to NASA’s Marsbase website, allowinginterested scientists and fans from around theworld to follow their work regularly.

Much like Moonbase Serenity, Marsbaseprimarily consists of domed structures, which areeasy to pre-build on Earth and ship to Mars (orsometimes have carried there by a friendly super-hero who’s able to make the journey). Te maindome contains central facilities (including kitchen,

dining hall, and “rec room”), some basic labora-tories, and equipment storage. Te smaller domesarranged concentrically around it (and directlyconnected to it by airlocks, making the wholefacility look vaguely like a child’s drawing of aflower when viewed from the air) contain special-ized labs devoted to various sciences, quarters forthe scientists, a hothouse/hydroponics building(containing plants that provide both food andoxygen), and the like. About a hundred yards awayfrom this cluster of domes, and connected to it bya pressurized corridor, is a hangar/motor pool anda landing pad for spacecra.

4



Champions Beyond n Chapter Four 9

Marsbase scientists wear special spacesuitscreated by NASA with input and assistance froma number of technologically-adept superheroes(including Marcy “Electron” Gibson-Rentonof the Goodman Institute and Dr. Silverback).Tese suits have supplies of air, water, and foodconcentrates that can last up to 24 hours in apinch (though the safety rating is 12 hours) and

even offer the wearer a small amount of protectionas well (Resistant Protection (3 PD/3 ED), PowerDefense (3 points)).

When they need to go further from Marsbasethan they can comfortably walk, the scientistshave four “Marsbuggies” — two-person electronic vehicles with three large inflated tires so they don’tget stuck in the Martian sand. A buggy’s batteryhas six hours of power for continuous use at highspeed (25 miles per hour) with two passengersaboard (and a considerably longer life for lessstrenuous use). Te buggies can pull a smallwagon for carrying large samples, but the extraweight drains the battery much more quickly.

THE MARTIANSBy far the most fascinating discovery made by

the Marsbase crew to date is the fact that sentienthumanoid life once existed on the red planet.One of Marsbase’s early geological expeditionsstumbled across what appeared to be the ruinof a small, circular building — though it was sodegraded that they couldn’t be sure it wasn’t afreak natural rock formation until a rotation instation personnel allowed NASA to send up atrained archaeologist. Since then several otherruins have been discovered, none of them exten-sive, and a few art fragments that suggested theMartians were humanoid.

Confirmation of this, and significantly moredata, came from a strange source: CaptainChronos. On August 19, 2010 he appeared inNASA’s Cape Canaveral facility, dropped off athick folder of documents, and le. A cover letteraccompanying the file stated that he felt thatmankind was now prepared for this informationand that he was happy to “get things started” by

providing information on “the Martian civilizationwhich arose approximately two billion Earth yearsago.”

Te contents of the folder were astonishing:dozens of photographs (presumably taken bythe Captain himself), plus written descriptionsof what the pictures depicted and some otherrelevant information. Te photos revealed ahumanoid species taller and spindlier on averagethan Humans, with dark skins ranging in tonefrom rust to mauve. Clothing for both gendersconsisted of heavy, elaborate robes, suggestingthat the climate of Mars even then was fairly cool.Te buildings tended to be low to the ground andcircular, matching what could be seen in the ruinsfound by Marsbase personnel.

According to the Captain’s notes, the Martiancivilization was at one time highly advanced, butcollapsed into decadence as water became scarceron Mars. Te last great flowering of Martianscience involved an attempt to “travel to anotherworld where they could live in safety and peace,”though he provides no details as to what type oftravel, the target planet, or whether this projectsucceeded. In closing, he listed a number of loca-tions on Mars where ruins were likely to be found.



92 n The Solar System Hero System 6th Edition

With scientists and the public alike intenselyintrigued by these revelations, NASA enlisted thehelp of the Justice Squadron and arranged to havetwo Marsbase geologists replaced with archaeolo-gists. Te archaeologists have since unearthedruins at two of the sites indicated by CaptainChronos, though the artifacts they’ve found havebeen frustratingly sparse (and none of them haveinvolved the sort of advanced technology theCaptain’s essay suggests the Martians once had).Excavations are ongoing at several sites, thoughthe limited number of personnel available meansnone of them can be worked consistently over along period of time.

Some authorities have questioned the accu-racy of the “Chronos File.” While much of what itcontains has been verified by finds on Mars (eitherdirectly or by implication), the fact remains thatthere’s no way to confirm most of what it contains.Some people suggest that the whole thing mightbe an elaborate hoax staged by Captain Chronosfor his own inscrutable reasons.

THE SIRIAN BASEHumanity is aware of one other facility on

Mars: the base established there by the Siriansin the Sixties. When the “Martians” attackedEarth in 1967 and the Fabulous Five journeyedto Mars to counter-attack, they discovered not aMartian civilization but a single military outpost(see page 12). Te conflict between the Fiveand the Sirians destroyed most of the base, andanything dangerous that didn’t get destroyedwas removed by the Human superheroes andbrought to Earth for study. On the advice of thesuperhero Diamond, Marsbase personnel havesteered clear of the Sirian base and its immediate

neighborhood.

Between Mars and Jupiter exists an areafilled with small, rocky bodies: the asteroid belt.Although Humanity hasn’t yet established anypermanent facilities there, it’s the next logicalstep for solar system exploration. While sciencecertainly has an interest in studying the asteroidbelt in the abstract, the main attraction the beltultimately holds for mankind is economic. Te vast supply of minerals locked within the aster-

oids could be incredibly valuable... if someonecan find a way to mine them profitably. So far noserious steps have been taken in this direction,though in the past five years the United States,China, the ESA, and several private corporationshave launched satellites toward the asteroid beltto study the feasibility of “sky-mining” (as onecommentator dubbed it).

Compared to his presence on Earth’s nearestneighbors, mankind is largely absent from theplanets beyond the asteroid belt. Te UnitedStates and the ESA have both sent numerousunmanned space vehicles to explore those planets

(particularly Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and theirrespective moons). Additionally, several super-heroes (primarily Victory) have visited them togather more precise data. But Humanity has nospace stations or bases in this region of the solarsystem... yet.

STAR*BASE ZETA-491738However, that’s not to say that Humanity is

entirely absent from the outer reaches of Sol.Tree Humans — StarGuard Andre Almena andtwo of his Marshals — live in the Star*Guard basebuilt on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, by BrinRei arn in 1967. Te Star*Guard designation

for it is Star*Base Zeta-491738 (that being theEnglish translation of the Odrugaran term for thesector of space that arn, and now Almena, wereassigned to).

Te product of Odrugaran science and origi-nally designed by a Dendrian, the Star*Base hasa decidedly non-Human look to it in many ways,though Almena has slowly rebuilt/reshaped muchof it to suit his own sensibilities over the years.Located on the sheared-off top of a peak in theConamara Chaos region of the moon, it’s largeenough to comfortably accomodate one Star-Guard plus his crew of Marshals, support robots, vehicles, equipment, and other impedimentia

— which is to say, quite large indeed comparedto most Human-built space facilities. Te centralpart is a sort of trapezoidal-shaped structure withseveral outbuildings that are vaguely rhomboidal,giving the whole thing the appearance of a sortof gigantic crystal. Tere are also several tower-like structures for communications, sensors, anddefensive weaponry.

See page 243 for more information on Almenaand his Marshals.

4



MALVA:PLANET OF THE

SUPER-GLADIATORS

Chapter

Five



94 n Malva: Planet Of The Super-gladiators Hero System 6th Edition

nown throughout the galactic communityas the most technologically advancedplanet in the Milky Way, Malva is hometo one of the oldest — and certainly the

most decadent — civilizations in the Galaxy.

Te Malvans evolved from a sort of creaturethat to Human eyes looks like a mix between anostrich and gorilla. Tey’re humanoids, with themales an average of 6’2” tall and the women 5’11”.Like Humans, they have five fingers per hand, fivetoes per foot, two large eyes that perceive only the visible spectrum of light unaided, and two earsthat cannot normally hear ultra- or infra-sonicsound. Just above their eyes Malvans have featheryeyebrows which are part of their sense of smell.

Malvans’ skin tones ordinarily range from darkbronze to light golden. However, any Malvan caneasily use technology to alter the color of his skin

in whole or in part, so strange and exotic shades,elaborate “tattooing,” and many other cosmeticbody modifications are common. Frequently a fadfor some particular skintone or decor sweeps theplanet, resulting in a lot of Malvans looking alikefor a few days or weeks until some new interesttakes hold.

Malvan eyes have pupils like Humans’. Vividshades of blue, green, gold/yellow, and brownare natural, but again a Malvan can change theappearance of his eyes to suit his mood or thelatest style.

Malvans’ hair is naturally some shade of redor violet, but can be “dyed” any color a Malvanwants. (Te eyebrows are usually colored in the

same or a complementary hue.) Both genders tendto wear it long and elaborately styled. Short hair,simple hairstyles, or clashing hair-eyebrow colorsare regarded as signs of nonconformity and rebel-lion — if there is any such thing in Malvan society,where no one has to work and everyone can dowhat he wants anyway.

Malvan minds are sufficiently similar toHuman minds that they can be affected by MentalPowers which target the Human class of minds at-3 points of effect (or -1 SUN for Mental Blasts),and vice-versa.

REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPANMalvan women traditionally gave birth

naturally aer an eight-month gestation period.However, occasional fads for live birth aside, forhundreds of thousands of years the Malvans havetypically used birthing-machines to spare theirwomen the pain and nuisance of carrying andbirthing a child. Most major cities have BirthingHalls, where row upon row of gestation-pods,most of them unused in this latter day, sit incarefully-organized chambers.

Using their genetic technology, the Malvanscan make sure that their children are exactlywhat they want — they can pick skin color, eyecolor, hair color, adult height, and numerous

other traits. However, since those attributes canalso be changed at will in a living Malvan, mostMalvan parents don’t worry about “tailoring” theirchildren too much, preferring to let a child makehis own choices once he reaches the proper age.Standard pre-birth genetic treatments ensure thatall Malvans have long lifespans (see below), can’tcatch any Malvan diseases, and are physicallyfit and extremely intelligent. (In HERO System terms, all Malvans, even the most “common” andordinary of them, start with the same Characteris-tics as a Noteworthy Normal [6E1 438], and tendnot to sink below that threshold except when veryyoung and very old.)

MALVAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

3 +3 PRE

8 Malvan Longevity: Life Support (Longevity:

800 year lifespan; Immunity: all commonMalvan diseases)

3 Malvan Mind: Mental Defense (3 points)


Value Complications

None


Options

Cost Power

+2 Immortality Treatments: Upgrade LifeSupport (Longevity) to Immortality

5



Champions Beyond n Chapter Five 9

In their earliest history, Malvanshad a lifespan of roughly 100 years.oday the average Malvan lives about800 years. Longer lifespans, up to andincluding functional immortality, arepossible with Malvan medical science.As of the Earth year 2011, the oldestknown Malvan is an artist living inilagandis who recently celebrated his227,515th birthday. Upon death, mostMalvans are cremated (a few still optfor burial); the greatest and wisest ofthe species (a very small number, thesedays...) become Wisdom Stones (seebelow).

Tanks to these long lifespans andgeneral Malvan attitudes, the birth-rate on Malva has dropped to almostnothing over the past 100,000 years.Te current population of Malva is just80 million, a minute fraction of what itcould support. Another 10-15 millionMalvans live on colony worlds, or

elsewhere.RAISING CHILDREN

Nearly all Malvan children are raisedby “nanny robots” and pedagogicalcomputer systems. Parents oen havelittle or no contact with their childrenuntil they reach adulthood. (For thatmatter, children may not even interactwith other children that much.) In fact,some segments of Malvan society regardtaking too much interest in one’s chil-dren as aberrant, even banal, behavior.

SUPERPOWERSIt’s possible for Malvans to have

superhuman powers naturally. However,their civilization is so perfectly arrangedthat the sorts of accidents that giverise to superpowers haven’t occurredin millennia, and live birth is so rare(and medical treatment so good)that mutants rarely evolve. (Frostbite,page 77, is such a notable exceptionthat he’s something of a celebrity justbecause he’s a mutant.)

But thanks to Malvan technology,any Malvan who wants superpowers

can have them induced when he’s anadult. Few Malvans do this, though,since it’s regarded as somewhat gauche.It’s most commonly done by Malvanswho become so interested in thesuper-gladiator games that they wantto compete (like Meliaros the Bright),or who shake off their societal somno-lescence and want to go out into theGalaxy and do something that requiressuperhuman power (such as Kanrok theAcquisitioner).

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS ABOUT THE MALVANS

Humanity knowsrelatively little about theMalvans. What they doknow comes from interviewswith Ironclad and Herculan(the former of whom hasprovided linguists withextensive samples of theMalvan language to study),statements by Firewing,and the study of recoveredMalvan technology.

Humans are awarethere’s a planet called Malvathat has what’s describedas an incredibly advancedcivilization, and that thatcivilization stages super-

gladiator fights as one ofits forms of entertainment.Anyone who’s willing to doa little more research intowhat people who’ve visitedMalva (primarily Ironclad)have stated knows variousother bits of trivia: theabsolute ruler of Malva iscalled the Phazor; Malvanshave lifespans measured incenturies; Firewing was oncea leading gladiator until hewas transformed and became

even more powerful; Malvantechnology is so advancedthat the Malvans literally want for nothing except a way to alleviatetheir boredom.

Te United States government knows a bit more based on itsstudy of the wreckage of Ironclad’s and Herculan’s ships... but notmuch. It’s so advanced that Humans can barely comprehend how itfunctions (though if they had a working ship a Human pilot couldfly it because of the high degree of “user-friendliness” every Malvandevice possesses). As one of the American scientists who’s spentyears trying to figure out how Malvan technology functions onceput it, “It’s like I’m a Babylonian and you’re asking me to work outhow to program a supercomputer.”

Xenologists are always eager for more information about Malva.

Mostly they study the language samples provided by Ironclad(which he adds to when he has the opportunity) and the otherinformation he’s provided, trying to learn what they can of theMalvan mindset and culture based on its speech. On several occa-sions one of them has tried to convince some superhero or other to journey to Malva on a fact-finding mission, but having heard Iron-clad’s tale of what happens to superhumans who show up on Malva,none of them seem interested in taking on that job at this time.




Malva is the third of seven worlds orbitinga G2V star very similar to Sol that the Malvansname Komar, in what Humans call the NormaArm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s relatively closeto the galactic core and nearly on the other sideof the core from Earth, roughly 40,000 light-yearsfrom Sol. Te system once had two asteroid beltsand an extensive Kuiper belt and Oort cloud, butthe Malvans long ago cleared them out entirely(partly for the raw materials they contained, partlyfor safety’s sake). Malva is 1.63 times the size ofEarth and has 1.0 G gravity.

Malva is a terrestrial world with two mega-continents — Malaquathria (and the Kumariasubcontinent) occupying most of the northernhemisphere, Vandarothri occupying the south —separated by a central ocean. Land covers nearlyone-third of the planet. Te Malvans divide eachmega-continent into several continental regionsbased on historical and cultural developments

(though those distinctions have been largelymeaningless since the Malvans evolved into aplanetary culture and invented planet-scale instan-taneous teleportation hundreds of thousands ofyears ago). Large islands are rare compared toEarth, though small islands and archipelagos areequally common on both worlds.

Malva has the normal range of climaticzones, though the Malvans use weather controltechnology to soen the extremes (to the extentpossible without disrupting the planetary ecology)and eliminate such threats as hurricanes, torna-does, hailstorms, and blizzards. Malvan devicesalso render the planet as tectonically stable as

possible, making perceivable earthquakes almostunheard of. Only the almadarian Sea regiontends to experience them, and that just once everyfew centuries.

Tanks to the fact that it’s significantly largerthan Earth but only has a permanent popula-tion of 80 million, most of Malva is wilderness...except for the fact that a Malvan can construct hisresidence or other buildings pretty much whereverhe wants. An explorer can come out of a forest andsee a Malvan villa perched impossibly on a nearbymountaintop, swim down to the depths of theocean to go to a domed nightclub on the sea floor,or visit a Malvan friend whose house floats among

the clouds near the Pelladarian mountains.Te other thing an explorer eventually notices

is how perfect everything is on Malva. Teastounding vistas and amazing sites that existeverywhere are obvious, but once you’ve been onMalva for awhile (particularly in wild areas) yourealize that it’s all just as it should be — the idealcombination of beauty, wild majesty, and comfort

for humanoid visitors. Tis is because nearlyevery square mile of Malva has been “sculpted” byMalvans interested in such pursuits, and sculptedwith such care and precision that you can’t eventell things are in any way artificially arranged untilyou really think about it. On Malva, every forestis rich, lush, and easy to walk in; every waterfalltakes your breath away with its beauty and music;every rock is placed to make a perfect “step” andnot trip anyone. A few visitors find the wholething very strange, but to most it simply feels right in a way that makes every other planet seem alittle less amazing.

MALVA’S MOONSMalva has three moons: from smallest to

largest, silvery Yaldara, yellow Revandis, and paleGendru. Given their orbital mechanics, usuallyno more than two (and sometimes only one) are visible in the night sky at a time; when a given cityor region can see all three, it’s cause for celebra-tions and festivals.

In ancient Malvan lore, Yaldara was thought tobe the “feminine” moon and to govern women andtheir needs, while Revandis was the “male” satel-lite, considered to have fiery and temperamentalaspects at times. Gendru was where the spirits ofthe dead went to reside, and from where inspira-tion filtered down through the aether to scholars,artists, and great men. Modern Malvan sciencehas dispensed with these notions, of course (andmany Malvans have homes on one of the moons),but Malvans still talk of someone who’s angry allthe time as “being under Revandis,” use the word“yaldaran” to mean “pertaining to or characteristicof women,” and so forth.

TRAVELING ON MALVA ravel on Malva is safe and easy. Native

Malvans all have access to a planetary teleporta-tion network that can literally move them fromany place on the planet to any other in the blinkof an eye (as long as the destination’s not blockedby the administrative systems). All a user has todo is speak out loud to draw the system’s attentionand name his destination, and he’s there. Visitorsto Malva may or may not be allowed access to theteleportation network, depending on whether theadminstrative systems decide they have need of itand pose no risk.

Visitors without teleportation privileges, and

Malvans who simply enjoy flying, travel in hover-cra. Hovercras are operated by their pilots,but the administrative systems closely monitoreach flight. In the event of pilot error or misbe-havior, emergencies, or the like, the administrativesystems override pilot control and take over thehovercra remotely (typically to pilot it to thenearest landing pad, where it lands and is thendeactivated).

5






Since Malvans can easily live anywhere onMalva thanks to their hyper-technology, the planethas far fewer large cities than nearly any otheradvanced planet — but some Malvans still preferthe comfort of living among lots of other Malvans.Tey reside in the few cities that still exist, such as:

DOCRODocro (“Archive”) is a city devoted to keeping

the records and accounts of Malva. From theMalvans’ earliest handwritten records to theirmost advanced computerized data, it’s all here ina library/archive the size of a city — the history,literature, social records, and scientific discov-eries from nearly a million years of civilization.Tere are some gaps, of course, since Malva wasn’talways a unified planet, and some items are keptin museums at other locations, but nearly anyresearch project conducted by a Malvan scholar,or scholars of other species studying Malva,begins here.

Te librarian-robots and archival systems atDocro are enormously helpful — in fact, withoutthem a newcomer to the city will have a hard timefinding what he wants amid the veritable moun-tains of data, books, and media. But they alsoserve as gatekeepers, since some parts of Docro(such as the sections devoted to Malvan scientificand technical data) aren’t open to just anyone. Ifnecessary they’ll even employ force as a backupto the city’s formidable static security systems,but their weapons, like those of the systems,are designed not to harm the objects or datathey guard.

Te residents of Docro are mostly historians,

scholars, and other Malvans with an interest insuch things. It’s a tight-knit community, one that’soen contemptuous of visitors until they provethey have the intellectual chops to keep up withthe native experts — or at least the curiosity andrespect to seek their assistance and defer to them.

PALACE-CITY OF THE PHAZORAlso known simply as Phazarian City, the

Palace-City of the Phazor is just that: the Phazor’spalace, grown to the size of a city over hundredsof thousands of years. In other words, the capitalof Malva is a single building the size of a city. EachPhazor adds some sections, removes others, and

changes some, leaving his own unique stamp on abit of the place.Visitors to the city teleport or fly to the Plaza

of the Emperors, an enormous paved open areaimmediately outside the Palace-City. (If theweather is poor, local systems put a force-fieldaround each arriving visitor so he doesn’t get wet.)From the Plaza the largest staircase in the MilkyWay Galaxy, nearly a mile wide and long, leads upto the Palace-City. It’s considered a point of prideamong Malvans to climb the whole thing at leastonce, but aer that most use the escalator-likesliding stairways located on either end.

Once inside the Palace-City, a visitor caninquire about his destination simply by askingaloud. Te local systems will broadcast a holo-graphic map in front of him or even projectarrows pointing the way to go directly onto hisretina so that only he can see them. Anything elsea visitor needs can usually be provided by the localsystems; all he has to do is ask.

Among the millions of rooms in the Palace-City, most are mundane (by Malvan standards, atleast), but some are famed even among the jadedpopulace. Tese include:—the Phazarian Gallery, a sort of museum tracing

the history of the Phazors (and their predeces-sors) throughout Malvan history. Every singlePhazor has a display dedicated to him.

—the Imperial Feast-Hall, where the Phazor holdsdinners of state and other important events; it’sso large it would develop its own indoor weatherif Malvan technology didn’t prevent that.

—the Grand Concert Hall, a venue for musicaland dramatic productions capable of seatinga million people, but built with dimension-

warping technology that makes each attendeefeel as if he’s sitting in a front row center seat.

—the Gallery of Empire, a “museum” of thousandsof rooms, each one devoted to a single planetthe Malvans once ruled (or still rule). Each hasa holo-projection of the planet in question that visitors can manipulate, databanks devoted tothat planet, and a selection of art and artifactsfrom that world.

—the Arena Teater, a holo-chamber where onecan see a holographic “replay” of any matchever fought in any Malvan arena, or even alterthe parameters of the fight to resolve “whatif” arguments (“Qorod only won that match

because Redthorn had a sprained ankle — let’ssee how it plays out if Redthorn isn’t injured”).

Only the Phazor and those he gives permis-sion to can use the planetary teleportation systemwithin the confines of the Palace-City. Othersmust walk, use sliding walkways where they exist,or gain permission to use the Palace-City’s ownrestricted teleportation network, which is separatefrom the planetary one.

QERUVOLocated on the northern edge of the Firelands

(the most tropical region in Malva, once quite

volcanic but now simply comfortable for those wholike hot, humid weather), Qeruvo has developed awell-deserved reputation as a “resort city.” Most ofits facilities cater to the entertainment of Malvans,and those whom the Malvans permit to vacationthere. (In the galactic community, a trip to Qeruvois oen seen as the ultimate reward, or ultimateindulgence.) Whatever a visitor desires, he can haveor do — even if that involves teleporting to someother Malvan city for awhile. Many visitors prefer tosimply lounge on the beach, taking a break from thenon-stop ministrations of the massage-bots to gofor a dip in the crystal-clear ocean or participate ina game of Malvan war-chess (using only non-lethalweapons, of course!).

5




TILAGANDISilagandis is a community of artists and a city

of museums, theaters, galleries, and showplacesof every possible description. As one visitor put it,“It’s an artist’s commune run riot... in the Malvanstyle.” Every day the citizens of ilagandis (andthus of all of Malva) have literally thousands ofperformances and viewings they can attend, and ifthey prefer more sedate entertainment the ilag-

andian museums chronicle every aspect of Malvanhistory and civilization — and indeed, the historyand civilization of much of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Besides its cities, Malva has many other sites ofnote, some of which attract visitors from all overthe Galaxy while others are known only to a fewMalvans. Tey include:

THE GRAND TEMPLE AND THEFURNACE OF THE FIRST ONES

Occasional fads aside, few Malvans hold to anyreligious beliefs anymore (see Religion, below).Tose that do follow the ancient Malvan faith ofRathuliorn in one of the greatest sacred buildingsin the Galaxy: the Grand emple, located on acliffside overlooking the ocean. A vast structure ofmarble-like stone, almost every square inch of itsinterior is richly decorated in some ways, and itstreasuries and display halls contain many unique,priceless objects. Elaborate ceremonies honoringthe Malvan gods are performed every day by anorder of Malvan priests, just like they have beenfor hundreds of thousands of years.

Te heart of the temple is a circular chambercontaining a large, intensely hot eternal flame:the Furnace of the First Ones. Legend says that theearliest Malvans kindled this holy fire, and thatas long as it burns, Malva will never fall. If thefire ever dies, so too will the Malvan people, for itis their life-flame. Other stories claim that someMalvans are Firewings — beings of great destinyand willpower who can walk into the flame and,instead of dying, emerge with their sins burnedaway and great power infused into their bodies.Most modern, jaded Malvans scoff at this, but theorigin of the superhero Firewing (see CV3 111)proves that it’s true.

THE POETRY FORESTOne of the few examples of obvious, deliberate

sculpting of Malva’s natural features is the PoetryForest, which has been cultivated over tens ofthousands of years by Malvans interested in suchpursuits. A topiary so vast it dwarfs any other suchgarden in the Galaxy, when viewed from above thebranches and leaves spell out the greatest classicsof Malvan verse. When viewed from ground level,the trees and bushes form panoramas of scenesfrom the literature they “spell out,” or from ancientMalvan mythology.

THE SAPPHIRE GROTTOUnder the Malvan ocean off the coast of

Kumaria is a small underwater mountain range.In the side of one of those mountains is a cavethat’s one of the wonders of the Galaxy. Knownas the Sapphire Grotto, it’s a semi-flooded caverncomplex whose walls are lined with raw preciousand semi-precious stones that somehow glow withtheir own strange phosphorescence. In parts of the

Grotto the waters are warmed like those of a hotspring, others are cool. Visitors can spend dayssimply wandering/swimming through the Grotto,soaking in the amazing sites — all of which arenatural, since the Phazors long ago forbade anyoneto “tamper” with the place.

According to some stories, parts of the Grottohave a sort of hallucinatory effect. A person whostares into the glittering gemstones soon finds hismind reeling with strange visions, some simplyentertaining, others possibly prophetic. Some visi-tors also report a feeling similar to taking powerfulnarcotics, though as far as Malvan science candetermine there’s no rational basis for that.

THE WISDOM STONESTe Malvans of today may be idle dilettantes,

interested only in their own personal pleasures,but Malvans were not always so. Once they lookedto the future, and to the glory of their race and itsdestiny, and sought to preserve the learning andexperiences of the greatest Malvans so that theycould advise later generations.

o this end, they found an enormous networkof caverns on the southern coast of Malaquathria.Tere the bodies and minds of the most notableMalvans are calcified, becoming Wisdom Stones that can speak to a Malvan in the caves through

strange telepathic processes and advise him.In this day and age, relatively few Malvans visit

the Cavern of the Wisdom Stones anymore, andthe Stones ignore many of those who do becausetheir questions and concerns are essentially frivo-lous. But a Malvan who approaches the Stoneswith the reverence due their age and insight, andwho asks meaningful questions, will find that theWisdom Stones offer thorough and true advice...though the quality of the advice may only becomeapparent aer it’s too late for it to do a stubborn orfoolish Malvan any good.

Non-Malvans are not allowed to enter theCavern of the Wisdom Stones. Even if they were,the Stones wouldn’t speak to them.




Malva is the richest, most technologicallyadvanced planet in the Galaxy, which makes it theobject of envy and desire for many. More than afew galactic tyrants and superbeings — includingXarriel (see page 251) — yearn to conquer Malvaand takes its treasures and science for their own.

Unfortunately for such would-be conquerors,

Malva is as well-defended as it is wealthy. Its firstline of defense is a large fleet of warships mostlyrun by sentient computers. Any one of these shipsis a match for entire fleets of other species’s vessels(see the Malvan Skyspear, below, for an exampleof a mid-sized Malvan ship). But an invader whosomehow fights his way through, or avoids, theMalvan home system defense ships encounterssomething even worse: Malva’s planetary defensegrid. Encircling the planet is a dense network oforbital defense satellites. Normally they’re hiddenby stealth fields so as not to spoil Malvans’ viewof the stars, but they appear as soon as a threat isdetected (or at least some of them do... others may

invoke a total stealth field that conceals them frominvaders until the time is right to strike).

Te defense platforms are equipped with anarray of weapons and defensive systems, includingbeam weapons able to annihilate a starship witha single shot, antimatter missiles, psionic fieldgenerators that can affect the minds of an entirestarship crew, dimensional disruptors, datascramblers and other electronic warfare systems,selective and wide-field disintegrators, force-fieldgenerators, and tractor beams. A single one ofthem would be enough to fend off most invasionforces; together the network is impenetrable to anyknown force in the Milky Way Galaxy. Not even

the likes of Astron, Xarriel, or the Galaxars haveever been foolish enough to attack Malva.

Compared to most sentient species theMalvans have an incredibly precise knowledgeof their own history... though much of it simplygathers dust in books and data-servers, since mostmodern Malvans care little about their species’shistory and know even less of it. Using chrono- viewers that allow them to literally watch pastevents as they occurred, Malvan scholars know (or

can “look up”) anything that’s ever happened ontheir planet.

According to generally-accepted informationamong Malvan paleohistorians, the creatures thatare considered the first step on the evolutionarypath to the modern Malvan — which in Earthterms resemble a cross between an ostrich anda gorilla — appear 5,747,201 years ago when agroup of these creatures le the relative safety oftheir arboreal homes and ventured out onto theplains of northern Vandarothri. Over the nextseveral million years they continued to evolve,developing larger brains and better manipula-tory digits and spreading across the southern

mega-continent.

Beings biologically identifiable as modernMalvans finally emerged 1,136,467 years ago. Teydeveloped crude ra/boat cras and hopscotchedtheir way from island to island beginning 943,833years ago. By 854,000 years ago the earliest trueMalvan civilizations — the Hakurian (or “RedHelmet”) and Fesharan cultures in the north, andthe Lascoran, irundese, and Dowathalonan inthe south — had emerged. Malva’s vast mineraland plant wealth, the fertility of its soil, and thenature of its geography — two east-west-orientedmega-continents with relatively few major naturalbarriers to trade — allowed civilization to ariseand advance far more quickly and uniformly thanon most inhabited planets.

EARLY EMPIRES, UNIFICATION, AND ADVANCES INTO SPACE

Like most sentient species, the Malvanswent through an extended period where earlynation-states evolved into empires that rose andfell according to the vagaries of history. Notableamong these are almadarian Empire of Mala-quathria (roughly comparable to Earth’s RomanEmpire), the Vesatrian kingdom of Vandarothri(similar to medieval France, but more unified), theLindiriandrian Union of western Malaquathria(somewhat akin to the Holy Roman Empirein most respects), and the Telanoran Empire(analogous to nineteenth century Britain and itsempire).

By 836,094 years ago, Malva had achieved alevel of technological, government, and socialdevelopment roughly akin to Earth as of theyear 2000. However, compared to Earth, Malvawas much wealthier, with much less poverty andconsequently less societal unrest in many respects.

With the advent of global communications anda global economy, the unification of the planet wasperhaps inevitable, though few Malvans realizedit at the time. But 835,987 years ago the Malvansheld their first planet-wide elections to establishthe Malvan Presidency and Malvan World Councilto rule the planet as a unified political entity.

At this same time, advances in Malvan aero-space technology were making space explorationsafer and more common. First probes, and thenmanned missions, visited the other planets of thesystem, and colonies were established on two ofMalva’s moons and then the nearest planet. Ten,835,824 years ago, scientists developed the first

Malvan faster-than-light starship drive.

THE FIRST MALVAN EMPIRETe invention of the Malvan hyperdrive

opened entire new vistas for the energetic Malvanpeople. As the drive improved in speed and reli-ability, they began exploring the Galaxy aroundMalva. Malvan space explorers claimed unsettledplanets they found in the name of the Malvanpeople, founded colonies on the worlds that werehabitable or could be made habitable, and hadtheir species’s first interactions with the galacticcommunity of the time.

5




THE MALVAN CIVIL WARDuring this initial period of space exploration,

two forces resulted in the transition of Malva froma more-or-less democratic species government toan autocratic empire. Te first and most importantof these was a growing ri between Malva itselfand its now numerous and far-flung colonies. Ina story that had been repeated many times beforethroughout the Galaxy, and would occur again

many times in the millennia to come, the colonyworlds wanted greater indepence than the inhabit-ants of the homeworld were willing to give them.A tariff dispute 835,771 years ago flared into acivil war, the first the Malvans had experienced incenturies.

In the early months the colonies, well-equippedwith ships and daring men, achieved some notable victories, but it wasn’t long before the resourcesand determination of the homeworld becamea decisive factor. Te leader of the homeworldforces, at first just politically but later military aswell, was Jethaka arel, a Malvan of vast intel-ligence, intense willpower, and great charisma.

His decisive victory at the Battle of Kelsendra VIIobliterated the colonists’ main fleet. Within threemore years the war had come to an end with thecolonists surrendering unconditionally.

THE Z’TUNDRO WARBefore the Malvans had a chance to recover

from the civil war, they found themselvesembroiled in another conflict with an enemy fromoutside. Te Z’un, a species the Malvans hadexperienced some diplomatic friction with dueto both civilizations wanting to control the samespace, attacked while the Malvans were weakenedfrom their internecine conflict. Jethaka arel

requested dictatorial powers to deal with the crisis,and was granted them by unanimous vote of theWorld Council and the overwhelming favor of theMalvan people.

Te Z’undro War lasted for over five decades,with both sides suffering brutal losses. In the end,the Malvans’ superior technology, drive to win,and creative tactics won out over the Z’un’s vastlygreater numbers. Te final battle, in the Z’unhome system, le two colony worlds uninhabitableand two-thirds of the Z’un homeworld in flames.

THE ERA OF EXPANSIONNow aware of the dangers the Galaxy posed,

and impressed with the victories Jethaka arel hadachieved against significant odds, the Malvansweren’t inclined to take power away from himonce the crisis of the moment had passed, andhe wasn’t inclined to give it up. Aer two years ofambiguity about what would happen to Malva andher people, he declared himself Emperor Jethakaof the House of arel. Te Z’un became the firstsubject species of the first Malvan Empire... but farfrom the last.

Jethaka and his close descendants, all of whomwere long-lived by the standards of the time butnot nigh-immortal like Malvans would eventuallybecome, possessed the ambition and motivation

characteristic of the Malvan people to an even

greater degree than normal. Besides solidifyingtheir hold on the formerly-rebellious Malvancolonies, they began to expand outward,claiming or conquering a system at a time,assimilating it into the Empire, then movingon.

Te millennia passed, and the MalvanEmpire continued to grow, just as Malvantechnology advanced to heights unprecedentedduring that period of galactic civilization. Teprocess was not without its growing pains,of course: the Seltaru Interregnum, a 20,000year-long period in which the House of Seltaruusurped the throne, only to have the Houseof arel eventually take it back aer years ofbloody warfare; the “First Ways” movement inwhich millions of Malvans rejected technologyin favor of the religious and social customs oftheir ancient ancestors; a revolt by an entirespiral arm’s worth of planetary systems; andmore. But the Empire weathered these storms— sometimes cleverly or gracefully, sometimesbarely — and continued to grow. By approxi-

mately half a million years ago, the Malvanscontrolled half of the Milky Way Galaxy.

THE ELDER WORM WARTen, 517,346 years ago, the Malvans first

clashed with the other great galactic civiliza-tion of the day: the Elder Worm, a hideousspecies of sorcery-using aliens from a rimwardworld on the opposite side of the Milky Wayfrom Malva. While the Malvan Empire hadbeen growing, so had the dominion of theElder Worm, who crushed planet aer planetunder their annelidoid heels and sacrificedmillions of sentients to their foul gods. Te

Odrugarans and the Star*Guard had opposedthe Elder Worm for tens of thousands of years,but were simply too few in number to with-stand the Elder Worm and their magic.

What would become a galactic war lastingthree hundred thousand years started asas dispute over ownership of a planetarysystem on the opposite side of the galacticcore from Malva. At that time Malva’s sphereof control occupied roughly the “northern”half of the Milky Way, with the Elder Wormdominating in the “south.” Te Emperor atthat time, Belladan LVII, wanted to expandthe Malvan frontier and broke the unspoken

“boundary line” to go aer an unclaimedsystem he craved. Te Elder Worm responded,moving a small fleet of their strange-looking“wormships” into the region to protect “theirinterests.” Belligerent words were exchanged,a hotheaded Malvan captain fired a warningshot that went astray and hit an Elder Wormship, and a full-scale battle erupted. (Ever sincesome Malvan scholars have claimed the captainwas actually being goaded into action by subtleElder Worm spells, or that Elder Worm magicslightly altered the trajectory of the warningshot, but they’ve never been able to obtain solidproof — magic being one subject Malvans havegenerally ignored and never truly mastered).

LORDS OF THEJEWELED SPIDER

The Malvans were not

without their allies in

the Elder Worm War, for

few galactic civilizations

had any desire to see the

horrible Worm take contr

of the Galaxy, or have theQliphothic entities the Eld

Worm worships become

predominant throughout

stars. The Star*Guard wa

once such ally; another,

far more mysterious, wer

the Lords of the Jeweled

Spider.

The Malvans have never

been entirely sure where

the Lords come from

or what their history is.

As best they can tell,the Lords’ homeworld

is located in or near the

galactic core, hidden from

sensors and explorers

by the intense radiation

storms characteristic of

that region. Although

seemingly nigh-

omnipotent (even by

Malvan standards),

the Lords are appar-

ently few in number

and involve themselves i

galactic affairs only withthe greatest reluctance.

The Lords’ name came fr

the chief form of aid they

provided: talismans that

repel, and can even harm

the Qliphothic monsters

and entities. These “Spid

Signs” were slabs cut fro

a large quartz crystal at a

certain angle. An eight-

armed symbol is engrave

on the slab and inlaid wit

magnetite and a naturalore of thorium. The Sign

then briefly electrified. A

result of the war, or perha

other activities by the Lo

from time to time over th

millennia, variations of th

symbol appear in various

galactic cultures. For

example, Ironclad reports

that the Perseid symbol f

“good luck” is largely the

same as the eight-armed

engraving on the Sign.




For the next thirty centuries, war raged acrossthe Milky Way. Te vastly powerful starships andmilitary machinery of Malva, and the braveryand determination of her soldiers, were pittedagainst the bizarre magics and disgusting vesselsof the Elder Worm. At first the war went badly forMalva, since the Empire wasn’t truly on a “warfooting” while the Elder Worm were. Te Wormpushed deep into Malvan territory on severalfronts, capturing numerous Malvan systems andenslaving their inhabitants.

Slowly but surely, the Malvans regrouped andfought back, using their ultra-powerful technologyto build ships and weapons at a tremendouspace and counter the Elder Worm’s otherworldlyattacks. By the midpoint of the war Malvantechnological development reached its peak,attaining levels of invention and creation nevereven approached during the current era of galacticcivilization. Malvan warships the size of planets

fought equally gigantic beings summoned by ElderWorm magi; bombs that could teleport themselvesappeared in the middle of Elder Worm ships anddetonated; variable-phase force-fields capable ofthwarting Elder Worm spells were used to protectentire fleets and worlds.

THE GOLDEN HUNTERSWhile the bulk of the Malvan war machine

consisted of ships and ordinary soldiers (albeitones equipped with Malvan technology), it wasbest personalized, and is best remembered bythose few modern Malvans interested in their

species’s history, by the Golden Hunters: a group ofelite soldiers, possibly inspired by the Star*Guardbut imbued with superpowers and equipped withweapons that dwarfed those of even the mightiestGuard. Teir name came from their “uniform,”which included bits of golden “armor”-like pieces(actually advanced Malvan devices) and theirpreferred mission: hunting down and killingpowerful Elder Worm sorcerers.

Te most common type of Golden Hunter wasthe Spearmane, who wielded a weapon that lookedsomething like an ancient Malvan spear but couldproject energy bolts powerful enough to inflictsignificant harm on large starships. If multiple

Spearmanes worked together, channeling thepower of their spears together, they could crackopen Elder Worm planets. Other types of GoldenHunters included Mightlords, Mindknights, andDimensioneers, but the most powerful of all werethe Starwings, who’d walked into the Furnace ofthe First Ones and been granted superpowers evengreater than those given to other Hunters throughMalvan ultra-science.

5




THE LATER WAR AND THE MALVAN VICTORY Aer the Malvans countered the Elder Worm’s

initial gains, the war settled down into a long,bloody conflict marked by extended periods ofstalemate that eventually gave way, somewhere inthe Galaxy, to an advance by one side or another.Untold trillions of sentient beings died in theprocess, and more than one species or civiliza-tion was entirely wiped out. In one infamous

incident, the Elder Worm sacrificed all 7.2 billionmembers of the Nl’ta’k species to power a ritualthat summoned one of their gods, Zhalnathet,bodily into the Galaxy. He wreaked havocthroughout Malvan space until over four dozenGolden Hunters sacrificed their lives to destroy hismanifestation.

Gradually, though, the tide of war turnedagainst the Elder Worm. Te Battle of the Core-ward Fields (267,584 BC) shattered the largestElder Worm fleet and killed five of their mostpowerful sorcerers of the time, allowing theMalvans to make major inroads into Elder Wormterritory. By approximately two hundred thousand

years ago, the war was essentially over, and theMalvans had won. Te once-feared Elder Wormempire was no more, the Elder Worm homeworldhad been shattered into fragments, and the ElderWorm themselves had been reduced to scatteredhandfuls running from the Malvan light likecockroaches. As the Malvans destroyed most ofthe key Elder Worm worlds, or contemptuouslyflung them out of orbit to careen across the Galaxyas dark, frozen, mute memorials to Malvan power,the Elder Worm survivors fled into hiding onbackwater worlds and out of the way corners ofthe Galaxy.

It might have been possible for the Malvansto track down the surviving Elder Worm andobliterate their species from the Galaxy (andthat certainly would have been better for futuregalactic civilizations)... but they chose not to.Exhausted from literally three hundred thousandyears of near-constant warfare, they decided it wastime to return to a peaceful existence and enjoythe fruits of their victory.

THE SECOND MALVAN EMPIRE AND THE ERA OF DECLINE

Te last few members of the House of arelhaving been killed by an Elder Worm desperationattack on Malva in the latter years of the war, the

Malvan throne passed to their nearest relatives,the House of Marrath.

Te millennia immediately following the Warare regarded by Malvan historians as somethingof a “golden age” — Malvan art and architectureflourished as the Malvans devoted the amazingtechnological advances of the war years topeaceful, pleasurable pursuits. Malvan adminstra-tors reorganized the Empire, claiming what ElderWorm systems they wanted and repairing Malvansystems devastated by battles.

Gradually, though, the Malvans seemed tolose some of their edge. Te drive that had oncepushed them to conquer half the Galaxy andinvent undreamt-of technological wonders wasstill there, but increasingly it seemed to be devotedto finding new forms of entertainment and exoticdiversions rather than in accomplishing anythingtruly meaningful. Most scholars date the begin-ning of the true Malvan decline into decadencewith the founding of the first gladiatorial arena187,336 years ago. Te Malvans of that day read ofthe glory of war (a glory untarnished by chroniclesof war’s sufferings) and yearned to relive it in someway. Te Phazor, Pelavreth XI, conceived of theidea of gladiatorial games. Tey were an instantsuccess and soon became the most popular formof entertainment on Malva... and have remainedso to this day.

As the millennia passed, the Malvans wentfurther and further into decline. In the year110,004 BC, the Malvan possession Endahl V,having received no response to repeated requestsfor assistance from Malva to deal with various

problems, declared its independence. Te rest ofthe Empire held its breath, waiting to see what thePhazor would do... and he did nothing. Scholarswho’ve studied records of the time aren’t evensure he was aware of the defection; it’s possiblethat aides kept the information from him to avoidupsetting him. But when the first domino fell andnobody picked it up, other dominoes decided theycould do the same. Gradually, one by one overthe course of tens of thousands of years, variousMalvan conquests and territories went theirown way — and the Malvans, more concernedwith their own pleasures and pursuits, let them;that was easier than trying to administrate them

anyway.As of the Earth year 2011, the Malvan “Empire”

consists primarily of Malva and about a dozenstar systems near it, most of whom have extensiveMalvan colonies that are hundreds of thousands ofyears old. Only two client species — the Roin’eshand the nearly extinct Trull — still considerthemselves a part of the Empire (the Trull outof apathy; the Roin’esh reluctantly). Few, if any,Malvans know how to invent, or even maintain,the hyper-technology their forefathers created(fortunately it’s self-sustaining, so they don’t needto know). All the average Malvan cares aboutthese days is fending off boredom — a sad codato a history marked by so much creation andadvancement.




Having evolved over a million years to itspresent form, Malvan society is incredibly sophis-ticated, baroque, and decadent. However, sincethere are less than 100 million Malvans, manyof whom are self-absorbed to an intense degree,it’s also somewhat “stunted” and sick comparedto that of a more vibrant species. While they areinestimably rich and unfathomably powerful, theMalvans are also stagnant, unable as a species todo anything other than pursue the next pleasure.

Individual Malvans may break from thispattern, of course. Some, like ateklys, AriaxTone, Kanrok, or Athulos Starheart, yearn tostudy, to accomplish things, to experience anactive life in the greater Galaxy. But the averageMalvan simply wants to live out his life in what-ever idle, jaded pursuits catch his fancy of themoment.

Despite the fact that it no longer rules anythingmore than a few star systems, the Malvan govern-ment still refers to itself as the Malvan Empire(Phazaro Malveh, in Malvan). Te ruler is thePhazor (“Emperor”); while references to him andhis government use the Malvan word phazarian (“imperial”). Te Phazor’s rule is unquestioned;his word is law, backed up by the full force of theMalvan military machine, if necessary.

PHAZOR VALZAD XIIITe current Phazor is Valzad XIII. He became

the ruler of all Malva in the Human year 1899,making him still very much “new on the job” byMalvan standards. His father Valzad XII, sybariticand self-involved even by Malvan standards, heldthe phazorship far longer than most of his prede-cessors out of sheer selfishness. Tus his son, whowaited patiently for centuries for his crown, is also

much older than most phazors have been whenthey first sat on the Helacthiat Trone. Like hisfather and most of his ancestors, Valzad has thedistinctive red-brown hair and eyebrows of HouseMarrath.

Fortunately for Valzad, the job of Phazor isn’ta demanding one, relatively speaking. While intheory he could (and does) run an entire empire,in fact his duties mostly consist of presiding overmuch of Malva’s social life, including opening thegames at the Phazarian Arena each day.

By modern standards (i.e., over the past fiythousand years or so), Valzad XIII is a moreenergetic and “active” Phazor than most. He

occasionally thinks about doing something inthe greater Galaxy, perhaps even re-establishingthe days of Malvan glory and conquest... butultimately it’s just idle daydreaming. He’s just notmotivated enough to embark on such a large,complex, involved project. Aer all, he has a largeharem (with members from almost every oxygen-breathing species in the Galaxy), an unrivaledcollection of artwork from a million civilizations,chefs who can prepare any food he demands, andthe best seats at any gladiatorial match he cares toattend — why make trouble?

Besides the gladiatorial combats, of whichValzad XIII is an afficionado, the Phazor’s othergreat interest is a decidedly odd one, by Malvanstandards: he collects weapons, everything fromthe earliest stone daggers to entire warships andplanet-buster bombs, from every civilization hecan. He “stores” his collection on a terrestrialplanet in the star system nearest Malva. Someof it’s arranged in museum-like fashion, whileother parts are kept active as “living dioramas.”For example he may “man” his fleets of wet-navyships from Malva’s age of sail with robots built tolook just like Malvans and stage a mock battle forhis amusement. Most Malvans have never seen aweapon (outside of those carried by gladiators in

the Arena), much less touched one, so they lookon the Phazor’s “arsenal” the same way a Humanmight look on an eccentric uncle’s gigantic ballof string. Some of them fear that his interest inweaponry might lead to him becoming militaristicor aggressive, but so far there’s absolutely no signof that — he seems to be just a scholar with anodd field of interest and an unlimited acquisitionsbudget.

THE SHADOW GUARD Te Phazor of Malva is protected by an elite

corps of ultra-loyal, immensely powerful body-guards known as the Shadow Guard. Tey’re“built” in Malvan genetic laboratories andimbued with superpowers: enormous strengthand resilience, blinding speed, high intel-ligence, four arms, and the power to becomeinvisible. Ten they’re trained in the ancientMalvan martial art of Haruji (see main text)and abilities of stealth, deception, and observa-tion that are the Malvan equivalent of Earth’sNinjutsu.

For the members of the Shadow Guard,use the character sheet for Grond (CV3 145),but with the following changes/additions:DEX 24, IN 18, EGO 20, OCV 10, DCV 10,DMCV 10, SPD 7, Invisibility to Sight GroupNo Fringe, Mental Defense (15 points), PowerDefense (20 points), remove StratosphericPunch. Tey should also have the Ninjaemplate from HSMA 193 (with appropriatechanges in terminology) and the full Harujimartial art with +2 Extra DCs.

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BREAN GLIMORNaturally the Phazor has many “advisors,”

sycophants, and hangers-on. Most of them justwant the chance to accompany him to partiesand gladiatorial matches, since there’s not actu-ally much Malvan “policy” for them to influence(though a courtier can try to persuade him tosnub the courtier’s social rivals). Te one trueMalvan aide/advisor/right-hand man he has is

Brean Glimor, a distant and well-liked cousin whoseems to derive wry pleasure from simultaneouslydoing his utmost to genuinely assist the Phazorwhile making sardonic comments about practi-cally everything Valzad does.

Te Malvans who think about governmentalconcerns — all four or five of them — some-times worry that Glimor has too much influenceover the Phazor and could easily become the de facto ruler of the Empire. Tere’s no sign of this,however; Glimor seems to legitimately want tohelp his cousin rule, not rule himself.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS

Worries about who has what influence overthe Phazor are generally unfounded becausethe vast majority of governmental functions onMalva — and certainly any function that couldbe considered tedious, dirty, dull, dangerous,boring, or in questionable taste — are conductedby hyper-sophisticated sentient computers androbots. Referred to collectively as the administra-tive systems, these machines (which like mostMalvan technology have functioned nonstop forhundreds of thousands of years with little or noneed for maintenance) process the “paperwork,”oversee Malvan security, control teleportation andair traffic, establish and enforce necessary regula-

tions, handle requests for access to various Malvanresources and goods, clean and maintain the infra-structure, keep a close eye on every visitor to theplanet, and perform a billion other tasks without aword of complaint.

In addition to the master administrativesystems that oversee the entire planet, there are“specialized” administrative systems that focuson specific subjects and “local” administrativesystems that cover a given region or city. Tanksto this maze of digital authority, navigating theMalvan “bureaucracy” isn’t always as easy as onewould think it ought to be (though there’s alwaysthe chance that the administrative systems are

simply making things difficult on people as a sortof electronic joke). A character with knowledge ofcomputer systems may have an easier time of it.(In HERO System terms, Computer Programmingis a Complementary Skill for Bureaucratics whendealing with the Malvan administrative systems.)

THE MALVAN MILITARY wo hundred thousand years ago the Malvans

had the largest military in the history of the MilkyWay Galaxy. Since then the vast majority of thoseships, weapons, orbital defense platforms, roboticweapon modules, and other weapons have beendismantled for use in other projects, mothballedpending a future need that has yet to arise, orconverted to some sort of civilian use.

Te modern Malvan military is almost entirely“robotic,” run by the most sophisticated sentientcomputers on Malva. A few living Malvans haveenough of an interest in military science to “takecommand” of a ship or fleet. Te computers arehappy to let a living Malvan do this, but don’tactually give him any control over any seriousship function until he proves he has the judgment,skills, and intelligence to use it properly and thePhazor permits them to.

As of 2011, in addition to the planetary defensenetwork (see above), the Malvans maintain an“active fleet” of approximately 30 warships...though “active” is something of a misnomer since

they don’t do very much but fly from one Malvansystem to another or stay near Malva “just in case.”Each of the thirty is a spherical ultra-dreadnoughtthe size of a small moon, equipped with enoughfirepower to reduce the most powerful space-fleetin the Galaxy to scrap metal.

But sometimes a gargantuan starship isn’twhat’s needed to get a military job done. Sowithin those ships are hundreds of smaller shipsand planetary vehicles designed for any conceiv-able military mission (indeed, many of themcan reconfigure themselves for different usesat will), sentient missiles and beam weapons,and hundreds of other types of implements ofdestruction.

Tere are also robotic soldiers, usually just afew thousand on any one ship — but each ship hasthe capability to create new ones by the millions ifnecessary. It’s been tens of thousands of years sinceany living Malvan actually served as a soldier. Terobo-troops are faster, tougher, and better-armedthan any living troops in the Galaxy, so if they everdo have to fight it’s likely to be a short battle.

MALVAN ESPIONAGETe Malvans have no espionage service per se,

though occasionally a Malvan becomes interestedenough in intelligence-gathering to petition thePhazor to appoint him to the “Malvan IntelligenceService.” When the Phazor needs or wants to knowsomething, he simply sends nanoprobes to collectall the information required. Lesser Malvans haveaccess to similar devices, but they’re not nearly assmall and sophisticated — they’re typically aboutthe size of a pinhead and easily foiled with Malvanforce-fields and “electronic warfare” technologyif one Malvan doesn’t want another Malvansnooping around his personal affairs.




Te Malvan economy can be summarizedeasily: any Malvan can have nearly anything hewants. Aside from a few things the Phazor outlawsor regulates, any Malvan can simply requestsomething from his personal computer and it willbe delivered within minutes, if not manufacturedon the spot by his personal micro-factory. Andthat doesn’t just apply to physical objects, butto services. A Malvan who needs medical care,who wants a massage, or who wants superpowerssimply has to request that the appropriate devicesor robots be sent to him. If he wants money tospend off-planet, Malvan systems can create asmuch as he desires.

All the necessary acquisition of raw materials,processing, manufacturing, distribution, andintergalactic trade necessary to make this systemwork is performed by sentient robots, ships, andindustrial equipment. Using the most basic rawmaterials, Malvan devices can transmute finished

goods almost in the blink of an eye, then teleportthem wherever they need to go.Te only things that have true value on Malva

are things technology can’t simply manufacture.Primarily this means unique items such as worksof art, antiquities, and natural gemstones. Malvanswho want to acquire such things from otherMalvans have to resort to barter. One Malvan’sinability to obtain some object he craves hasbeen the cause of many a social feud throughoutMalvan history.

SLAVERY Despite the fact that they have no need of

it, the Malvans still permit slavery. Slavery wascommon hundreds of thousands of years ago onMalva, and has never entirely died out, thoughit’s much rarer today than at any point in the past.Some Malvans simply prefer to have some tasksperformed for them by a living being rather thana robot.

Slaves are typically acquired for the Malvansby bounty hunters, though some people volunteerto become slaves for the chance to live on Malva.A slave market is held every month at the City-Palace, and less frequently in some other locations.As unique beings, slaves are valuable economiccommodities, the subject of much barteringand dickering. Roin’esh slaves are particularlydesired by many Malvans, since they find theirshapechanging powers amusing.

Arts and entertainment — or in many cases, just entertainment — are the main concerns ofmost Malvans. Freed from the need to supportthemselves, and having lifespans measured incenturies (if not longer), they’re constantly lookingfor things to do, subjects that interest them, andgenerally speaking ways to fend off boredom.Besides the gladiatorial fights (see below), someof the ways Malvans keep themselves amusedinclude:

ART AND LITERATUREArt of all sorts is an interest of many “serious”

Malvans, particularly those who’ve aged out of thedesire for non-stop partying and libidinous adven-turing that afflicts so many younger members oftheir species. In addition to hundreds of thou-sands of years of their own art to study, they canstudy the art of thousands upon thousands ofother civilizations throughout galactic history.Malvan museums’ collections most oen focus oncultures that were once part of the Malvan Empire,but many others — including Elder Worm art,which appeals to a few extremely jaded Malvans— are on display. Malvans with a particularlyintense love of art usually live in ilagandis, or at

least spend a lot of time there.Similarly, Malvans who love to read have plentyto devote their attention to. Since Malvan civiliza-tion is a million years old, a Malvan can literallyspend centuries just reading and discussing thegreat classics of Malvan literature. And it’s notuncommon for “fads” for the literature of otherworlds to affect book-lovers. In fact, as of 2011 thepopularity of the Forum Malvanum has createdsomething of a fad for Human literature. Mostreaders are content with electronic copies of thegreat works of Human literature, but a few die-hards have actually begun collecting hardcopy(“antique,” as they put it) books from Earth.

THE MALVAN LANGUAGE Like Humans and most other sentient species, the Malvans

once spoke thousands of different languages. However, not longaer the planet became politically unified it was linguisticallyunified as well, with a single language — Malvan — spoken byall people and other languages relegated to the realm of scholar-ship. Malvan has certainly evolved somewhat over the hundredsof thousands of years since then, but for the most part it’s still thesame. A Malvan from 900,000 years ago would have no problemspeaking to a modern Malvan or reading his computer’s screen,though both of them would use phrases, expressions, and idiomsthe other wouldn’t understand.

Humans can easily learn to speak Malvan (as Malvans can learnEnglish, German, and so on). o the ears of a Human linguist it

tends to most resemble Spanish or Portuguese in terms of how itsounds and “flows,” though it has some similarities to Japanese(particularly in its elaborate honorifics and detailed system ofpronouns). Te vowel sounds A, I, and O are more common thanU or E, and consonants are much more likely to be so than hard.Diphthongs and double vowels are relatively uncommon.

MALVAN NAMESMalvans typically have two names, a given name first and a

family name second. However, family ties aren’t particularly strongamong Malvans (not surprising, given that most children areraised by nanny-bots), so many Malvans rarely use their familynames. Most names are two or three syllables long, and someconsonants (such as X) occur far more oen in names than in

ordinary Malvan words.

5




FASHIONPersonal decorations — tattoos, skin/hair/

eye coloring, and the like — are very common onMalva; any Malvan can look like virtually anyonehe wants to. Similarly, clothing oen tends tothe unusual and exotic (by Human standards, ofcourse). Tis means several possible things. First,it’s oen very revealing. Te decadent Malvansdon’t really share most Humans’ taboo about

nudity, and since they control the weather ontheir planet the climate is usually pretty pleasant,so heavy clothing’s not required (unless a Malvandeliberately goes into a cold area). Second, it’sbizarrely decorative: fabrics so sheer they’re barelythere; clothes with impractically elaborate flares;clothes made of the most unusual materials youcan imagine.

On Malva everyone’s a fashionplate, trying tooutdo every other fashionplate. Clothing fads arecommonplace; every week an interest in somesort of clothing sweeps the planet, altering thestandard fashion for a few days if not longer.(Since Malvans can create new clothes at will,

altering one’s wardrobe to take the latest trendsinto account is simplicity itself.)

FOODMalvans are, almost to a man, great epicures.

Tey love good food and drink, and oen enjoynothing so much as lingering for hours over ameal with good friends. Besides Malvan cuisine,which is extensive and well-refined over hundredsof thousands of years, their culinary robots canalso prepare meals from thousands of otherspecies and civilizations (including more than afew that are extinct).

PERFORMING ARTSEvery day on Malva there are literally thou-

sands and thousands of performances of everypossible type: 2D and holographic films; concertsand symphonies; the sophisticated and wittyMalvan opera; and dozens of others, both fromtheir own culture and those of other worlds. Oneof the most unusual and popular is what Malvanscall “lifestyle art.” Tis involves a Malvan actuallybecoming a participant in a drama or adventurestory where the rest of the characters are createdby Malvan technology (robots, hard-light holo-grams, and more). Some Malvans spend years,even decades, living out elaborate fantasies craed

by their computers, by gied lifestyle artists, oreven their own imaginations. Among other uses,lifestyle art lets Malvans who dream of beinggladiators but would never actually want to fightfor real to become “gladiators” for fun without anyreal risk to themselves.

MALVAN MARTIAL ARTS Te Malvans have an even more elaborate and evolved a culture of

martial arts as Humans, since they’ve had millions of years (includingseveral hundred thousand years of intense warfare) to develop them.Te heart of Malvan martial arts is the Komren subcontinent, butMalvan cultures from all around the planet have created fighting styles.

A Malvan who’s interested in studying martial arts begins bytraining with combat robots. Whenever he wants he can test himselfagainst combat robots programmed by the administrative systems toevaluate his skill. If he passes the tests, he can then engage in full-contact matches with other living Malvans (though of course Malvantechnology prevents either participant from suffering any injury).

Perhaps the most popular martial art on Malva is Haruji, whichcombines what Humans would call “hard” and “so” elements to forma fluid, highly effective fighting style. It was created nearly 900,000years ago by a Malvan soldier named Qitru alan as a way of givinghis warriors an edge over their enemies. Since then it’s evolved intoliterally thousands of substyles and could be compared to Kung Fu onEarth, though it mostly lacks Kung Fu’s mystic elements.

Martial Arts: Haruji



4 Bone-Breaking Strike -2 +0 HKA ½d6 (plus STR)

4 Break +0 +0 +15 STR vs. Grabs

4 Dodge +0 +5 Dodge all attacks, Abort

4 Emptying The Hand -1 +1 Disarm, +10 STR

3 Joint Lock/Grab -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR

5 Kick/Knee Strike -2 +1 STR +4d6 Strike

3 Legsweep +2 -1 STR +1d6 Strike, Target Falls


4 Propel +0 +0 +15 STR Shove

4 Punch/Elbow Strike +0 +2 STR +2d6 Strike

3 Throw +0 +1 STR +v/10, Target Falls

Skills

Acrobatics

Breakfall

Contortionist

KS: Haruji

WF: Common Malvan Melee Weapons

WF: Common Malvan Martial Arts Melee Weapons

Talent: Off-Hand Defense

Elements

Weapons

+1 Use Art with Axes/Maces/Picks

+1 Use Art with Blades

+1 Use Art with Chain Weapons

+1 Use Art with Clubs

+1 Use Art with Polearms

+1 Use Art with Staff

Hit Locations: The Bone-Breaking Strike, Nerve Strike, and Punch/ Elbow Strike use Hit Location rolls of 2d6+1. The Kick and FlyingKick usually use a Hit Location roll of 3d6 (though the Knee Strikeform of Kick uses a 2d6+7 roll, as does the Kick in some substyles).The Legsweep uses a 2d6+7 Hit Location roll. The other maneuversdon’t use Hit Location rolls.




RELIGIONTe ancient Malvans were adherents of thou-

sands of different religions from all across thereligious spectrum: polytheistic, monotheistic,philosophical. Long before the Elder Worm War,though, most of these had died out, leaving onlya few that continued to thrive. Tese includedamalrianism (a sort of ancestor/spirit worship),Rathuliorn (a monotheistic religion with messi-

anic and fire-worship elements that considersFirewing a divine being), and Shepathonism (apolytheistic religion originating in the Komrencontinent and largely confined to that area).

By the early post-war period, though, eventhose Malvan religions had passed away. Partlythis was due to the loss of worshippers during thewar, but partly because the Malvans simply lostinterest in such things. For the most part, modern-day Malvans chuckle at the concept of religion,regarding it as faintly nonsensical and dull. Tisis perhaps an understandable reaction, given thatmore than a few sentient species would regard theMalvans as gods if they ever met them. A small

sect of Rathuliorns still exists, worshipping faith-fully every week at the Grand emple (see above).

However, Malvans are nothing if not faddish,and sometimes a fad for some sort of religion oranother springs up somewhere, basically as justanother form of entertainment. Te religion flour-ishes for a few years (or decades), then slowly butsurely dies out as the adherents lose interest andfind other ways to occupy their time.

SPORTS AND GAMESTe gladiatorial bouts in the arena aren’t

the only sport that interests Malvans. Malvansof a more physical bent oen play team sports,

including some such as Ackálian bash-ball that areincredibly dangerous — they simply use Malvantechnology to avoid any risk of harm withoutinhibiting their ability to go all-out when theyplay. Malvans who prefer less sweating can devotethemselves to cerebral pursuits like puzzles andgames. Te most popular game on the planet isqolasha, which Ironclad has describe to Humansas “Malvan war-chess” even though it’s signifi-cantly more complicated than chess. Qolashagames involving living or robotic participantsplayed out in vast holo-arenas oen attract tens ofthousands of spectators.

Te Malvans possess the most advancedtechnology in the Milky Way Galaxy (and possiblythe universe), and have for literally hundreds ofthousands of years. Some past civilizations, suchas whatever species the Progenitors came from,may have equalled or exceeded them, but thosecivilizations have long since passed from thegalactic stage.

Malvan technology ranges from attomachinesthat function at the sub-atomic level to starshipslarger than most terrestrial planets. It’s almostuniformly extremely durable (ten to twenty timesthe defense and BODY of a comparable Humandevice, if one exists) and has self-repair capabili-ties to some extent. Many devices are actuallysentient, though the Malvans and their admin-istrative systems make absolutely, positively,unequivocally sure that sentient computers anddevices must obey living Malvans and are inca-pable of launching a “machine rebellion.” (Te fact

that no such rebellion has ever occurred on Malvasuggests that these security measures work well.)Some of the things that Malvan technology can

do include:

n shatter entire planets n pull a moon or planet out of its orbit and

“fling” it away from its parent body n transmute one type of matter into another type

of matter (thus allowing for the nigh-instanta-neous creation of objects from “thin air”)

n grant Malvans (and even members of otherspecies) virtually any type of superpower theydesire

n cross the Milky Way Galaxy in as little as aday (military starships) or a week (commoncivilian models)

n teleport people and objects over interstellardistances (and sometimes further)

n create force-fields that protect against virtuallyany force (including magic and psionics)

n cure nearly any disease, heal nearly any injury,and extend lifespans for centuries (or evenmillennia)

n quickly and easily clone any living creature,then copy or transfer memories into the clone

n view the past (it’s also technologicallypossible to view the future, but the Phazor

forbids anyone but himself to do this, and allMalvan devices are programmed to obey hiscommands)

n acquire power in basically limitless amountsusing “infrashunt” devices that draw it from astable, uninhabited infraspace dimension

In short: Malvan technology embodies Clarke’sLaw, in that it’s functionally no different frommagic. It can do pretty much anything at therequest of any Malvan... assuming the Phazor oradministrative systems don’t say otherwise.

5




Val Char Cost Notes65 Size 325 6,400 km x 3,200 km x 3,200 km;

mass 3.2 petatons; -65 KB; OCV+ 43335 STR 0 Lift 3.2 ptons; 71d6 HTH [0]10 DEX 08 OCV 253 DCV 0

3 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 1250 PD 7250 ED 72100 BODY 21 Total Characteristics Cost: 525

Movement: Ground: 0m Flight: 40m-400,000 km FTL: 1 LY per minute

Cost Powers END

Power Systems127 Infrashunt Engine: Endurance Reserve

(800 END, 81 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

33 Backup Antimatter Power Supply: Endurance Reserve(200 END, 24 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems18 Hyperlight Modulator: FTL Travel (1 LY per minute) 5

OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)12 Backup Hyperlight Modulator: FTL Travel (1 LY per hour) 4

OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)48 Sublight Thrusters: Flight 40m 12

MegaScale (1m = 10,000 km; +2); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Endurance (-½)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Running -12m (0m total)-2 Only Flies In Space: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems220 Utility Beams: RKA 12d6 49

MegaRange (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

15 Utility Beams: 7 more Utility Beam projectors (8 total) 1898 Malvan Starship Force-Shield: Resistant Protection

(40 PD/40 ED/25 Mental Defense/25 Power Defense) 24Allocatable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

Operations Systems91 Sensor And Communication Systems:

Variable Power Pool, 80 Pool + 80 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

170 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (1 light-year perActive Point; +4¼) for any Sensor Pool Sense varOIF Bulky (-1)

15 Long-Range Sensors: +20 versus Range for RadioGroup 0OIF Bulky (-1)

3 Navigation Computer: +4 to Navigation (Space) rolls 0OAF Bulky (-1½)

17 Internal Monitors: Clairsentience (Sight And HearingGroups), Mobile Perception Point, MultiplePerception Points (up to eight at once) 5OAF Immobile (-2), Perception Point Cannot MoveThrough Solid Objects (-0)

150 Tractor Beams: Telekinesis (100 STR) 37MegaRange (1m = 100 km; +1½); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

10 Tractor Beams: 3 more Tractor Beams (total of 4) 37

Personnel Systems9 Holographic Entertainment Chambers: Sight,

Hearing, Smell/Taste, and Touch Group Images,-4 to PER Rolls 4OIF Bulky (-1), Only Within Defined Area (80m x 80mchamber; -2)

40 Holographic Entertainment Chambers: 249 moreChambers (total of 250) 4

13 Internal Teleporter: Teleportation 10m 4MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾), Usable As Attack(+1¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Only Versus Beings Inside TheShip To Another Spot Within The Ship (-1)

12 Life Support: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing;Safe Environments: High Radiation, Intense Cold,Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) 2Costs Endurance (-½)

5 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]Only Within Affected Area (80m x 40m chamber;-2), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (easily replaced fromsources outside the ship; 1 Month [i.e., hundreds ofthousands of man-days]; -0)

15 Backup Life Support: 7 more Backup Life Supportareas (total of 8)

3 More Restaurants And Room Service Than YouCan Count: Life Support (Diminished Eating: noneed to eat) [1cc]1 Continuing Fuel Charge (easily replaced fromsources outside the ship; 1 Year [i.e., thousands of

man-years]; -0)15 Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3

Selective (+½); OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull ObjectsStraight Down To The Floor (-1)

4 Backup Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (5 STR) 1OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull Objects Straight Down ToThe Floor (-1)

18 Medical Facilities: Paramedics 14- and SS: Medicine14- 0

Skills16 +2 with Ranged Combat

13 Computer Programming 14-13 Cryptography 14-13 Demolitions 14-13 Electronics 14-13 Mechanics 14-15 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, Incendiary

Weapons, Energy Weapons) 14-80 80 Character Points’ worth of other labs (chosen by the

GM based on the ship’s specific mission parameters)Total Abilities & Equipment Cost: 1,334Total Vehicle Cost: 1,849

Value Complications15 Physical Complication: Cannot Enter Atmospheres

(Infrequently, Greatly Impairing)Total Complications Points: 15

Total Cost: 1,849/5 = 370




Val Char Cost Notes40 Size 200 20 km x 10 km x 10 km; mass 100 gigatons;

-40 KB; OCV+ 26210 STR 0 Lift 100 gtons; 42d6 HTH [0]25 DEX 3015 OCV 6015 DCV 60

8 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 1280 PD 11780 ED 117125 BODY 75 Total Characteristics Cost: 719

Movement: Ground: 0m Flight: 80m-800,000 km FTL: 1 LY per 6 Segments

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

125 Infrashunt Engine:Endurance Reserve (800 END, 75 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

33 Backup Antimatter Power Supply:Endurance Reserve (200 END, 24 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

21 Hyperlight Modulator: FTL Travel (1 LY per 6 Segments) 5OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

18 Backup Hyperlight Modulator:FTL Travel (1 LY per 3 minutes) 4OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

96 Sublight Thrusters: Flight 80m 24MegaScale (1m = 10,000 km; +2); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Endurance (-½)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Running -12m (0m total)-2 Only Flies In Space: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems

850 Malvan Getha-Beams: RKA 30d6 191MegaRange (1m of Range = 100,000 km; +2¼),Variable Advantages (+½ Advantages [but notReduced Endurance]; +1); OIF Bulky (-1), LimitedArc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

15 Malvan Getha-Beams: 7 more Getha-Beam projec-tors (total of 8) 191

533 Malvan Kinetic Projectors: RKA 20d6 [1,000]Armor Piercing (x2; +½), Autofire (10 shots; +1),

Penetrating (+½), 1,000 Charges (+1); OIF Bulky(-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)15 Malvan Kinetic Projectors: 7 more Kinetic Projectors

(total of 8) [1,000]210 Malvan Starship Force-Shield: Resistant Protection (80

PD/80 ED/60 Mental Defense/60 Power Defense) 52Allocatable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance(-½)

Operations Systems

137 Sensor And Communication Systems:Variable Power Pool, 120 Pool + 120 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

255 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (1 light-year perActive Point; +4¼) for any Sensor Pool Sense varOIF Bulky (-1)




180 Tractor Beams: Telekinesis (120 STR) 45MegaRange (1m = 100 km; +1½); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)


Personnel Systems

12 Internal Teleporter: Teleportation 10m 3MegaScale (1m = 10 km; +1¼), Usable As Attack(+1¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Only Versus Beings Inside TheShip To Another Spot Within The Ship (-1)

15 Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3Selective (+½); OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull ObjectsStraight Down To The Floor (-1)


31 Robot Repair And Construction Facilities: Electronics14-, Mechanics 14-, and SS: Robotics 14- 0


13 Computer Programming 14-13 Cryptography 14-13 Demolitions 14-15 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, Incendiary


GM based on the ship’s specific mission parameters)Total Abilities & Equipment Cost: 2,763

Total Vehicle Cost: 3,468

Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Malvan Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)15 Physical Complication: Cannot Enter Atmospheres


Total Cost: 3,468/5 = 694

ADDITIONAL VEHICLESCost Vehicle

205 Sentient Malvan Missiles: 60 missiles with SPD 12, DEX30, OCV 18, and an RKA 40d6, Area Of Effect (RadiusExplosion covering hundreds of kilometers) warhead(built on 900 Total Points each)

85 Combat Computers: 24 Computers built on 300 Total

Points each

5




Fortunately for the Malvans, their technology iscapable of repairing and replicating itself, becauseby and large they’ve totally forgotten how to inventnew devices or maintain the ones they have. It’spossible for a curious Malvan to dig into thecomputer records and teach himself engineeringand science, but most Malvans have absolutely nointerest in such “squalid” things.

For millennia, the Phazors of Malva havemaintained one rock-solid rule regarding Malvantechnology: it may not be given, loaned, or inany other way provided to less-advanced species(i.e., to anyone else, since no other species isas advanced as the Malvans when it comes totechnology). Lesser species may be given tech-nology that’s no better than what they alreadyhave, but that’s it. Violating this rule incurs someof the harshest punishments known to Malvanlaw (sometimes including execution [or worse,enslavement] for the offending Malvan)... and ofcourse the Phazor’s security robots will immedi-ately take back any technology that was illegallydistributed, and if necessary wipe the memory of

it from entire planetary populations.

From the largest military vessels to the smallestpersonal space-yachts, Malvan starships are themost advanced and powerful in the Galaxy. Eventhe most ordinary Malvan traveler journeys ina personal starship whose engine, speed, dura-bility, and defensive weaponry are the envy ofevery galactic civilization. Here are details on twoMalvan starcra: the Worldship, an exploratory/travel/luxury vehicle the size of a planet; and theSkyspear, a medium-sized warship.

MALVAN WORLDSHIPDescription: A roughly spherical vessel approxi-mately the size of Earth, a Worldship can serve aseither a sort of luxury crusing ship or an explora-tion cra, depending on the desires of its outfitter.Te character sheet represents one that tends moretoward the “luxury cruise” end of things (thoughto be sure, Malvan scientists who want to go outand explore the Galaxy don’t exactly deprivethemselves of creature comforts during theirtravels).

Tis sort of Worldship caters to Malvans whodecide to amuse themselves by seeing the great

sights of the Galaxy. It travels around the MilkyWay, sometimes for years, stopping at variousplanets and space stations where interesting thingsmight be happening. But anyone who thinks it’s a vulnerable potential prize will quickly learn thateven Malva’s entertainment ships are so tough andwell-armed that no other power in the Galaxy canaffect them.

MALVAN SKYSPEARS

Description: Skyspears are a type of medium-classwarship in the Malvan navy, usually tasked withaccompanying larger ships as a protective fleet,escorting groups of civilian or trade ships throughdangerous territory, and similar duties. In additionto its main computer it has two dozen specialized“combat computers” installed, allowing it to fireall of its weapons at once while still maneuvering

(and it is highly maneuverable and extremely fastdespite being 20 km long down its major axis).

Tis Skyspear is entirely robotic, so it has nolife support, escape pods, or related personnelsystems, but they can easily be installed if neces-sary. (You can copy some of these systems fromthe Worldship and adjust them as necessary forthe Skyspear’s smaller size and different mission).

Each Skyspear’s appearance varies slightly (iffor no other reason than their sentient mastercomputers develop different ideas about the bestway to configure their ships for their missions),but typically look something like a gargantuancrystal spar, with a long, roughly rectangularfaceted body that narrows down to a point at thefore end. Weapons bristle from pods spaced equi-distantly along its length; it’s obviously a military vessel.




or nearly two hundred thousand years,the most popular form of entertainmenton Malva has been gladiatorial combat. Inthe year Humans would call 185,325 BC,

Phazor Pelavreth XI decreed a week of gladiato-rial games “to celebrate the martial spirit of theMalvan people and pay tribute to their glorious victories.” Te fights were so popular that the

Phazor made them a regular monthly event... thena weekly one... then finally daily. (For this reason,to this day the gladiatorial matches are sometimesreferred to as the “Pelavrian games.”)

Unlike most fads on Malva, this one neverfaded — in fact, it simply increased in popularityas the millennia passed. A “circuit” of arenas werebuilt all over Malva. Te greatest of them, thePhazarian Arena, is located near the City-Palaceand is oen referred to simply as “the MalvanArena.” Matches are held in every arena every day(sometimes all day), with virtually every Malvanattending at least a few matches every year, andsome spending nearly every day at the arenas.

THE PHAZARIAN ARENA Te most grandiose and magnificent enter-

tainment complex in the Milky Way Galaxy, thePhazarian Arena — olos Phazarian, also calledolos Dheda ev Berelar, “the Arena of Death andGlory” — is the heart of the Malvan gladiatorialgames. As large as many small cities and capableof seating two million Malvans (each able towatch the fight of his choice clearly with Malvan viewing-technology) at once, it’s a spectacle unlikeany other in known space.

Te large, central area where the actual fightstake place is known as the Fighting Grounds.

Depending on the current day’s matches, it can bedivided up into subsections so multiple fights cantake place at once (a common occurrence whena large slate of gladiators has to be whittled downto just a handful who compete for a champion-ship). In other cases, particularly when extremelypowerful superhuman gladiators are fighting, itcan be le as one vast, open battlefield.

Te Arena Administrator can also vary theenvironment within the Fighting Grounds, eitherselectively or throughout. Matches taking place inareas that have been flooded, filled with floatingor ground-based obstacles, seeded with mines, orrigged with various traps and robotic weapons are

quite popular.

THE ARENA “CIRCUIT”Te Phazarian Arena is the largest and most

popular on Malva, so not just anyone can fightthere. Only the best, most acclaimed gladiatorsever get to set foot on the grounds of the Arenaof Death and Glory. A fighter who wants to reachthat loy plateau first has to “pay his dues” byfighting in the other, lesser, arenas around Malva

(or elsewhere, such as the Forum Malvanumdescribed in Chapter Tree). By building a recordof victories, and earning the attentions of fightfans around Malva through clever tactics, flashypowers, or possibly sheer good luck, a gladiatoreventually makes his way to the pinnacle of hisprofession: the Phazarian Arena.

But that, of course, only applies to gladiatorswho fight voluntarily (see below). Slaves andcaptives who are forced to fight are placed wher-ever arena officials think they can best be used, orwill provide the most entertaining challenge forexisting gladiators. Tus a group of superheroesbrought from Earth by Kanrok the Acquisitioner

might find themselves facing foes in the Phazarianthe very first day they arrive.

Every fight that takes place in any arena onMalva is governed by an extensive and oenelaborate code of rules that dictate what types ofgladiators can participate, how they can fight, andother conditions that affect the battle. Te rulespertaining to a particular match are indicatedby a lengthy series of numerical codes; seriousgladiatorial fans “compete” with one another tomemorize as many of these thousands of codesas possible so they can discuss and analyze thematches without the need to consult a referencecomputer.

Te codes that apply to a match are listed onthe computers in a colored box that looks vaguelylike a flag, and so have come to be referred to as afight’s “banner.” For example, one Malvan mightsay to another, “Because of this fight’s banner,I don’t see how Steelhand can possibly win;everything about the fight seems to have been setup to minimize his strengths.” Tis means that inthe speaker’s judgment, the rules chosen for that

particular fight don’t favor the gladiator Steelhand

5




— they inhibit his ability to use the fighting skillsor powers he prefers, or they establish conditionsthat aren’t good for him.

Te rules applying to each match are usuallychosen by the Malvan officials who oversee thearena where the fight is to take place. Tese

include: n the Master of Gladiators. He’s responsible for

the sentient gladiators, and thus also in chargeof arena security (though the security devicespresent in each arena make any sort of escapeor incident virtually impossible)

n the Master of Beasts. He’s responsible foranimal and robotic opponents.

n the Master of Arms. He controls access to anduse of weaponry and other equipment in thearena, and is responsible for inspecting anynon-standard weapons brought into the arenaby gladiators to ensure they don’t violate anyrules.

n the Arena Administrator. He controls thescheduling of matches, makes sure that allpreparations for unusual fights have beencarried out, and so forth; he’s generally consid-ered to be “in charge” of the arena as a whole,and the other officials tend to defer to himmost of the time.

Additionally, extremely popular gladiators mayhave enough “pull” to participate in the planningof their matches so they can try to arrange fightsfor their own benefit.

Unlike most jobs on Malva, these positions(and others like them) are almost always filled

by living Malvans, not sentient robots. Tey are

gladiatorial fans who are so passionate about thegames that they actually take a job so they canensure the “purity” and “quality” of the games. TePhazor appoints Malvans to these positions, andcompetition for them is among the most intenseon Malva, with hundreds or thousands of appli-

cants for any open job.Arena rules generally cover many subjects: thegeneral type of battle; the type of gladiators whocan fight; the number of gladiators involved; andthe types of attacks, weapons, and powers allowedin the battle.

TYPE OF BATTLETe first entry in a fight’s banner identifies the

general nature of the fight:

n ground (i.e., where no gladiators have specialmovement abilities and simply fight on theground like ordinary warriors);

n aerial (where all gladiators have some ability

to fly); n aquatic (typically meaning mock naval engage-

ments, but sometimes fights between enor-mous alien sea-beasts); and

n dimensional (where the gladiators can allteleport or move dimensionally, or dimensionalportals are scattered throughout the fightinggrounds).

Tere are dozens of variations within eachcategory that dictate the specifics. For example,the code for a fight taking place on ordinary flatground is different from one where the terrainis altered or artificial obstacles are placed for the

gladiators to make use of.




TYPE OF GLADIATOROne of the most complex parts of a fight’s

banner describes the types of gladiators involvedin the match. Tese range from ordinary fighters(i.e., ones without any unusual or superhumanabilities, just normal strength and speed), toMalvans who’ve been temporarily superpoweredto see what gladiatorial fighting is like for a matchor two (“amateurs,” in fan lingo), to superhumanly

powered individuals. It can also include a dizzyingarray of robots, animals, and similar non-sentientopponents.

Additionally, part of this section of the banneridentifies the level of skill/experience of the gladi-ators involved, ranging from “first time fighter”to “veteran of hundreds of matches.” Tis isn’talways the same for both sides; some matchespit a small number of skilled gladiators against alarge number of unskilled ones (or animals), forexample.

RANKING SUPERPOWERED GLADIATORSA large section of code entries for this part of

the banner is dedicated to the most popular typeof gladiator: superpowered ones. Over tens ofthousands of years the Malvans have developedfinely-gradated lists of all types of superpowers,and how powerful they can be. Entire textbookscan (and have) been written about how thissystem works, but roughly speaking here’s how itfunctions in HERO System terms:

Type 1 Superpowered Gladiator: built on up to 100otal Points, with powers built on no more than20 Active Points each.

Type 2: built on up to 150 otal Points, with powersbuilt on no more than 30 Active Points each.






...and so on. Since it’s possible for a gladiatorto be built on a small number of otal Pointsbut have a small number of powers with a lot ofActive Points in them, or for a gladiator built ona high otal Point amount to have relatively weakpowers, it’s up to arena officials (primarily theMaster of Gladiators) to determine which typecategory he belongs in. Gladiators sometimesdispute their rankings and get them changed(though this is rare), and a gladiator’s rankingcan change if he increases or decreases in power.For example, a gladiator may start fighting withweak superpowers in the lesser arenas of the“circuit” (see below), and as he becomes morepopular and skilled the arena officials will enhancehis superpowers to allow him to compete againstbetter opponents.

VOLUNTEER AND SLAVE GLADIATORSAlthough it’s not indicated by the banner, many

fight afficionados (and bettors) pay attention towhether the gladiators in a fight are volunteers orslaves. About one-third of the gladiators who fightregularly in the Malvan arena are “volunteers” —Malvans or other people who want to participate,either for thrills or prize money, and offer theirservices to the arena officials. More than one

superpowered individual has heard of the fabulouswealth that highly successful gladiators can earnon Malva (mainly in the form of (a) winning bybetting on themselves, and (b) gis from fans)and decided to put their powers to use to makesome money. Non-superpowered individuals withcombat training also sometimes volunteer, thoughtheir odds of high earnings are less.

Te other two-thirds of the gladiators areslaves — or more accurately, “involuntary” gladi-ators. Tey’re people, oen superpowered people,the Phazor’s bounty hunters have captured andbrought to Malva as an arena attraction. Tey fightfor some period of time, then are returned to their

regular lives, typically with their memories of theirtime on Malva erased and a bank balance that’smysteriously become significantly larger (or someother reward). Occasionally, though, a captivedecides he likes the life of a gladiator and choosesto stay voluntarily. Dawnbird (see below) is anexample of that sort of gladiator.

NUMBER OF GLADIATORSTe next part of the banner tells the reader

how many gladiators are participating in the fighton each side. Te simplest, and in many cases themost common, is code 0001 — a single gladiatorpitted against a single gladiator. But depending on

what the arena officials want and the people areinterested in (or the Phazor demands), matchesinvolving hundreds or thousands of gladiators ona side can be staged.

ATTACKS, WEAPONS, AND POWERSTe last part of the banner, one just as intricate

as the type of gladiator (if not more so), specifiesthe types of attacks, weapons, and powers involvedin the fight. Tis is also the most controversial partof any gladiatorial match, the one that causes themost discussion among fans and leads to the mostaccusations of cheating or violation of the rules.

Te simplest attack code — 00001 — means

“no weapons or superpowers” (i.e., the gladia-tors can only punch, kick, grab, wrestle, and soon). Beyond that the code quickly becomes soconvoluted that only a truly dedicated fan candecipher it. Fights can involve restricted types ofordinary attacks (e.g., gladiators can only use theirright arms, or must crawl on the ground), onlycertain types of weapons (e.g., melee weaponsonly; energy weapons only; only weapons fromthe Gend’dathri culture on the planet Zorgal VII);only certain types of superpowers; any type ofsuperpower; and so on.

5




If a gladiator’s powers tend toward offense butnot defense, arena officials oen provide force-field belts or other devices to protect them. Anuneven fight where one gladiator quickly getsknocked out or killed is no fun for the spectators,so the Master of Gladiators tries to arrange thingsto ensure an exciting, even match.

GLADIATOR-ENHANCING DRUGSGenerally gladiators are supposed to fight

using only their natural abilities (includingsuperpowers) and any weapons dictated by thearena officials. However, some gladiators are so determined to win that they find ways to cheat— such as using performance-enhancing drugs.(And sometimes the Phazor orders that gladiatorsbe given these drugs to make a fight more excitingor bloody.) Tis goes against the Gladiator’s Code,but many gladiators scoff at such unwritten rules.Some of the drugs currently used by unscrupulousgladiators include:

Lethla: Lethla hyper-accelerates the user’s metabo-lism (and strengthens his bones, muscles, and

flesh so he can withstand moving so much morequickly without hurting himself). From the user’sperspective, anyone not under the effects of Lethlais moving in slow motion, while other users areroughly just as fast as he is. (Aid DEX and SPD4d6, with a minimum of +5 DEX and +1 SPD;lasts for approximately 30 minutes.)

Mandlu: A gladiator who takes Mandlu feels muchless pain. He can stil l suffer wounds, but theireffects won’t slow him down nearly as much, andit’s virtually impossible to knock him out with asingle attack. When the drug’s effects wear off,the user usually passes out. (Physical and EnergyDamage Reduction 50%, Resistant, only appliesto SUN damage, Side Effects (Drain SUN8d6, occurs when drug’s effects expire); lasts forapproximately 90-120 minutes.)

Sargu: A favorite of many gladiators, Sarguenhances the user’s physical strength (andstrengthens his bones, muscles, and flesh so he canwithstand using greater force and liing heavierobjects without hurting himself). (Aid SR 4d6and PD 2d6, minimum of +10 SR and +4 PD;lasts for approximately 30 minutes.)

Tishmu: Many superpowered gladiators controlor project some form of energy. ishmu enhancessuch abilities, making energy beams morepowerful and force-fields stronger. (Aid EnergyPowers 3d6, all Energy Powers simultaneously;lasts for approximately 20 minutes.)

Additionally, drugs are sometimes tailored fora specific gladiator’s biochemistry or powers. Forexample, a gladiator with fire powers might take adrug that increases his own fire powers, but whichwouldn’t work for other gladiators (even if theyalso had fire powers).

LETHAL FORCEIn addition to specifying the types of attacks

a fight will feature, this part of the banner alsospecifies whether lethal force is permitted. MostMalvan gladiator fights are intended to be non-lethal (and free from crippling injuries as well).Tere’s always the chance of an accident, particu-larly when superpowers are involved, but it’s notgood for the sport in general for a lot of gladiators

to be killed (or have to retire due to injury). Tus,deliberately attempting to kill an opponent isusually forbidden.

But sometimes, the Phazor’s in a particularlybloody mood for some reason. Or two gladiatorshave developed such a hatred for one anotherover the years that they petition the arena for adeath-match. In cases such as these, gladiatorsare permitted to use lethal force. On rare occa-sions the rules governing a fight may require thewinner to kill the loser. (Malvan gladiatorial fightsdon’t feature the “thumbs up — thumbs down”ritual popularly associated with Roman gladiato-rial fights on Earth; losing gladiators are never

executed on the Phazor’s command. If he wants agladiator (or anyone else) killed, he simply tells asecurity robot to do the deed.)

THE MALVANGLADIATOR’S CODE

Many Malvan gladiators have the Psycho-logical Complication Malvan Gladiator’sCode. Tis is most common among volunteergladiators who are native Malvans, but it existsat all levels of the gladiatorial world. It’s an

unwritten body of rules that gladiators follow,and its tenets include:

n I will fight to the best of my abilities,neither giving nor asking quarter andexpecting the same from my opponent.

n I will fight fairly and honorably, neverattempting to find ways to take unfairadvantage of my opponent (typically thissimply prohibits behavior such as takingperformance-enhancing drugs, but amongthe more “chivalrous” gladiators it canextend as far as never attacking a Stunnedopponent)

n I will fight only in the arena, neverengaging my opponents in dishonorablebrawls outside it

n I will honor my fallen opponents anddo them no further harm (this preventssuperhumanly strong gladiators from usingunconscious enemies as “clubs” or “thrownweapons” against other foes)




Val Char Cost Roll Notes40 STR 30 17- Lift 6,400 kg; 8d6 HTH damage [4]20 DEX 20 13-25 CON 15 14-20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-10 EGO 0 11-30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d6




Flight: 40m

Cost Powers END

90 Weapons Systems: Multipower, 90-point reserve

9f 1) Pulson Bolt (Offensive Mode): Blast 18d6 9

9f 2) Pulson Bolt (Low-Power Mode): Blast 12d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

9f 3) Pulson Bolt (Auto-Mode): Blast 9d6 3Autofire (5 shots; +½), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +½)

7f 4) Pulson Bolt (Focused Mode): Blast 12d6 7

Armor Piercing (+¼)

6f 4) Pulson Bolt (Omnidirectional Spray Mode):

Blast 9d6 9Area Of Effect (20m Radius Explosion; +½), PersonalImmunity (+¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼);No Range (-½)

7f 5) Stun-Beam: Blast 8d6 3

NND (defense is Power Defense; +½), ReducedEndurance (½ END; +¼)

3f 6) Tangle-Cable: Entangle 6d6, 6 PD/6 ED [4]4 Charges (-1)

4f 8) Flare: Sight Group Flash 8d6 6

Area Of Effect (16m Cone; +½); No Range (-½)

8f 9) Enervator Beam: Drain Characteristics 4d6 8

Expanded Effect + Variable Effect (any two Charac-teristics at a time; +1)

7f 10) Top-Mounted Mini-Missiles: Blast 10d6 [12]Area Of Effect (12m Radius; +¾); 12 Charges (-¼)

4f 11) Arm-Mounted Rockets: Blast 14d6 [4]

Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼); 4 Charges (-1)

10 Robotic Form: Hardened (+¼) for 20 PD/20 ED 0

25 Robotic Form: Resistant (+½) for 20 PD/20 ED 0Hardened (+¼)

5 Psionic Screen: Mental Defense (5 points) 0

5 Structural Force-Field: Power Defense (5 points) 0

5 Hardened Visual Sensors: Sight Group Flash Defense(5 points) 0

5 Electronic Countermeasures: Radio Group FlashDefense (5 points) 0

12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -12m 0

10 Emotional Control: +20 Presence 0Only To Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1)

35 Robotic Form: Life Support: Total 0

67 Foot-Jets: Flight 40m, x4 Noncombat 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

12 Robotic Legs: Running +12m (24m total) 1

5 Visual Sensors: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

5 Visual Sensors: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 0

10 Visual Sensors: Increased Arc Of Perception (360Degrees) (Sight Group) 0

10 Visual Sensors: x100 Microscopic for Sight Group 0

9 Visual Sensors: Telescopic (+6 versus Range for Sight

Group) 015 Auditory Sensors: Active Sonar (Hearing Group) 0

3 Auditory Systems: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 0

12 Radio Sensors: HRRP (Radio Group) 0

15 Radar: Radar (Radio Group) 0

6 Sensor Enhancements: +2 to PER Rollswith all Sense Groups 0

Talents

3 Absolute Range Sense

3 Absolute Time Sense

3 Bump Of Direction

5 Eidetic Memory

3 Lightning Calculator

6 Speed Reading: x100 times normal speed


Skills



3 Cryptography 13-

3 Deduction 13-

3 Electronics 13-

3 AK: Malva 13-

15 KS: Everything 25-3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 13-


Total Cost: 823


10 Physical Complication: can be affected by MentalPowers that affect either the Alien (i.e., Malvan)or Machine class of minds (Infrequently, SlightlyImpairing)



5




Here are a few examples of non-sentient oppo-nents that characters might find themselves pittedagainst in the Malvan arena.

Description: Tis character sheet represents atypical Malvan robot designed for use againstliving opponents in the gladiatorial arena (orfor that matter, in warfare). It features a robotof “average” power; weaker and much strongerrobots, or robots tailored to fight specific gladia-tors, can easily be built.

A standard Malvan Battle-Robot consists of alarge central cylindrical column with arms andlegs attached. It has no distinct head (thoughits “brain” is located at the top of the cylinder);weapons are oen mounted on top of the cylinder,as well as on the arms and other parts of theframe.

(See page 111 for an illustration of aBattle-Robot.)

Description: Te radiation belt the Az’arc’a (seepage 26) evolved in also allowed for the evolu-tion of many other life-forms that are vaguelyanalogous to fleshly animals and plants. One ofthe fiercest of the fauna is this creature, which theMalvans think is the equivalent of a large, preda-tory cat. Vicious, extremely difficult to hurt, andalways eager to suck the energy out of flesh-and-blood beings as a form of sustenance, the Az’arc’a

“panther” is a match for most Malvan super-glad-iators. (Te Malvans surround the creature withspecial force-fields so it can survive in gravity.)

In most battles, the panther prefers to circle itsopponent warily at first, sizing it up and lookingfor weaknesses. If an adversary attacks it duringthis time, or if it’s ever seriously hurt, it dissipates(becomes Desolidified) and continues to observeor flees. Once it feels ready to attack, it leaps intothe fray, using its energy claws to inflict deepwounds. Additionally, just coming into contactwith it can inflict serious burns, and it can drainthe energy from another being. It’s difficult tohurt, particularly with energy attacks (which it“eats”).

Te panther’s Stealth roll applies in energyenvironments such as the one it evolved in. Whenit’s in normal environments (such as the Malvanarena or the interior of a starship), it stands outlike a sore thumb no matter how sneaky it tries tobe. In fact, its subconscious energy emissions tendto interfere with nearby radios and similar devices.

In its most common natural state, the Az’arc’apanther looks more or less like a roughly ovoidmass of orange-yellow energy. When attacking itextrudes limb-like protrusions with which it cangrab prey, “claw” at an enemy, and so forth.

Description: Native to a planet not far fromMon’da, the ulta-falcon is a bird of prey with abody the size of an adult Human, razor-sharptalons five inches long, and a jagged-edged beakthat can bite skull-sized chunks out of its prey. It’salso strong enough to carry off an adult Humanwithout strain. Its plumage is mainly greenabove and gold on the underside, with a crest ofemerald-green feathers on the head (similar inshape to that of a North American cardinal). Itseyes are solid black, and its talon and beak areobsidian black as well.

Since an ulta-falcon is relatively easy to harm,the Master of Beasts oen equips it with a force-field device (Resistant Protection (10 PD/10 ED),typically) so that it can stay in the fight longerif it’s facing powerful opponents. In other cases(such as a battle between several ulta-falcons anda dozen more or less ordinary fighters equippedwith jetpacks and melee weapons) it’s le to fendfor itself.

Description: Native to oracta, a shard-beast lookssomething like a muscular, lumpy-bodied, blunt-snouted Komodo dragon that’s thirty feet long andtwelve feet tall at the shoulder. Its skin is a dullgreen-black and scaly. Here and there its body haslighter-colored crystalline “warts.”

In the Malvan arenas, shard-beasts are oenpitted against multiple non-superpowered fightersarmed with various weapons, or groups of low-powered superhumans. Due to the potential forfatal injuries, fighters are oen issued force-fielddevices for extra protection... or a large team of

medical-bots stands by.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [1]20 DEX 20 13-20 CON 10 13-10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 11-5 EGO -5 10-15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

6 OCV 156 DCV 152 OMCV -32 DMCV -34 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12


Movement: Running: 0m Fight: 18m

Cost Powers END

55 Energy Form: RKA 2d6 0Area Of Effect (personal Surface — Damage Shield;+¼), Constant (+½), Persistent (+¼), Inherent (+¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Always On (-½)

83 Subconscious Energy Emissions: Suppress Radio

Powers 2d6 0Expanded Effect + Variable Effect (all Radio powerssimultaneously; +4), Constant (+½), PersonalImmunity (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½);No Range (-½)

37 Energy “Claws”: RKA 3d6 6+1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+¼); No Range (-½)

25 Energy Draining: Drain BODY and STUN 2d6 0Expanded Effect (two Characteristics at once; +½),Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½);Must Follow Grab (-½), No Range (-½)

120 “Eating” Energy: Absorption 60 BODY (energy, half toBODY, half to STUN) 0

Defensive Absorption (BODY Absorbed counts asResistant ED; +1)15 Energy Form: Resistant (+½) for 10 PD/20 ED 018 Energy Form Movement: Flight 18m 2-12 Only “Flies”: Running -12m (0m total)24 Energy Perception: Detect Energy 13-

(no Sense Group), Discriminatory, Range, Sense 012 Energy Perception: HRRP (Radio Group) 060 Dissipated Energy Form: Desolidification (affected by

electricity or pulson energy) 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

Skills

16 +2 HTH

3 Stealth 13- (see text)Total Powers & Skills Cost: 456

Total Cost: 588


20 Physical Complication: Animal Intelligence (Frequently,Greatly Impairing)

0 Physical Complication: Human Size20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation

(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)Total Complications Points: 40


Val Char Cost Roll Notes50 STR 40 19- Lift 12.5 tons; 10d6 HTH damage [5]12 DEX 4 11-32 CON 22 15-8 INT -2 11- PER Roll 11-5 EGO -5 10-30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d6

6 OCV 154 DCV 52 OMCV -3

2 DMCV -33 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12



Cost Powers END

30 Bite: HKA 2d6 (5d6+1 with STR) 1

15 Claws: HKA 1d6 (3½d6 with STR) 116 Stomp!: HA +4d6 2Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼)

15 Scaly Skin: Resistant Protection (6 PD/4 ED) 018 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -18m 036 Long Legs: Running +36m (48m total) 33 Reptilian Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups 05 Tail: Extra Limb 0

Inherent (+¼); Limited Manipulation (-¼)9 Tongue: Extra Limb 0

Inherent (+¼); Limited Manipulation (-¼) plus: Reach +4m

Limited Body Parts (tongue; -¼)


Total Cost: 336



15 Physical Complication: Huge (16m long; +6 OCV forothers to hit, +6 to PER Rolls for others to perceive)(Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)



5




Val Char Cost Roll Notes15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH damage [1]14 DEX 8 12-15 CON 5 12-8 INT -2 11- PER Roll 11-8 EGO -2 11-

25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d68 OCV 256 DCV 153 OMCV 03 DMCV 03 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12



Swimming: 0m

Flight: 40m

Cost Powers END

30 Talons: HKA 2d6 (3d6 with STR) 2

15 Beak: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with STR) 1

1 Tough: Resistant (+½) for 3 PD/3 ED 0

33 Wings: Flight 40m 2

Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); Restrainable (-½)

29 Stooping: Flight +48m 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Restrainable (-½),Only To Dive At Prey For Move Bys (-1)

-10 Short Legs: Running -10m

-1 Poor Leaper: Leaping -2m (2m total) 1

-2 Can’t Swim: Swimming -4m

10 Raptor Eyes: +5 PER with Sight Group 0

8 Raptor Eyes: +16 versus Range for Normal Sight 0

Skills

16 +2 HTH

2 Stealth 10-




0 Physical Complication: Human Size

20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)






Te popularity of individual gladiators comesand goes, with a shining few names becominglegendary examples of gladiatorship that last fortens or hundreds of thousands of years: ethuristhe Blade, the first of the great gladiators and oneof the rare few to maintain an undefeated recordfor his entire career; Vorbin Blackmane, who stillholds the record for most opponents killed in one-on-one duels; the bizarre alien Gork, who simplypummelled his foes into unconsciousness with acrude-looking but actually tactically sophisticatedpattern of attack; and of course the great RonosFirefist, about whom nothing more need be said.en years ago the most popular gladiators wereAriax Tone, Drogen Lar, and ren arrec Dazeur,but all three have largely been forgotten by aMalvan populace ever eager for the next amazingthing. Here are a few examples of gladiators whoare highly popular as of 2011.

Background/History: Marisol Dalaguan wasborn into a poor but happy family in Puerto Rico.Although none of them ever starved, the familynever seemed to have enough and constantlymoved from one financial crisis to another.Marisol was oen upset and bitter about the situ-

ation and spent a lot of time daydreaming about abetter life.Ten she hit puberty... and her mutant powers

of light control manifested. At first they terrifiedher, but then she began to realize what a gi theywere. She figured she could use them to makesome real money for her family — but her motherhad other ideas. A kind-hearted and God-fearingwoman, she believed Marisol’s powers were “anangelic gi” and that Marisol should use them tohelp other people, not herself.

Prodded by her mother, Marisol chose thecrimefighting name Ave de Amanecer, or Dawn-bird as most people called her, and “apprenticed”

herself to an experienced Puerto Rican mysticsuperheroine alismán Luciente (“Shiningalisman”). For over a decade she fought supervillains and criminals on Puerto Rico, first asalismán Luciente’s partner and later on her own...but her heart was never really into it. Her motheressentially guilted her into it; she always felt therewere better, more enjoyable, more profitable waysto use her abilities (though she’d never dream ofbecoming a villain).

Ten her mother died. At long last freed fromher oversight, Dalaguan was wondering what todo with her life and her powers when her lucktook an unusual change for the better. While onpatrol one day she was attacked and capturedby Kanrok the Acquisitioner (CV3 169-71). Shespent a month fighting in the arenas on Malva,and achieved a certain measure of popularityamong the fans. When the arena officials decidedshe’d “served her time” and were prepared to eraseher memory and send her back to Earth, sheasked them not to. She found she enjoyed fightingin the arena; in fact, she liked it a lot more thanbeing a superheroine. Tere wasn’t really anyoneor anything waiting for her back on Earth, so whynot stay on Malva? She’s been there ever since,earning accolades for her prowess in the arena and

having the time of her life.Personality/Motivation: Dawnbird is a muchhappier person on Malva than she ever was onEarth. As a gladiator she’s confident, famous,at the top of her profession, and a part (albeit asecondary one) of the most advanced civilizationin the Galaxy. Every now and then she has briefmoments of homesickness, but they usually passquickly when she realizes just how good she’sgot it.

CREATING MOREGLADIATORS

If you need even

more gladiators and

other opponents for

your PCs — perhaps

because you’re

running an extended

story arc set onMalva and featuring

lots of gladiatorial

matches they have

to fight in — you

can easily create

dozens of them

on your own. Just

choose villains from

Champions Villains

and monsters

and animals from

The HERO System

Bestiary, change

their backgroundand “paint jobs”

(and perhaps special

effects), and you’ve

instantly got a new

gladiator or arena

beast.

For example,

suppose you

want to create

a reptilian

gladiator that has

magnetism powers

— Magnasaurus! All you have to do

is take Lodestone’s

character sheet

(CV3 191), maybe

add a power or two

from the “Magnetism

Powers” section of

Champions Powers,

and then turn to the

“Animal Powers”

section of that

same book for a tail

and other reptilian

tidbits to round

Magnasaurus out.

Do that same thing

with three or four

other villains and in

ten minutes you’ve

created an entire

team of gladiators

to throw up against

your PCs in the

arena.

5









Cost Powers END

80 Light Blasts: Multipower, 80-point reserve

7f 1) Light Bolt: Blast 12d6 3Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

8f 2) Auto-Light Bolt: Blast 8d6 3

Autofire (5 shots; +½), Reduced Endurance (½ END;+½)

7f 3) Light Sphere: Blast 8d6 3

Area Of Effect (24m Radius Explosion; +½), Reduced

Endurance (½ END; +½)7f 4) Laser Bolt: RKA 3d6 3

Armor Piercing (+¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

7f 5) Blinding Bolt I: Sight Group Flash 12d6 3

Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

5f 6) Blinding Bolt II: Sight Group Flash 7d6 7Area Of Effect (64m Cone; +1); No Range (-½)

Martial Arts: Karate


4 Atemi Strike -1 +1 2d6 NND(1)


4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, 35 STR

4 Dodge +0 +5 Dodge all attacks, Abort4 Escape +0 +0 40 STR vs. Grabs

3 Legsweep +2 -1 6d6; Target Falls

4 Knifehand Strike -2 +0 HKA 1d6+1 (2d6+1 withSTR)

4 Punch/Snap Kick +0 +2 7d6 Strike

5 Side/Spin Kick -2 +1 9d6 Strike

8 +2 Extra DCs (already added in)

40 Lightshield: Resistant Protection (20 PD/20 ED) 6

Costs Endurance (-½)

20 Flare-Resistant Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense(20 points) 0

112 Light Speed Travel: Teleportation 60m, No RelativeVelocity, Position Shift 11Armor Piercing (x2; +½)

Talents

6 Striking Appearance +2/+2d6

Skills


16 +2 with Light Blasts Multipower

3 Charm 13-

1 AK: Puerto Rico 8-

2 KS: Malvan Gladiatorial Combat 11-2 KS: Malvan Gladiators 11-

1 Language: English (basic conversation; Spanish is Native)

2 Language: Malvan (fluent conversation)

3 Persuasion 13-

3 Stealth 13-

2 Tactics 10-

3 Teamwork 13-



10 Distinctive Features: Mutant (Not Concealable; Always

Noticed; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses)15 Psychological Complication: Malvan Gladiator’s Code(Common, Strong)

5 Psychological Complication: Much Happier On MalvaThan She Was On Earth; Doesn’t Want To BeReminded Of Her Old Life (Uncommon, Moderate)

10 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN from Darkness attacks(Uncommon)

10 Vulnerability: 2 x BODY from Darkness attacks(Uncommon)



Appearance: Dawnbird is a Human

female of Puerto Rican descent, 5’8” tallwith long black hair worn straight downher back. Her costume is primarilywhite, but her boots and gloves aregold. Rising up from the boots alongher inner legs are panels of matchinggold that continue on across her torso,broadening out into a bird-motifcombination shoulderpiece and mask.




Dawnbird believes (correctly) that she owes hercurrent state of existence to her skill in the arena,and she doesn’t want to do anything to interferewith that. She strictly adheres to the renownedMalvan gladiators’ code, and won’t do anythingelse to jeopardize her standing in Malvan society(like help Human PCs violate Malvan law orescape from the arena).

Quote: “Have you seen the light?”

Powers/Tactics: Dawnbird is a mutant withpowers of light control. Primarily she can projectlight in various forms, from simply bright enoughto blind, to intense enough to blast, to deadlylasers. She can also gather light around her toform a force-field-like shield for protection. She’scurrently trying to develop the power to makeher Lightshield bright enough to blind opponentsin HH Combat (i.e., to buy a Sight Group FlashDamage Shield that’s Linked to her ResistantProtection), but hasn’t had any success yet. Shecould ask the arena’s scientists to simply giveher that power (and others) with Malvan super-science, but she prefers to try to train herselfinto it.

Dawnbird’s most spectacular power is theability to transform herself into light for the tiniestfraction of a second, thus allowing her to, in effect,teleport. She’s never been able to maintain thisstate long enough to travel space at light-speedor pass through non-opaque solid objects despitemuch effort.

Aer years of experience in the arena, Dawn-bird has developed significant skills at meleecombat. On Earth she briefly studied karate, andher time as a gladiator has allowed her to refinethose skills into a deadly fighting style. Despite

this, she prefers to avoid melee and rely on herlight powers as much as possible.Tanks to her high SPD and powerful abilities,

Dawnbird uses a lot of END. When she’s fightingbe sure to monitor her END use carefully, sinceshe can easily run out (especially if she eleportsfrequently). If necessary she’ll duck behind coverand spend a Phase taking a Recovery.

Campaign Use: Dawnbird is likely to be a friendly— but not sympathetic — face on Malva to PCsfrom Earth. She’ll enjoy seeing them and findingout what’s going on back on her homeworld. She’llbe glad to teach them the gladiatorial ropes, trans-late words into Malvan for them, and show them

around the Palace-City. But she won’t help themescape, attack Malva, free slaves, or any other suchthing — in fact, she’ll report them to the securityrobots and try to stop them herself if necessary.She has a great life here and doesn’t want to loseit, or even have it messed up because some otherHumans cause trouble.

If you want to make Dawbird tougher, allowher to transform herself into light for longerperiods of time. Tis would grant her higher DEXand SPD (and possibly other Characteristics) andabilities like a Damage Shield, Desolidification,FL ravel, and more. o weaken her, reduce herDEX and CON to 18-20 each and her SPD to 5,and/or remove her Karate.

Background/History: Gor’japp is the latestexample of that classic Malvan gladiatorial stereo-type: the immensely strong, brutal Ackálian gladi-ator. Over the millennia there’ve been many suchfighters, usually in the category of “gladiators thefans love to hate,” and Gor’japp is no exception.She was once an up-and-coming athlete on Ackál,but her skills and ferocity attracted the attentionof Malvan bounty hunters’ spy-bots. Te hunterskidnapped her, arranging clues that made it looklike one of Gor’japp’s rivals had murdered her

and disposed of the body (a not-uncommon, orentirely disapproved, occurrence on Ackál).

Once Gor’japp arrived on Malva, she under-went Malvan hyper-science treatments thatrendered her superhumanly strong and durable,and was then put to work in the arena. She didn’tlike it then and she doesn’t like it now — she’stried to escape many times and is always closelywatched by arena security robots — but over theyears she’s become a skilled gladiator.

Personality/Motivation: Gor’japp hates beingconfined and told what to do, and would likenothing better than to escape the clutches of the

Malvans, find her way back to Ackál, and becomea major power there (with her abilities she’d beone of the most powerful superhumans on theplanet, particularly if she brought some Malvantechnology with her). Unfortunately for her, she’sbecome such a popular gladiator that the arenaofficials have no intention of letting her leave.While they treat cooperative gladiators gently andgive them many privileges, they monitor Gor’japplike a hawk and restrict her movements andleisure activities.

In the meantime, Gor’japp fights her battleswith the viciousness the Malvan crowds expectof an Ackálian. She fights to win, and the Malvan

gladiators’ code be damned. If she can get perfor-mance-enhancing drugs, she’ll take them; if shecan use a dirty trick to get an advantage over anopponent (even something as simple as throwingdirt in his eyes), she will.

Quote: “It won’t take long to tear you limb fromlimb.”

5




Powers/Tactics: Gor’japp is superhu-manly strong (she can li up to 400metric tons) and tough, plus surpris-ingly fast for someone of her size. Shefights with a brutal, ruthless efficiency;even her Blocks use such force that theycan injure the person attacking her. Sheenjoys using one opponent as a weaponagainst another.

Campaign Use: As fearsome as shelooks to Human eyes, Gor’japp is apotential ally for PCs from Earth who’vebecome prisoners of the arena. She’llgladly team up with other gladiators toattempt a mass “jailbreak,” and won’teven turn on them aerward unlessthere’s a significant benefit in it for her.(Being able to steal important Malvantechnology, like a ship or weapons, andtake them back to Ackál would qualifyas a “significant benefit”; so wouldsetting up her “comrades” to distractMalvan pursuers while she gets away.)

If you want Gor’japp to be morepowerful, give her more “brick tricks”and/or some Damage Reduction (orDamage Negation). o weaken her,reduce her SR to 60 and SPD to 4.

Appearance: Gor’japp is a tall,immensely muscular Ackálian female.She wears a blood-red jumpsuit thatleaves her head, arms/hands, and lowerlegs/feet exposed, plus a heavy goldmetal belt.

Val Char Cost Roll Notes70 STR 60 23- Lift 400 tons; 14d6 HTH damage [7]18 DEX 16 13-35 CON 25 16-





Leaping: 40m

Cost Powers END14 Armsweep: Area Of Effect (1m Radius around char-

acter; +¼) for 70 STR 2Personal Immunity (+¼); Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

30 Offensive Block: Blast 6d6 (physical) 5Trigger (when Gor’japp successfully Blocks a HTHCombat attack and wants to use this power, activatingTrigger takes no time, Trigger requires a Zero PhaseAction to reset; +¾); No Range (-½), Only Versus

Person Whose Attack Was Blocked (-¼)10 Ackálian Bite: HKA 1d6 1

No STR Bonus (-½)15 Super-Strong Body: Hardened (+¼) for 30 PD/30 ED 037 Super-Strong Body: Resistant (+½) for 30 PD/30 ED 0

Hardened (+¼)18 Super-Strong Legs: Leaping +36m (40m forward,

20m upward) 23 Ackálian Legs: Running +3m (15m total) 118 Super-Strength Smash-Through: Tunneling 1m

through 15 PD material 3Requires A STR Roll (-½), No Noncombat Movement (-¼)

2 Ackálian Eyes: +1 with Sight Group PER Rolls 0

Skills32 +4 HTH

3 Teamwork 13-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 182Total Cost: 509

400 Matching Complications (75)20 Hunted: Malvan gladiatorial officials and security robots

(Very Frequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)15 Psychological Complication: Brutal Fighter Who’ll Do

Anything To Win (Common, Strong20 Social Complication: Gladiatorial Slave (Very Frequently,

Major)Total Complications Points: 55Experience Points: 129




Background/History: Te Malvans are unawareof Halberdier’s full background. What they knowis that he showed up on Malva several years ago,arriving under his own power and armed with hisstrange polearm-like weapon. He resembled nocurrent species known to them, and only a few in

their computer records (all of them extinct). Herefused to provide any significant details abouthimself, stating only that he was “a warrior of greatexperience” who had come to test his skills andtoughness in the famous Malvan arena. Aer hepassed the tests set him with flying colors, arenaofficials decided to take him at his word.

Since then Halberdier’s gone on to becomeone of the most popular gladiators on Malva. Hisflashy fighting style and powers frequently earnhim the crowd’s accolades, and it’s said the Phazorhimself follows Halberdier’s career closely.

Personality/Motivation: While some arena offi-cials still worry that Halberdier has some hiddenagenda, for years now he’s conducted himself as amodel gladiator, one who strictly follows the codewhile still giving the Malvans the spectacle theywant. He seems to revel in combat, coming aliveonly during his matches. He spends his free timequietly enjoying the luxuries Malva has to offerand allowing his fans to buy him drinks.

Quote: “You seem to be a skilled opponent... butfew are skilled enough to overcome my power!”

Powers/Tactics: Halberdier is superhumanlystrong, fast, and tough, and further protectshimself with a suit of powered armor. His mainweapon is a super-tech halberd- or poleaxe-likedevice that can not only deliver fatal blows withits blade but project beams of energy at his foes.Several of his attacks (the blade-whirl, flare,

maelstrom, and pulse) are impressive-lookingeffects that hurt everyone around him; the fanslove them, so arena officials oen pit him againstlarge numbers of significantly weaker foes to givehim a chance to use them. If an opponent takesthe Power-Halberd away, Halberdier can teleportit back to himself (i.e., in game terms it’s an Inac-cessible Focus).

When fighting foes weaker than himself,Halberdier usually stays on the ground and relieson his Area-affecting abilities. When fightingequal or stronger foes he prefers to take to the airand use his power-blasts from Range until he’ssized up the opponent and feels confident about

closing to HH Combat distance. He’s also adeptat using his unneling to create impromptu coverfor himself or get around obstacles in unexpectedways.

Campaign Use: Besides just being a great foe topit against one or more PCs, Halberdier presentsa mystery the PCs may not be able to resist: whois he, where does he come from, and why is he onMalva? It’s entirely possible that he’s exactly whathe says he is, a warrior interested only in combat...or he could have ulterior motives.

o make Halberdier a tougher foe, give himsome Damage Reduction or Negation (so he can

more easily take on multiple PCs at once) and/or ahigher DEX. o weaken him, reduce his Resis-tant Protection to (10 PD/10 ED) and remove hisFlight.

Appearance: Halberdier is nearly seven feet tallwith green, fine-scaled skin but no other reptilianfeatures — his eyes are superficially similar toHuman eyes (but are violet and gold), and he hasshort, straight dark-colored hair on his head. Hewears silver armor that’s sort of like a super-tech version of medieval Human plate armor, and hisweapon is a halberd-like thing (hence his name)that’s obviously a super-tech weapon with various

functions and not just a simple polearm.

5




Val Char Cost Roll Notes50 STR 40 19- Lift 12.5 tons; 10d6 HTH damage [5]20 DEX 20 13-30 CON 20 15-20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-18 EGO 8 13-





FTL Travel: 1,000 LY/year

Tunneling: 12m

Cost Powers END

53 Power-Halberd: Multipower, 80-point reserveAll OIF (-½)

2f 1) Power-Enhanced Blade: HKA 2d6 (5d6+1 with STR) 3

OIF (-½)

plus: Reach +2mOIF (-½)

3f 2) Blade-Whirl: RKA 3d6 4Area Of Effect (3m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity(+¼); OIF (-½), No Range (-½)

5f 3) Power-Blast I: Blast 15d6 7OIF (-½)

5f 4) Power-Blast II: Blast 10d6 7

Double Knockback (+½); OIF (-½)

5f 5) Power Maelstrom: Drain STUN 4d6 8Area Of Effect (16m Radius; +¾), Personal Immunity(+¼); OIF (-½), No Range (-½)

4f 6) Power Flare: Sight Group Flash 8d6 8

Area Of Effect (16m Radius; +¾), Personal Immunity

(+¼); OIF (-½), No Range (-½)4f 7) Power-Pulse: Blast 8d6 8

Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Double Knock-back (+½), Personal Immunity (+¼); OIF (-½),No Range (-½)

2f 8) Dig-Blast: Tunneling 12m through up to PD 12 mate-rials 4

OIF (-½)

10 Tough: Resistant (+½) for 10 PD/10 ED 0

40 Halberdier Armor: Resistant Protection (20 PD/20 ED) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Halberdier Armor:Sight Group Flash Defense (10 points) 0OIF (-½)

7 Halberdier Armor: Mental Defense (10 points) 0

OIF (-½)10 Halberdier Armor: Power Defense (15 points) 0OIF (-½)

2 Long Legs: Running +2m (14m total) 1

20 Boot-Jets: Multipower, 30-point reserve

All OIF (-½)

2f 1) Atmospheric Flight: Flight 30m 3OIF (-½)

1f 2) Starflight: FTL Travel (1,000 LY/year) 3

OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

5 Alien Eyes: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

5 Alien Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 0

Talents

13 Translation System: Universal Translator 13-OIF (powered armor; -½)

Skills


4 +2 with Flight

3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Breakfall 13-

2 KS: Malvan Gladiators 11-

2 Language: Malvan (fluent conversation)

3 Stealth 13-3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 13-


Total Cost: 551



10 Social Complication: Harmful Secret (where he’s from)(Infrequently, Major)






Background/History: Meliaros the Bright isthe most popular current example of anothercommon Malvan gladiatorial stereotype: theMalvan who decides he wants to become a gladi-ator and has Malvan hyper-science grant himsuperpowers. Most Malvans who try this dabble

in the arena for a fight or three, then give it up andmove on to the next diversion. But a few of themfind being a gladiator endlessly challenging andfascinating and remain a part of the arena circuitfor years or decades. Meliaros is one of these.iring of his former hobby — Malvan literature ofthe post-war period — he decided to try some-thing more physical. Discovering he had a gi forhand-to-hand combat and a flare for showman-ship, through hard work and skill he’s become oneof the best-known gladiators on the circuit today...one guaranteed to liven up any party he attends.

Personality/Motivation: Meliaros is a typicalMalvan in many ways. Intelligent but bored totears, he’s always looking for new ways to enter-tain himself. But unlike many Malvans he’s founda hobby that utterly intrigues him — or at leasthasn’t lost any of its initial appeal yet — so hedoesn’t want to change anything at present. Hestrictly adheres to the gladiator’s code, partly outof long-time love of the sport and partly to makesure he doesn’t do anything that might cause thePhazor to bar him from fighting.

Quote: “If I can instantly be someplace else... orhere... or here... how will you ever know where toattack?”

Powers/Tactics: Meliaros is a skilled hand-to-hand fighter trained in the ancient Malvan martialart Haruji. What makes him especially dangerousas a gladiator are his superhuman strength andspeed, plus his teleportation powers. He’s prac-ticed with them so that he can teleport around an

area and hit many people “simultaneously.” Histwo most unusual abilities are his “teleportationflare” (which allows him to emit a bright flash oflight when he teleports), and his “trading places”power. He uses the latter to great tactical effect,oen Holding his Action to await an attack then“switching” with an enemy so the enemy gets hitwith the attack!

Meliaros moves around the battlefield a lotand affects a breezy, carefree style. He’s constantly joking with and taunting his opponents, showingoff for the crowd, and trying to make his wins lookeffortless.

Campaign Use: Meliaros is a fairly average-powersuperhuman Malvan gladiator with a flare for

showmanship and social situations. Assuming thePCs share his enjoy-life-and-be-a-good-sportsmansort of attitude, he could easily befriend them.Given his popularity and social connection, hemight become their way of entering Malvansociety, should they wish to. But that might notbe entirely positive for them, given the number ofromantic rivals he has....

o make Meliaros tougher, add the abilityfor him to “aport” objects and people withouthaving to move himself. (See the “eleportationPowers” section of Champions Powers for plenty of

examples.) o weaken him, reduce his DEX to 24,SPD to 5, and OCV and DCV to 8 each.

Appearance: Meliaros is a Malvan with goldskin and purple hair and eyebrows. He glowsfaintly with a gold-white light; it never seems toget brighter or dimmer but can always be seenwithout pain to the eyes whether it’s high noon orthe middle of the night. His “fighting togs” are ablack bodysuit with green highlights and patternson it, plus heavy green gloves and boots.

5




Val Char Cost Roll Notes30 STR 20 15- Lift 1,600 kg; 6d6 HTH damage [3]28 DEX 36 15-22 CON 12 13-






Teleportation: 60m

Cost Powers END

Martial Arts: Haruji Maneuver OCV DCV Notes


4 Bone-Breaking Strike -2 +0 HKA 1d6+1 (3d6+1with STR)

4 Break +0 +0 55 STR vs. Grabs

4 Dodge +0 +5 Dodge all attacks,Abort

4 Emptying The Hand -1 +1 Disarm, 50 STR

3 Joint Lock/Grab -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, 50STR

5 Kick/Knee Strike -2 +1 12d6 Strike

3 Legsweep +2 -1 9d6 Strike, Target Falls


4 Propel +0 +0 55 STR Shove

4 Punch/Elbow Strike +0 +2 10d6 Strike

3 Throw +0 +1 8d6 +v/10, Target Falls

8 +2 Extra DCs (already added in)

105 Teleportation Powers: Multipower, 105-point reserve6f 1) Basic Teleportation: Teleportation 60m,

Position Shift 6

6f 2) Focused Teleportation: Teleportation 35m,Position Shift 6

Armor Piercing (x2; +½)

3f 3) Teleportation Boxing: Blast 6d6 6

Area Of Effect (16m Radius Selective; +1); Extra Time(Full Phase; -½), Limited Range (center of Area mustbe within the character’s Half Move using Teleporta-tion at Combat velocity; -¼)

4f 4) Trading Places: Teleportation 30m 10

Usable As Attack (does not affect characters withteleportation or dimensional powers; +1¼), LimitedRange (30m; +¼); Only To Trade Places (-1), UnifiedPower (-¼)

plus: Teleportation 30mOnly To Trade Places (-1), Linked (-½), Unified Power (-¼)

3f 5) Blink Teleportation: +8 DCV 4


30 Teleportation Flare: Sight Group Flash 8d6 6Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Personal Immu-nity (+¼); Linked (to Basic Teleportation; -½), NoRange (-½)

10 Force-Field Gloves: Resistant (+½) for 15 PD/15 ED 0OIF (-½)

40 Force-Field Gloves: Damage Negation(-6 DCs Physical and Energy) 0

OIF (-½)

8 Swift: Running +8m (20m total) 1

Talents


Skills

24 +3 HTH

3 Acrobatics 15-

3 Breakfall 15-

3 Charm 13-

3 Contortionist 15-

3 Conversation 13-

3 High Society 13-

2 KS: Malvan Gladiators 11-

2 KS: Post-War Malvan Literature 11-

2 PS: Malvan Dancing 11-

3 Sleight Of Hand 15-

3 Stealth 15-

3 Teamwork 15-

2 WF: Common Malvan Melee Weapons


Total Cost: 598



5 Rivalry: Romantic, with various other male Malvans forvarious other female Malvans’ affections






Background/History: Te personal history ofthe being known as Plasmarax is a strange one,containing as many gaps as it does actual informa-tion. Plasmarax himself remembers only tremen-dous heat and light, and an urgent desire to cometo Malva to fight.

Malvans interested in finding out more abouttheir current favorite gladiator have gone to someeffort to try to trace out his background, withlimited success. Plasmarax seems to have traveledto Malva from the site of a tremendous explo-sion in an intense radiation belt not far fromthe galactic core. Te explosion seems to haveinvolved two ships — one possibly an Az’arc’aenergy-construct vessel, one so obliterated bythe blast that tracing its course or determiningits provenance defies even Malvan science. TeseMalvans theorize that a small ship containinga physical being who was on his way to Malvasomehow collided with the Az’arc’a ship. Te

resulting explosion of both ships’ drives somehow“fused” the being with one or more Az’arc’a,creating a new entity of “physical energy” withno memories prior to its creation. Attempts tofind out more via telepathy have faltered due toPlasmarax’s bizarre mind, which defies conven-tional psionics. (As a result, arena officials won’tput Plasmarax in a match against an opponentwho primarily relies on mental powers; it wouldn’tbe a fair fight.)

Even assuming this theory is true, it leaves a lotof questions unanswered. Who was the physicalbeing, and what species did he belong to? Whywas he heading to Malva? Did he already havesuperpowers of his own? For the time being thesequestions simply have to go unanswered, but fightfans hope to learn more somehow, someday.

Personality/Motivation: Plasmarax seems to haverelatively little personality other than a desire tofight, and win, gladiatorial matches. When notfighting he usually enjoys luxuriating in a sort of“energy bath” the Malvans designed for him andwatching 3D entertainment broadcasts. Slowly,surely, as the months and years pass he seemsto be developing more of a personalty — albeita grim, efficient, nearly emotionless one. Manyfans and arena officials, who’ve come to like

him in their own way, hope that he continuesto “improve” and eventually becomes more afunctioning member of gladiatorial and Malvansociety.

Quote: Nothing. Plasmarax almost never speaks inbattle, and rarely outside of it.

Powers/Tactics: Assuming the theories discussedabove are correct, Plasmarax’s powers result fromhis having a body of energy so “dense” that ithas quasi-physical properties — a body possiblycreated by the merger of a physical being with oneor more energy beings as a result of a hyperdriveexplosion in a radiation belt. He can project

energy bolts in a wide variety of configurations,from narrowly-focused ones that burn througharmor to beams that blast large areas. Since hisform partly consists of energy, just touching himis harmful for most people, though many super-gladiators are tough enough to withstand this.

One of Plasmarax’s weaknesses as a gladiatoris that he doesn’t move as quickly or effectively asmany of his opponents. Most energy beings andprojectors can fly, but his physical-energy formis too “heavy” for him to fly properly. Te best hecan do is “hover” within 5m of the ground.

Campaign Use: Besides simply using Plasmarax

as a gladiator, you can introduce the mystery ofhis origin as a plot or subplot. Perhaps an alienPC comes from the same species he does andrecognizes something in him that leads to moreclues and eventually some answers. Or maybe anAz’arc’a delegation shows up with more informa-tion... that leads to even more questions.

o make Plasmarax a more difficult foe to fight,make him less “dense” so that he can fly and tele-port at will, and perhaps even become Desolidifiedfor short periods of time. o weaken him, removehis Damage Negation and reduce his SPD to 5.

Appearance: Whatever his original species mighthave been, Plasmarax is now a being of pure

energy. He’s a humanoid-shaped mass of energy,with an inner outline of orange and an outeroutline of gold. His “resolution” is sufficiently“sharp” that the outlines show eyes, a nose, amouth, and two five-fingered hands.

5






25 PD 23 Total: 25 PD (20 rPD)35 ED 33 Total: 35 ED (30 rED)20 REC 16

100 END 1615 BODY 580 STUN 30 Total Characteristics Cost: 344


Flight: 20m

Cost Powers END

100 Physical-Energy Attacks: Multipower, 100-point reserve

7f 1) Mega-Bolt: Blast 20d6 20

Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -½)

8f 2) Standard Bolt: Blast 16d6 8

9f 3) Easy Bolt: Blast 12d6 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)9f 4) Piercing Bolt: Blast 14d6 9

Armor Piercing (+¼)

9f 5) Smashing Bolt: Blast 14d6 9+1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+¼)

9f 6) Pulse-Bolt: Blast 12d6 9

Autofire (5 shots; +½)

9f 7) Standard Energy Burst: Blast 12d6 9Area Of Effect (30m Radius Explosion; +½)

9f 8) Controlled Energy Burst: Blast 14d6 9

Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼)

10f 9) Blinding Energy Burst: Sight Group Flash 13d6 10

Area Of Effect (30m Radius Explosion; +½)

33 Physical-Energy Form: RKA 1d6 0Area Of Effect (personal Surface — Damage Shield;+¼), Constant (+½), Penetrating (+½), Persistent(+¼), Inherent (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END;+½); Always On (-½)

25 Physical-Energy Form:Resistant (+½) for 20 PD/30 ED 0

30 Physical-Energy Form: Damage Negation(-3 DCs Physical and Energy) 0

10 Physical-Energy Form: Power Defense (10 points) 0

50 Bizarre Physical-Energy Mind: Mental Defense(40 points) 0

Hardened (+¼)

35 Physical-Energy Form: Life Support (Total) 0

16 Hover-Flight: Flight 20m 2

Must Remain Within 5m Of The Ground (-¼)



Total Cost: 738


None (or at least none he’s aware of... yet)






hile most Malvans are layaboutsinterested only in ways to fill theirdays with entertainment and pleasure,not all of them are quite so decadent.

Every now and then a Malvan comes along whohas his people’s ancient drive to do, to learn, toachieve. Tis usually means leaving Malva for anextended period to become a part of life in the

greater Galaxy. ateklys (see Chapter Tree) isone such Malvan; here are some others your PCsmight meet sometime.

Background/History: Attakon Marrath-ta-Javalkais a member of the royal family, a son of ValzadXIII’s great-aunt on his paternal side. He’s twelhin line for the Malvan throne... or at least he wasuntil his phazarian cousin banished him fromMalva for two centuries.

Tere was a time when Valzad and Attakon

were good friends. Tey grew up together, oenattending the gladiatorial fights with their friendsand playing sports. But as they became older, theydried apart. Attakon was a dark, intense pres-ence, one whose personality didn’t fit well withthe more easy-going Valzad. Something abouthim disturbed even those close to him. With thepassing years he became more arrogant and cruel,abusing robots and slaves alike with a free handand not hesitating to break Malvan law if he feltlike it. Only the fact of his royal blood saved himfrom mental reprogramming to eliminate thenegative aspects of his personality.

Ten one day he went too far. Forty years ago,not long aer undergoing treatments to granthimself superpowers, Attakon angrily slapped oneof the Phazor’s slaves so hard that the man died ofhis injuries before the medical robots could reachhim. Furious, Valzad imposed one of the harshestpunishments under Malvan law: he exiled Attakonfrom Malva for two centuries.

Angrily declaring that he’d never return,Attakon collected devices and personal posses-sions, got in his star-yacht, and sailed away fromthe seat of the Helacthiat Trone. In the fourdecades since then he’s traveled the Milky Way,doing what he chooses and living life on hisown harsh terms. He’s never come closer than athousand light-years to Malva... and perhaps, in

accordance with his vow, never again will.Personality/Motivation: Attakon is as cold,callous, cruel, and self-interested as any supervil-lain. In fact, if he were just a little more motivated,he could become a highly dangerous villain. As itstands he’s simply “casually villainous.” If he seessomething he wants, he takes it, but he doesn’tregularly plan and commit robberies. If someoneannoys him or gets in his way, he attacks thatperson, oen injuring them severely to “teachthem a lesson,” but he doesn’t go out of his way tocommit assault or murder. If the mood struck himhe might take over a planet and rule it for awhile,but conquest and political power aren’t his driving

interests.

Quote: “Idiots! I am the son of a civilization amillion years old, the product of a technologyrefined over a longer period of time than yourpathetic species has been walking upright. Youhave no chance against me!”

Powers/Tactics: Attakon possesses a grab-bag ofsuperhuman abilities imbued in him by Malvanscience. He’s super-strong and super-tough. Hecan project energy beams from his eyes, augmenthis punches by surrounding his fists with energy,or emit energy from his entire body to hurtanyone who touches him. He can fly and become

invisible; he can read and control minds.Attakon approaches combat as arrogantly as

he does everything else. He typically picks outthe biggest or most impressive-looking oppo-nent, decides whether a physical or mental attackis the best tactic, and then batters his foe intosubmission. When that’s done he engages the nextopponent, and so on. He oen uses his invisibilityto taunt his enemies or make sneak attacks againstthem. He’s smart and can fight cleverly if he has to,but has never put in the time and effort to developthe tactical possibilities of his wide variety ofsuperpowers.

5









Cost Powers END

60 Energy Powers: Multipower, 60-point reserve

6f 1) Eyebeams: Blast 12d6 6

2f 2) Energy-Powered Punch: HA +4d6 2

Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼)

4f 3) Energy Field: RKA 2d6 2Area Of Effect (personal Surface — DamageShield; +¼), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance(½ END; +¼); No Range (-½)

15 Well-Aimed Eyebeams: Line Of Sight (+½) for Blast12d6 6Extra Time (Full Phase; -½), Increased EnduranceCost (x2 END; -½)

60 Mental Assault: Mental Blast 6d6 6

60 Mental Domination: Mind Control 12d6 6

60 Mindreading: Telepathy 12d6 6

20 Toughness: Resistant (+½) for 20 PD/20 ED 0

25 Toughness: Damage Negation (-3 DCs Physical,-2 DCs Energy) 0

30 Warrior Unseen: Invisibility to Sight Group, No Fringe 3

30 Flying: Flight 30m 3

6 Fast Runner: Running +6m (18m total) 1

Perks

10 Fringe Benefit: Lordship (member of the Malvan royalfamily)


Talents


Skills


3 Breakfall 13-

3 Charm 13-


3 Deduction 13-

1 Electronics 8-

2 KS: Malvan History And Civilization 11-

1 Mechanics 8-

3 Persuasion 13-

1 SS: Robotics 8-

3 Stealth 13-

1 Systems Operation 8-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 458

Total Cost: 727


10 Hunted: Phazor Valzad XIII (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,Watching)

20 Psychological Complication: Callous And Cruel; CaresOnly About Himself (Common, Total)

5 Social Complication: Banished From Malva For 200 Years (Infrequently, Minor)






In addition to his powers, Attakon has a well-equipped (and armed) Malvan space yacht andwhatever other Malvan technology you’d like himto have for a particular scenario. (He’s even taughthimself a little about building and maintaininghis equipment.) Given the nature of Malvantechnology, you can assume that this significantlyincreases his power, and the danger he poses toothers, if necessary. On the other hand, if he wereto let Malvan technology (particularly weapons)fall into non-Malvan hands, the Phazor wouldprobably become angry enough with him to havehim executed, a punishment not invoked onMalva for millennia. (He’d also hunt down andretrieve all such “lost” devices from their current“owners.”)

Campaign Use: While Attakon isn’t strong enoughto take on most superhero teams singlehandedly(absent the use of Malvan technology, as describedabove), he should be tough enough to give oneor two of them a challenge, or maybe serve as amaster villain to a low-powered team. You canincrease his power by giving him more Damage

Negation, SR, or SPD if necessary (or, again,provide him with an arsenal of Malvan hyper-technology); if he needs to be weaker, removesome or all of his Combat Skill Levels.

Attakon’s connection to the Phazor maycomplicate the PCs’ ability to cope with him.While he’s not exactly a favorite of Valzad’s, thePhazor retains enough affection (and concern) forhim to keep an eye on him. Even though Attakonis oen a problem for him he probably wouldn’ttake kindly to anyone seriously hurting (or killing)him. Stopping him from harming others is fine,even encouraged, but taking matters too far willlikely earn the Phazor’s wrath.

Appearance: Attakon is a tall Malvan with theaquiline good looks and red-brown hair andeyebrows characteristic of close relatives of thePhazor. Except for his face, neck, and a stripdown his spine and the center of his chest abouta handspan wide, his entire upper body is dyed“outer space black” (i.e., a deep black with tinywhite points of light representing stars and otherastronomical features). He wears deep blue pants,a golden sash that hangs down his le leg, andstylish black boots.

Background/History: Malvan literature andmythology, particularly from the pre-war period,oen features a type of character known as athalusco. Te closest way to express this in Humanterms would probably be something like “lovablerogue,” “daring, seductive adventurer,” or “golden-

hearted thief”; a thalusco can be all of that andmore. Te concept of the picaresque character alsocomes close, though thalusca aren’t usually fromthe lower classes like the classic picaro.

Athulos Shain, a Malvan of but two hundredyears, fell in love with thaluscan literature at anearly age. He became so obsessed with it that itfinally occurred to him to become a thaluscohimself! Tere were no more opportunities foradventure like that on Malva, so he decided totravel out among the stars to conduct his daringexploits. Aer the manufacturing robots builtthe devices he needed, in best thaluscan fashionhe stole a starship, christened himself Athulos

Starheart, and set off in search of opportunities forbold deeds.

Personality/Motivation: Although he’s a wantedcriminal on dozens of worlds, Athulos isn’t reallya hardened villain at all. His crimes are almostalways elaborate thes or con games, oeninvolving a beautiful woman he wants to seduce,and he goes to great lengths to ensure that noone suffers physical injury. If possible the targetis someone who definitely deserves to be robbed,and anyone who suffers for the the also had itcoming. Athulos uses the proceeds to keep hisstarship and men in good shape (he prefers to

live in the lap of luxury, aer all, being Malvan),or gives them away to people in need. He’ll fightif cornered, cleverly and ruthlessly if need be, butprefers to rely on his wits and Malvan technologyto avoid (or run from) confrontations.

Athulos’s great weakness is that of mostthalusca: beautiful women. He’ll stop in mid-crime to romance a female he finds attractive, riskeverything to kidnap some gorgeous girl, or focushis efforts in a fight more on impressing a femalecombatant than winning the battle.

Quote: “Ho! Hands off the alarm, goodman, ormy sword will make you regret such hasty heroics.Remain calm and no one shall suffer harm. Andwho is this lovely lady standing next to you?”

Powers/Tactics: Partly through training andpartly through years of experience, Athulos isa pretty competent thief, able to pick locks, foilsecurity systems, and pick pockets. In combat herelies on the classic thalusca weapon, a single-edged dueling sword, but his has a hyper-techtwist. Te blade is only a molecule thin andstrengthened with an energy field so it can cutthrough nearly anything, and can also project anenergy blast or “cut through” infraspace to allowhim to teleport. His vest generates a protectiveforce-field, but beyond that Athulos has the tradi-

tional thaluscan luck to see him through adversity.

5








Movement: Running: 15m Teleportation: 55m

Flight: 12m

Swinging: 20m

Cost Powers END

45 Hyper-Rapier: Multipower, 90-point reserve

All OAF (-1)

3f 1) Energized Monomolecular Blade: HKA 2d6 0Armor Piercing (x2; +½), Penetrating (x2; +1),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), NoKnockback (-¼), No STR Bonus (-½)

4f 2) Pulson Beam: Blast 12d6 [16]No Range Modifier (+½); OAF (-1), 16 Charges (-0)

4f 3) Dimensional Slice: Teleportation 55m, Position Shift 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1)

Martial Arts: Malvan Fencing Maneuver OCV DCV Damage/Effect

4 Avoidance — +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks,Abort

4 Charge +2 -2 Weapon +v/10; FMove

4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, 30 STR Disarm roll

5 Lunge +1 -2 Weapon +4 DC

4 Parry +2 +2 Block, Abort

4 Riposte +2 +2 Weapon +2 DC, Must FollowBlock

5 Slash +2 +1 Weapon

5 Takeaway +0 +0 Grab Weapon, 30 STR to TakeWeapon Away

5 Thrust +1 +3 Weapon

45 Protective Vest: Resistant Protection (12 PD/12 ED) 0Hardened (+¼)

18 Boot-Jets: Flight 12m 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

8 Concealed Swingline Bracer: Swinging 20m 2IIF (-¼)

30 Thalusco’s Luck: Luck 6d6 0

Perks15 Money: Filthy Rich

Talents



Skills

16 +2 HTH

3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Breakfall 13-

3 Charm 13-

1 Computer Programming 8-3 Conversation 13-

1 Electronics 8-

3 KS: Malvan Literature 13-

3 Lockpicking 13-

1 Navigation (Space) 8-

3 Persuasion 13-


3 Sleight Of Hand 13-

3 Stealth 13-


2 WF: Common Malvan Melee Weapons



15 Hunted: Star*Guard (Infrequently, As Pow, NCI, Capture)

20 Psychological Complication: Code Versus Killing(Common, Total)

15 Psychological Complication: Swashbuckling Thrill-seeker; Loves A Daring Challenge (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Skirtchaster; Sucker For APretty Face (Common, Strong)






If he’s unable to avoid or escape a fight, Athulosfights with cleverness and flair. He’s skilled atusing the environment to his advantage, and alsorelies on his eleportation for a fighting edge —he “pops” behind a target to get the drop on him.Given the lethality of his blade, he oen resortsto his Blast or a Club Weapon Maneuver to avoidinflicting deadly wounds.

Campaign Use: Athulos is a great starfaring oppo-

nent for lower-powered or lighter-hearted groupsof superheroes. He can show up anywhere in theGalaxy you need him to, and is a wily opponent nomatter how strong the PCs’ superpowers. He’s alsoa potential romantic interest for lovely superhero-ines... or villainesses.

o make Athulos a tougher opponent, increasehis SPD to 6 and his Resistant Protection to thepoint the PCs have difficulty hurting him. Ofcourse, you can also supply him with any Malvangadget he needs (though since he stole the Heart’s-Fire, he can’t just go back to Malva anytime hewants; he has to plan his visits carefully and sneakin). o weaken him, remove his Malvan Fencingand reduce his Luck do 3-4d6.

Appearance: Athulos is a Malvan with golden skinand hair and eyebrows he dyes blue. He typicallywears garb in keeping with his preferred pica-resque image: a loose purple long-sleeved shirt,a brown vest with gold embroidery and metallichighlights, and black pants and boots. He oencarries a silver hyper-Malvan-tech “space rapier”as his preferred weapon.

THE HEART’S-FIRE Athulos Starheart’s ship, named the Heart’s-

Fire, is relatively small by Malvan standards —only about a kilometer long and half that wide.He’s redesigned it, giving it a far more baroque,

thaluscan look than the typical utilitarian Malvanship. It can reach speeds of one light-year perminute, though a cruising speed of one light-yearper 3-5 minutes is more common. It’s equippedwith light getha-beam weapons (RKA 15d6, 200million kilometer range), powerful force-fieldsand deflector rays, some powerful electronicwarfare systems, and a variety of other cleverdevices.

Athulos’s crew consists of aliens from dozens ofspecies. Besides being oxygen-breathers, the onething they share is their captain’s attitude. Tey’reall in it for the money and the adventure, notbecause they’re looking for a chance to be violent

or cruel. Te first mate, a mysterious Odrugaranknown only as Blue (from the color of his hair),keeps the other crewmen in line with even-handeddiscipline... and some rather odd psionic powers.

5




Background/History: elxaxares Qonor livedfor centuries on Malva, content to do what otherMalvans did: watch the gladiatorial games; go toparties; play in the holo-chambers; and amusehimself any other way he wanted to. But one day,aer watching a particularly intense gladiatorial

bout and seeing the elation on the winner’s face,elxaxares realized there was something missingin his life. He’d never done anything, really, oraccomplished anything — never felt what he sawon that gladiator’s face.

Te months passed, and these thoughtscontinued to prey on his mind with increasingfrequency. He finally decided the only way toexorcise this particular demon was to give in to it,to do something. As he considered this, he realizedthat he wanted to do what his ancient ancestorshad done: explore new lands, overcome their chal-lenges, conquer those who lived there, and guidethem to a better life.

Aer having the medical robots induce somesuperpowers in him and equipping his star-yachtwith all the devices and supplies he thought hemight need, elxaxares set out into the Milky Wayin search of adventure. Aer several amazing (andsometimes harrowing) experiences, he finallyfound what he was looking for. Te planet Salgan-darond was a terrestrial world, similar to Malva(or Earth) in most respects. Te green-skinnednatives possessed a medieval-to-Renaissance leveltechnology and cultures, and had a strong tradi-tion of mysticism and magic. Presenting himselfas a wizard of immense power, elxaxares quicklyconquered Salgandarond, brushing aside attacksfrom the natives’ hand weapons and primitivecannon with ease.

In the two decades since then, elxaxareshas ruled Salgandarond as the unquestioned Ang’tang’lq (roughly meaning “Sorcerer-God-King”). His every word is law to his subjects, andin many respects he’s “gone native,” adoptingcertain Salgandan customs and fashions as hisown. He’s also developed a real taste for power andauthority, and will deal harshly with anyone whothreatens his current lifestyle... such as meddlingHuman superheroes.

Personality/Motivation: elxaxares Qonor is far

from the ordinary Malvan he once was. Tat easy-going man has been replaced with a disciplined,authoritative, and oen arrogant and harsh plan-etary ruler who uses Malvan technology to makeit seem as if he has magic powers. He’s deliberatelykept the Salgandans from advancing culturallyor technologically in most respects while usinghis powers to keep them safe and well-fed, andthus mostly content. However they feel about himnow, ultimately the Salgandans would be better offwithout him in the long run.

elxaxares’s actions over the past twenty yearsmay not have directly violated the Phazor’s long-standing edicts about not giving Malvan tech-nology to less-advanced species (see page 111),but at the very least they skirt the edge of suchregulations. As a result elxaxares does not wantword of what he’s done/doing to get back to Malva.He’ll do whatever he has to, up to and includingmurder, to keep his secret.

Quote: “We welcome you into the presence of theruler of all Salgandarond.”

Powers/Tactics: elxaxares has undergoneMalvan treatments that make him stronger, faster,and significantly tougher than he was when helived on Malva. Additionally, he carries a wide variety of small, concealable Malvan gadgets, someof which can instantly reconfigure themselvesin accordance with his telepathic instructions.Tese devices make him seem like an immenselypowerful sorcerer to the Salgandans, who obeyhim unquestioningly for fear of his power (andbecause he does, in fact, look aer them in many

ways).Although he’s learned a bit about militaryaction from reading history and fighting theSalgandans, elxaxares is no warrior. He prefers toavoid combat entirely. If he has to fight, he’ll useMalvan weapons; if for some reason they’re notenough, he’ll use his gadgets to flee the scene.

Campaign Use: elxaxares can serve as a poten-tial planetary overlord for PC groups who aren’tyet ready to face the likes of Xarriel (see page2512). You could even expand his power to makehim more of a cosmic overlord who rules severalinhabited systems rather than a single medieval-level planet.

o make elxaxares tougher, give him moreinnate superpowers: SR 30; some Damage Nega-tion; some Mental Powers (particularly MindControl). o weaken him, remove the Cosmic (+2)Advantage from his Variable Power Pool so thathe has to spend some time (at least a Half Phase)changing the gadgets in his Pool.

Appearance: elxaxares is an old, cagey Malvanwith gold skin and white hair and eyebrows. Asthe unquestioned overlord of the planet Salgan-darond, he wears white and purple robes of officeand the golden Salgandan Crown; he also carriesthe matching Salgandan Scepter.









Cost Powers END

220 The “Magic” Of Malvan Gadgetry:Variable Power Pool, 100 Pool + 100 Control Cost varCosmic (+2); Focus (all slots must have at least -¼worth of this Limitation; -¼)

30 Miniature Infrashunt Power Supply:Endurance Reserve (120 END, 12 REC) 0IIF (-¼), Only Applies To VPP Gadgets (-0)

8 Tough Skin: Resistant (+½) for 8 PD/8 ED 0

29 Force-Field-Strengthened Robes Of Office:Resistant Protection (12 PD/12 ED) 0IIF (-¼)

14 “Mystic” Powers Of Levitation: Flight 12m 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); IIF (concealedflight-belt; -¼)

Perks

15 Fringe Benefit: Unquestioned Ruler Of All Salgandarond


Talents


20 Implanted Translator: Universal Translator 13- Skills

12 +1 Overall

2 Bureaucratics 10-

3 Charm 13-

3 Deduction 13-

2 KS: Malvan History 11-

2 KS: Salgandan History 11-

3 Oratory 13-

3 Persuasion 13-

1 Riding 8-

1 Tactics 8-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 386

Total Cost: 582


15 Psychological Complication: Arrogant And Authorita-tive; Determined To Rule And Preserve His Power(Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Wants To Keep His Activi-ties Secret From The Phazor And The Rest Of Malva(Uncommon, Total)



5



THE HZEEL:

BLUE SKINNED INVADERS

Chapter

Six



138 n The Hzeel: Blue Skinned Invaders Hero System 6th Edition

species of short, blue-skinned alienswho control a small interstellar empirerimward and somewhat antispinwardfrom Earth, the Hzeel are a significant

alien threat to Earth... but no Human’s ever heardof them.

Hzeel (the term is both singular and plural)are humanoids with bluish-grey skin and largered eyes that are particularly adept at gath-ering even the smallest amount of ambient light(making it easy for them to see at night). Althoughwarm-blooded, they are not mammalian. Teyevolved from a quasi-reptilian, vaguely jackal- or

hyena-like creature, a fact that their social biolo-gists believes explains the average Hzeel’s prefer-ence for being near (and working with) otherHzeel. (Cynics, and aliens who don’t care for theHzeel, claim it also explains the species’s penchantfor scavenging and the.)

Te average Hzeel male is 1.2 meters tall, theaverage female just 0.1 meter shorter; a Hzeel

1.5 meters tall is regarded as gigantic. Despitebeing on the short end of the galactic height scale,they’re oen as strong or stronger than Human-sized species and have notably quick reflexesas well.

Hzeel have four fingers and four toes. Betweenthis and the fact that Hzeel hands are signifi-cantly smaller than Humans’, Humans may havetrouble using some Hzeel devices, and vice-versa(-1 or worse penalties to relevant Skill Rolls and/or OCV).

Te Hzeel cannot have superpowers naturally(or at least, no example of a superpowered Hzeelhas ever been known to exist). Tey can, however,

be highly trained or use super-technology.Hzeel minds are sufficiently different from

Human minds that they cannot be affected byMental Powers which target the Human class ofminds. Affecting them psionically requires powersthat work against the Alien class of minds.

REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPANHzeel reproduction is somewhat odd by the

standards of most sentient species. Te eggs arefertilized through sexual contact similar to that ofmammalian species, but a month later are laid bythe female in clutches of two to four in a reptilianfashion. If properly cared for (which includes

keeping them at a temperature of about 32o

Celsius), the eggs typically hatch in 6-7 months.Te mother feeds the infants regurgitated food forabout a year, then transitions them to ordinaryso foods.

Compared to most sentient species the Hzeelhave relatively short lifespans — 60 years onaverage for males, slightly longer for females. Skel-etal growth in the form of numerous small spursand nodules occurs throughout life, giving mostaged Hzeel a gnarled appearance. In compensa-tion for these drawbacks, they heal rapidly. Teirbodies can repair in weeks injuries that plagueother humanoids for months, and can even regen-

erate lost limbs.

HZEEL TEMPLATE Cost Ability

4 +2 DEX

-2 -2 BODY

10 +2 DCV

5 Hzeel Eyes: Nightvision

4 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with SightGroup

7 Hzeel Regeneration: Regeneration(1 BODY per Week), Can HealLimbs


Value Complications

None


6



Champions Beyond n Chapter Six 13

WHAT HUMANITYKNOWS ABOUT

THE HZEELHumanity knows virtually nothing about the

Hzeel, not even that they exist. (Ironclad can’ttell them anything because the Perseids hadn’t

encountered the Hzeel before he le Dorvala;he’d be shocked to discover his people areinvolved in an interstellar war.) Asof 2011, noHuman superhero has ever encountered a Hzeel.

However, Humanity has unknowingly hada small amount of contact with the bluish-skinned aliens. Te Hzeel have been scoutingEarth for some time, preparing to invade andconquer it to use as a forward base in theirwar against the Perseids. On several occa-sions pilots have lost control of scout shipsand crashed. Fortunately for the Hzeel none ofthese crashes have ever attracted the attentionof any Human authorities, but some Hzeeltechnology and biomaterial has fallen intospecific Human hands. Specifically:

n the Warlord’s armor and other technologyderive in part from a crashed “Blueboy”(Hzeel) ship that he recovered in Africa in1991 (see CV1 260). He’d love to acquiremore Blueboy devices or systems; in fact hemight consider it “his” by default and takeit from anyone else who has it.

n Howler’s powers derive from a meldingof her flesh with a Hzeel device she tookfrom the same ship the Warlord found in1991 (see CV3 160). Exposure to Howler’s

device caused mutagenic changes in Dr.Kay Churchwell, who developed sonicpowers herself and became the super-heroine Dr. Vox, a member of the Sentinels.Similarly, Warcry got his sonic powers fromhaving Hzeel communications technologyimplanted in his body (see CV3 266).

n Oculon’s powers derive from Hzeel eyesimplanted into his body by Dr. Phil-lippe Moreau (see the VIPER source-book). VIPER obtained the nearly-intactHzeel corpse that Moreau used (and stillpossesses) from the wreckage of anotherscout ship that crashed in central Asia.(Unfortunately for VIPER, unlike the crashthat the Warlord found this one virtuallydestroyed the ship, leaving little technologyfor the snakes to study.)

n the Lodge, a rampaging monster thatsometimes plagues Canada, was created bythe master geneticist eleios partly from thegenetic material from a telepathic predatornative to a Hzeel colony world. Te Warlordgave eleios the alien biosamples in partialpayment for a platoon of the Perfect Man’scloned soldiers. eleios still has some of itbut knows nothing about the “Blueboys.”

HUMAN-HZEEL BIOCOMPATABILITY Hzeel and Human biomaterial are partly

compatible, but oen interact in strange ways.For example, implanting Hzeel eyes in Oculon’sHuman body gave him the power to project beamsof energy from his eyes, despite the fact thatneither Hzeel nor Human can ordinarily do this.Detailed experimentation might reveal a methodto this madness, though it’s unlikely anyone will

ever think to study this or have the opportunity to.Characters using Human medicine and

medical technologies on Hzeel suffer a -2 penaltyto all relevant Skill Rolls, and vice-versa, unless theGM rules otherwise. For example, a heart monitorwould probably work the same on either species,but a vaccine would suffer the penalty.

Zeel is an Earth-like planet that’s slightly

smaller than Earth itself, with 0.85 G gravity.It’s the fourth planet of an eleven-planet systemorbiting a F3V (yellow-white) star the Hzeel calllon. Te day is 26 Human hours long. Te threeinner worlds are rocky, atmosphereless bodiesunsuitable for anything except mining; the fihplanet is sufficiently terrestrial to support severalpartly-domed Hzeel colonies; the remainingplanets are all gas giants (one of which has twomoons large enough to support small miningcolonies).

Zeel’s northern hemisphere is a mega-conti-nent consisting of the continents Vrethlakuna andVscolrathane, which are separated by the enor-

mous inland Sea of Vnatht. Te southern hemi-sphere consists of the small continent Vmathtu,the even smaller island-continent of Gkezar, andthe extensive Kregn Archipelago. Numeroussmaller island groups exist around the world.

Zeel is heavily settled — indeed, extremelyovercrowded everywhere but the polar regions(which are still much more densely inhabitedthan Earth’s). Mega-metropoli like benthu-Lra,Gen-Hwa, and Hrusa-ena cover tens of thou-sands of square kilometers, then gradually giveway to somewhat less populated areas but rarelyto anything a modern Human would considera true “suburb.” Efficient mass transit systems(primarily high-speed railroad-like devices and airtravel networks) cover nearly the entire planet; it’spossible for an Hzeel in, say, Zgarthoni to get on a“train” and be in Qwenda-Hndra on the other sideof the world in about three hours.

Like Earth, Zeel has just one moon, whichthe Hzeel call Mkori. It supports several miningcolonies.




6




Modern Hzeel evolved from their more primi-tive ancestors approximately 60,000 years ago,with the first recognizable civilizations — the RcurEmpire of the Ltanl River delta region and theso-called “Green Ship People” of the Kregn Archi-pelago — emerging roughly 12,000 BC. EarlyEmpires rose and fell over the ensuing millennia;the greatest of these was the Hrusarese Empirethat dominated most of Vrethlakuna and Gkezarfor several centuries in the first millennium BC.

Te Hzeel achieved a Renaissance level oftechnology around 900 AD. At that time, andfor centuries thereaer, the planet remainedbalkanized, with prominent extended familiesdominating the political, economic, and social lifeof the various nation-states, cities, and regions.Te first move toward a unified planet was theemergence of the Pgedda super-state that coveredmuch of Vmathtu around 1500 AD. Te Pgedda-nese were able to influence political and economic

policy around the world (thanks in part to theirlarge military and willingness to use it to inter- vene in local affairs given practically any excuse),and their cultural traditions and creations soonbecame prominent all over Zeel. Pgedda fell toeconomic and social collapse in what Humanswould call the 1780s and was chopped up intopieces by then-stronger neighbors, but it had sownthe seeds of world unification.

A series of wars in the 1850-1900 era bothspurred technological development and finallyled to the creation of a world government underthe auspices of the mighty Hlajucht clan, whichremains the most powerful family on Hzeel today.

Tis period also saw the Hzeel first leave theirplanet to explore their moon and solar system.Given their aggressive tendencies, they soonmilitarized space, using armed starships andorbital weapons to create yet another front in theirseemingly-incessant conflicts.

RECENT HZEEL HISTORY Te past century of Hzeel history has been

marked by several trends. First, the Hzeel as aspecies have become more unified. Intra-speciesconflicts still exist — they’re inevitable on anovercrowded planet peopled by a species asaggressive, irrascible, and proud as the Hzeel tend

to be — but they’re very minor things comparedto the enormous, decades-long wars of centuriespast. oday’s Hzeel battles are far more likely tobe fought in the marketplaces and the courts thanwith blades and guns on the battlefield.

Second, the Hzeel have continued their spaceexploration, developed early FL drives fortheir starships, and explored or conquered othersystems. As of 2011 they have a small empire thatincludes the Prylenish and the Solemnids. TeHzeel drive into space has mainly been forcedby population pressures. Having large families is

the norm on Zeel (see below), so the planet longago became overcrowded. Since plagues, famine,and destructive wars no longer relieve populationpressure, the Hzeel send their sons and daugh-ters out into space to find new worlds to liveon... even if they have to take those worlds fromother species.

THE SOLEMNID WARTe Hzeel first encountered a rival species in

the Human year 1975, when a humanoid speciescalled the Solemnids (see page 282) intruded intoHzeel space. Te Solemnids controlled a largeregion of space rimward and slightly spinwardfrom Hzeel space and were in an expansionisticphase. While their technology and ships wereslightly better than the Hzeels’, the Solemnidsdon’t quite have the Hzeel aggressiveness andunwillingness to quit no matter what the odds.Over three decades of intermittent warfare (sinceneither species possessed FL drives fast enoughto allow for continuous conflict), the Hzeelslowly but surely overcame their initial defeatsand reversed the course of the war. Angered byatrocities committed against Hzeel personnel earlyin the war, the Hzeel brutally dealt with defeatedSolemnid worlds, oppressively conquering andruling some while leaving less desireable worlds assmoking ruins.

Te Battle of Solemnis in 1999 shattered thelargest remaining Solemnid fleet and le theSolemnid homeworld open to conquest. Althougha few tiny, pathetic remnants of the Solemnidmilitary machine exist and occasionally emergefrom hiding to strike a blow against their hatedenemy, the parts of Solemnid territory nearestHzeel space are now firmly a part of the Hzeel

Empire, and the Solemnids themselves exploited,second-class citizens. (Te rest of Solemnid spacelies nearer Perseid territory and has been claimedby the Perseids during their own war with theHzeel, though at present they have only a tokenforce there and little way to enforce their will,leaving the region a mostly-lawless backwater.Te Perseids have also offered whatever supportand assistance they can to the Solemnid partisans,much to the anger of the Hzeel.)

THE PERSEID WARTe fighting with the Solemnids hadn’t even

ended before the Hzeel got involved in another

low-scale war — one that has yet to end as of2011. In 1997 as the most daring Hzeel explorersand traders were pushing as far spinward as theirdrives would allow, similarly adventurous Perseidswere doing the same thing to antispinward ofPerseid space. Initial contact between the twospecies was warily friendly, but infrequent diplo-matic exchanges soon led to declarations of warwhen it became apparent that both species wantedthe same systems — and both had similar long-term plans for the “southern” part of the MilkyWay Galaxy.




Since neither the Hzeel nor the Perseidspossess FL drives capable of traversing spacebetween their respective territories quickly, theHzeel-Perseid War has become a long, drawn-out, strategic affair. Each side sends fleets of shipsout to war that arrive at their front months lateronly to discover the course of the war has shied.Captains and admirals in the field are oen forcedto rely on their own judgment with spotty intel-ligence, so strategies may not evolve as the highcommand on Zeel or Dorvala intends.

In over a decade, the course of the war hasshied twice. Te Perseids in effect declared warby attacking a Hzeel trading expedition, takingthe survivors prisoner, and claiming severalsystems the Hzeel had explored. Since it tooktime for word of this to get back to Zeel, thePerseids were able to press their initial advantagefor further gains. Only a major effort by the Zeelmilitary (including diverting a fleet away froma major attack on Solemnis, delaying the end ofthat war for nearly two years) was able to haltthe Perseid advance. Hzeel daring and aggres-

siveness then shied the advantage, with manyof the Perseid gains being erased or counteractedin other sectors. Te Hzeel had the advantageof momentum until 2006, when a major Perseidpush established a certain level of equilibrium thatremains to this day.

Te distance between the two combatants andthe problems it causes have been a major factor inthe war, so both sides have been looking for waysto eliminate that difficulty for years. Te Perseidshave focused on establishing military outposts inuninhabited systems, but they can never get one tothe point where it’s big enough to become a majorstaging point before the Hzeel locate it and destroy

it. Te Hzeel, aer several failed similar efforts,have set their sights on a bigger prize: Earth.

Te planet Earth is roughly halfway betweenZeel and Dorvala. Te Hzeel first scouted it in1990, and it’s ideally located to serve as a forwardbase/fortress planet from which the Hzeel candirect their war effort more efficiently. Unfortu-nately it’s heavily inhabited (albeit balkanized)by a species which is probably less than a centurybehind the Hzeel technologically... and worse,which possesses a large number of superhumanlypowerful individuals. Te Hzeel think thesesuperhumans, too, could be a valuable strategicasset, if only they can be controlled. o thatend, for years now Hzeel scout ships have spiedcovertly on Earth, taking the greatest of care notto be detected while gathering information onEarth in general, and her superhuman protectorsin particular.

Te Hzeel high command hasn’t settled on afinal plan for Earth yet. A majority of the officerswant to simply stage an invasion and overwhelmHumanity with superior force and weaponry.But a minority remain deeply concerned aboutEarth’s superheroes. Tey’d prefer to neutralizethem somehow before attacking Earth. Ideasthey’ve considered include creating a false crisisfar from Earth to lure superheroes away fromhome, secretly aiding (or teaming up with) amajor supervillain (or villains) and using him astheir stalking-horse, or tailoring some sort of bio-weapon to attack superpowered Humans. Discus-sions continue, but rising fears that the Perseidsmay try to ally themselves with Humanity, orlaunch their own invasion, may spur the Hzeel toact soon.

Te recent arrival of Qularr and Gadroonforces has caused the Hzeel to rethink someelements of their plan. Tey don’t believe eitherspecies is powerful enough to overcome Humanityas things now stand... but studying what they doand how the Earthlings react will yield valuable

intelligence. Additionally, either species’s attackmight weaken Earth’s defenses. So as long as eitherthe Gadroon or the Qularr seem to be makingsome sort of progress in their war with Humanity,the Hzeel are content to watch, wait, and learn.

As with most sentient species — particularlythose strong enough to create and maintainempires — the Hzeel have a complex, vibrantculture that’s difficult to summarize. If one had todescribe the Hzeel civilization in general terms,

two traits in particular spring to mind.First, the Hzeel are busy. Aggressive, ambi-

tious, and competitive, they’re constantly doingthings, looking for an angle, and searching for thatnext big opportunity. Tere are so many Hzeelthat one who doesn’t move with the social pacesimply gets trampled and le behind, metaphori-cally speaking. If there’s one thing that’s dear tothe Hzeel heart, it’s advancement, advantage, andinfluence — whether that’s getting a better job,obtaining political office, or becoming rich.

Second, by the standards of Humans and mostother sentient species, the Hzeel are corrupt. Teydon’t consider it corruption, of course — to them,

it’s the way things are, and should be, done, evenif there’s a law on the books that says otherwise.(Aer all, that law was just passed by some otherHzeel as a way of exerting influence and extortingmoney from less powerful Hzeel; it’s “the sameperson in a different suit of clothes,” as the Hzeelwould say.) Any Hzeel who wants anything fromanother Hzeel who’s not a close relative or friendis going to have to pay for it, whether in cold,hard dzebeks (the Hzeel currency), return favors,or something else. A Hzeel who has the slightestshred of influence or power uses it to extortmoney and resources from others (sometimes

subtly, sometimes less so).

6




Te Hzeel have a unified world governmentthat’s nominally a democracy. While it’s true thatevery Hzeel gets to vote to say who should hold

the important positions in the planetary govern-ment, democracy on Zeel is as corrupt as anythingelse. Everyone’s vote is for sale, some way,somehow, and no Hzeel politician thinks twiceabout trying to buy it. None of them try to hidethis. Aer all, getting caught isn’t what concernsthem, since no Hzeel really cares about the situa-tion unless he’s using the anti-corruption laws toput pressure on a politician. What keeps a Hzeelpolitician awake at night is trying to figure outways to ensure that a voter stays loyal once bought.

Te Hzeel formally refer to their planetaryleader as the “First Minister,” but typically use the

term Khro Dmavo (“Major Boss”) instead. Lesserfigures — the dozens of Ministers who serve in theMajor Boss’s cabinet, the generals and admirals ofthe military, regional administrators, and so on —are referred to as lesser degrees of “boss.” Te mostpowerful local officials, such as mayors and wardleaders, are known just as “Boss,” and to outsidersit wouldn’t always be clear with Boss actuallyruns things in a city or province. Te Hzeel know,though — they can sense the shi of power andinfluence on the wind the way a bloodhoundfollows a scent.

Te current Major Boss is Bvekro, who’s alsothe leader of the enormous Sgadonda clan andamassed a huge fortune in business before gettinginto politics. A Hzeel’s Hzeel, he can shi fromgladhanding camaraderie to brass knuckles

intimidation in a heartbeat, and he always gets hisway. With ten wives and over a hundred children(about half of whom are grown and work forhim in some capacity) his social life is as busy ashis professional. Nevertheless, widely-believedrumors claim he still finds time to have affairs withpretty much every female member of his cabinet.

THE HZEEL EMPIREBesides their own homeworld, the Hzeel

control an empire of several dozen star systemsand their attendant planets. Most of these worldsare uninhabited, of course (except perhaps foran Hzeel colony), but three sentient species fall

under Hzeel rule. Te first are the Prylenish, whocall their world Sha-Prylen. A peaceful peopleeasily conquered by the Hzeel, they oen servetheir imperial masters as clerks and other minorgovernmental functionaries. See page 276 formore information about them.

Te second, the Solemnids, are definitely notpeaceful. Ever since being conquered by the Hzeelin 1999 (see above) they’ve continued to resist andstrike back at their oppressors however they can.Te Hzeel military devotes significant resources tokeeping the Solemnids from rebelling or causingother trouble. Solemnis and its former colonyworlds are rich in resources, though, making itworth the effort to keep them in the Empire.




Te third species inhabit a world the Hzeel callJgalth IV. Te Jgalthi are green-skinned human-oids with both reptilian and avian characteristics.Tey have a “Dark Ages”-level technology andregard the Hzeel as gods who descend from thesky in strange, floating palaces to demand tribute.So far the Hzeel haven’t done much with Jgalth IV,since their attentions are better occupied else-where, but the time may come when they decideto exploit this pristine world more thoroughly.

THE HZEEL MILITARY Te Hzeel have a large, active military — not

surprising, given that they recently finished oneinterstellar war and are currently fighting another.As with most starfaring species the bulk of theirmilitary assets are devoted to the space navy, butthey have a small wet navy and an active army aswell.

Because they have an enormous populationto draw military personnel from, the Hzeel oensignificantly outnumber their foes and havedevised a wide variety of strategies and tactics totake advantage of this fact. It’s fortunate for themthat they have this asset to rely upon, because theskill of the military leadership is oen lacking.Like everything else on Zeel, officer positions areessentially for sale, and more than a few Hzeelofficers simply haven’t been qualified for thepositions they bought. On the other hand, the junior officers and rank-and-file soldiers are oenquite competent, since Hzeel ambition and drivemotivate them to compete hard with one anotherfor promotions when they don’t have the money tobuy them.

Another problem plaguing the Hzeel militaryis smuggling and the sale of military contraband.

Positions within the quartermaster corps or thesupply-and-logistics branch are highly covetedbecause they’re regarded as a ticket to riches fora Hzeel bold and clever enough to sell militarymateriel “out of the back of a truck.” Some studiesestimate that the Hzeel military has to buy roughlytwice as much supplies as it actually needs tocompensate for the widespread the.

HZEEL ESPIONAGEGiven their well-deserved reputation for clev-

erness, sneakiness, bribery, and general chicanery,it’s no surprise that the Hzeel are highly skilled atespionage. Te agents of the Hzeelo Rganthkorsha

(“Hzeel Intelligence Service”) know how to ferretout secrets, find the weak spots in enemy defenses,and parse gigabytes of data for meaningfulinformation. Hzeel technology isn’t sufficientlyadvanced to let HR agents flawlessly disguisethemselves as other species to spy on enemiesclose up (at best they can use holograms), butthey’re quite adept at using sensory and communi-cations technology, locating potential traitors andbribing them into Hzeel service, and so on.

Currently the HR has to split most of itsresources between three arenas of conflict. First,they have numerous agents working in Solemnidspace to find and dispose of rebel cells and otherthreats to Hzeel rule. Second, they’re doingwhatever they can to learn anything useful aboutthe Perseids, though the distance between theirrespective worlds makes this a difficult task. Tird,HR agents (and navy scouts assigned to assist theHR) have been spying on Earth for years, tryingto determine the best way to invade and conquerthe planet with a minimum of casualties so it canbecome a “launching point” for attacks againstPerseid space.

Te Hzeel have a robust capitalistic economythat’s enriched by the systems in their empire,which provide a ready source of various raw mate-rials, and for some products new marketplaces.While plenty of regulations exist that supposedlygovern how business, finance, and trade work, the

Hzeel economy is as much a product of corrup-tion as anything else in their society. Bribery,influence-peddling, and corporate espionage runrampant; in effect, organized crime is part andparcel of the business world. Whether you want toopen a small corner store or become CEO of oneof the planet’s biggest mega-corporations, the oddsare you’re going to have to pay off one (or more)of the Hzeel mobs to do it — or have a mob that’sallied with you drive them off. Where a companybegins and crime ends is a line not even an Hzeelcan draw accurately all the time.

Te dominant institution in Hzeel social lifeisn’t the government, a corporation, or some othersuch institution — it’s the family. Since the earliestdays of Hzeel civilization, family has served as thecornerstone for nations and businesses alike.

A Hzeel typically gets married no later than age20, and in some cultures as early as 12-13. Malesare allowed to have as many wives as they canafford and persuade to marry them, and fatheringmany children is regarded as a sign of manliness,power, and wisdom. Tus, Hzeel families tend tobe large, particularly given the fact that two ormore brothers may combine their households into

one for purposes of economy, efficiency, and evenprotection.

ypically the eldest male in a family is regardedas its patriarch and leader, though in some cases adynamic, ambitious, or talented younger male willde facto be in charge. By tradition his word is law,though in the way of young people throughoutnearly every species and time, children oen testlimits by defying authority or trying to sneakaround behind the adults’ backs. Te Hzeelregard this as good training for adult life in Hzeelsociety... and the harsh punishments doled outto those who are caught as lessons about whathappens if you’re not strong or smart enough tosucceed.

6




Many businesses are run by single families(and sometimes have been for literally dozens ofgenerations). Ideally, though, a family wants atleast some of its children to go into some line ofwork other than the family business to (a) learnskills useful to the family as a whole, and (b)broaden the family’s overall network of contactsand influence.

Females are generally second-class citizensin Hzeel society. Tey’re largely expected to stayhome, raise children, and care for the family.

CLANSTree or more families oen come together to

form lkanv, or “clans.” Some of the most powerfulclans (such as Gdachto, Kmeshlura, and Vnawel)have existed for centuries or even millennia, butnew ones form every year as shiing prioritiesand desires tear old ones apart (oen violently).A long-entrenched clan oen dominates socialor political life in its home region, or may have amonopoly-like grip on some type of commerce.Politicians seeking votes oen pay lavish bribesto clan leaders as a way of buying the votes of theentire clan... though a smart candidate makes sureto pass some of the lucre all the way down theladder to the youngest voters, just in case the clanleaders get greedy.

Clans compete with one another in just aboutevery possible way: politics, business, finance,crime, sports, and more. If a clan is good at some-thing, its rivals want to beat it or weaken it; if it’sbad at something, it wants to get better or improveits position (whether legitimately or throughillegal means). Sometimes this seething social situ-ation erupts into outright war, with gangs associ-ated with each clan actually shooting it out in the

streets. Te authorities turn a blind eye to a certainamount of this as a way of allowing rival clans tolet off steam, but if it becomes too dangerous ordisruptive all combatant clans will be brought toheel somehow.

HZEEL NAMESA Hzeel’s name reflects this emphasis on

family. His formal name consists of three parts,in this order: Clan Name, Family Name, PersonalName. For example, the formal name of wealthybusinessman Klorm (see below) is HnagleshturDveros Klorm, meaning he’s a member of theDveros family of the Hnagleshtur clan. However,

most Hzeel don’t use their clan or family namesevery day, and in fact being recognized by justone’s personal name is a sign that one has becomepromninent or famous enough to “stand on one’sown” in Hzeel society.

Te Hzeel are as creative and have as richa culture as Humanity, though of course thespecifics vary greatly. For example, the Hzeel tendto prefer the performing arts over static art formsmuch more than Humans do.

Hzeel artists, be they poets, chefs, sculptors,actors, or something else, are typically supportedby their clans until they can earn enough tosupport themselves. An indulgent clan mayessentially finance an artistically-inclined Hzeel’scareer his entire life, while more hard-headedones discourage art careers and give young Hzeelartists very little opportunity to prove themselves.However, there’s some risk in this sort of prac-ticality, for it’s not unknown for an Hzeel artistwhose dreams aren’t supported by his own clan toseek out a patron from another clan. If the Hzeellater becomes famous or rich because of his art,the prestige for his accomplishments accrues moreto his patron clan than his birth clan... a fact thatoen enrages irrascible Hzeel patriarchs and hasled to more than one clan war.

ART AND LITERATUREWhile the Hzeel tend to prefer performed art,

they still produce and enjoy paintings, sculpture,and all sorts of literature. Modern Hzeel particu-larly seem to like long, rambling, multi-volumehistorical novels, oen focused on the adventuresand tragedies of a single family or clan over theyears. Non-Hzeel readers quickly get lost in amaze of character names and motivations, but to aHzeel it’s all easy to follow and utterly captivating.Some of the more famous novels, including thesixteen-volume Chronicles Of Jrodarbo, have evenbeen adapted into soap opera-like entertainments.

Hzeel architecture is noted for its preferencefor tall buildings and towers. Most cities on Zeellook like forests of oddly angular skyscrapers,many of them connected by skybridges. Somegalactic psychologists claim that this is how theHzeel subconsciously compensate for their short

statures; more practical-minded scholars point outthat on a planet as crowded as Zeel, cramming asmuch living and working space into every squaremeter of land is a necessity.

PERFORMING ARTSTe Hzeel love performing art in nearly every

variety, from street jugglers to the most elaborateplays, expensive 2D and 3D movies, and beau-tiful concerts. o the Hzeel mind, the pressureof performing properly makes these forms of art“better” than painting or sculpture, where theartist can take his time.

Perhaps the most notable form of Hzeel

performing art are the lokona plays, a sort of semi-scripted, semi-impromptu form of theater that’sroughly comparable to the commedia dell’arte ofRenaissance Italy. According to most scholarsof the form (and there are many), there are 113“stock” lokona stories around which the actorscreate a full play by providing specifics of dialogueand action. Te audience knows the outcome,but how the play gets there as it weaves throughthe standard dramatic “landmarks” keeps thementertained. Other scholars angrily denounce thisminimalism, pointing out that there are clearly 119stock stories... or 126... or just 94....




SPORTS AND GAMESTe Hzeel also enjoy spectator sports and

games. Te most popular is tdolk, in which oneteam attempts to move a ball across an obstacle-strewn field while the other team tries to stopthem. Te obstacles include pits, low walls, andcolumns, and are randomly determined andplaced for each game. Avoiding the obstacles isone of the keys to victory, but so is using them for

tactical advantage. It’s a fast, brutal game whoseplayers oen suffer injury, and sometimes evenfatalities. Te best professional tdolkists are amongthe most popular people on Zeel, and amateurteams abound in every city and region.

Hzeel religion is an incredible mish-mash ofsects and creeds ranging from stringent mono-theism, to several popular polytheistic faiths, toHarmonious Secularism (a sort of militant, tech-nocratic atheism that eschews religious doctrinebut in many other ways is similar to a cult).

Approximately a third of all Hzeel belong to theHgythra religion, a dualistic faith that worshipsan earth goddess and sky god. Compared to otherHzeel architecture, Hgythra temples are low, squatstructures featuring large, central domed spaceswhere worship ceremonies are performed.

Hzeel technology is more advanced thanEarth’s, thanks in large part to the typical Hzeelambition, drive, daring, and callousness. TeHzeel are inveterate tinkerers, constantly lookingfor ways to improve existing devices or create newones. Aer all, he who builds the better mouse-trap is likely to earn a fortune and bring greatprestige to family and clan! Similarly, the Hzeelare quick to adopt new technologies in the hopesof obtaining an advantage over their rivals andenemies... even if those technologies haven’t beenfully perfected or made entirely safe.

Some of the areas in which Hzeel technologyexceeds that of Humans include: n they commonly use energy beam weapons

instead of physical slugthrowers (though theyretain the latter for some situations, including

sports such as hunting) n they have low-speed FL starships, and their

SL starships are much faster and moremaneuverable than Human space vessels

n they can create force-fields, which they oenuse for defensive or security purposes (seebelow)

n their information systems use partly-biologicalstorage devices that can hold four to ten timesas much data as comparable Human systems

n they have much stronger medicines for coun-teracting contagious diseases (a necessity onsuch a crowded planet, where epidemics canstart and spread with incredible ease)

Besides being more advanced in most respects,Hzeel technology is also somewhat different,oen having a mix of biological and electronic/mechanical parts. Major devices and systems,such as a starship’s hull and primary systems, areentirely non-biological (or nearly so), whereassmaller devices used by Hzeel may have a mixtureof biological and non-biological components.Even then, the biological parts are oen small andconcealed behind protective covers, making thedevices look totally non-biological at first glance.(In HERO System terms, Hzeel technology is“Mostly Compatible” with Human tech, meaningthat a Human who works with Hzeel tech ortries to combine Human and Hzeel componentsin a single device may suffer up to a -2 Skill Rollpenalty and other restrictions; see HSS 40. TeGM may want to apply further penalties in somecases based on the difficulty a Human scientistmight have working with devices designed by andfor a species only half his height.)

Because of the partly-biological nature ofHzeel technology, it may react oddly if it comes

into contact with Human flesh. For example, thesupervillainess Howler’s powers come from anHzeel starship communications system’s centralprocessing link, which literally bonded with herwhen it came into contact with her flesh; the villain Warcry’s origin is similar. Whether and howthis might happen with other Humans and otherdevices is unknown, but a wise Human gadgeteerwill wear gloves when he handles Hzeel devices.

Hzeel starships are significantly more advancedthan typical Human spacecra, though not

necessarily better than the unique/experimental vessels created by some superhumans. Comparedto Malvan, Star*Guard, Gadroon, or Qularrships they seem primitive, but they’re more thanpowerful enough to ensure Hzeel dominance in Solspace when their long-planned invasion begins.

Te main weapon mounted on most Hzeelships is a powerful energy beam that becomesstronger the longer it remains in contact with thetarget via a sort of “feedback” process. Te star-ships are designed to counteract this attack in twoways. First, they have a layered defense structure.Te first line of protection is a ship-wide force-

field. It’s relatively weak, since Hzeel force tech-nology is still relatively new, but it doesn’t ablate.Ten the ships have extremely thick metallic hullswhich are very sturdy (i.e., the ships have a lotof BODY rather than lots of PD/ED). When aHzeel ship’s hull suffers damage, use the rules fordamaging walls on 6E2 173. Second, Hzeel shipsare equipped with “beam counteraction” pointdefense devices, energy rays designed to disruptan enemy’s beam so that it becomes useless (inHERO System terms this is Deflection).

Here are examples of two Hzeel ships: thekarku-class Warship; and the Shduko-classMarauder.

TKARKU - CLASSWARSHIP

The Tkarku -class

warship is one of

the mainstays of

the Hzeel fleet.

Produced in the tens

of thousands, the

Tkarku’s primarily

intended as a

frontline capital ship

but also serves in

planetary defense

fleets, as escorts for

even larger capital

ships, and other

roles. It has a crewof approximately

200 Hzeel.

SHDUKO -CLASS MARAUDER

The Shduko -class

“Marauder” is a

scout and raiding

vessel popular

among Hzeel

pilots. Fast,

agile, maneu-

verable, and

stealthy, it’s

the perfect ship for

spying on a target

planet — such

as Earth. Both of

the crashed ships

mentioned in the

“What Humanity

Knows” box on page

139 were Shduko s.

Unlike larger

vessels, a Shduko

can enter andmaneuver in

atmospheres. It

typically has a crew

of two Hzeel, though

one can pilot it if

necessary.

6




Val Char Cost Notes14 Size 70 50m x 20m x 20m m; mass 1.6 ktons;

-14 KB; OCV+ 980 STR 0 Lift 1.6 ktons; 16d6 HTH [0]10 DEX 07 OCV 207 DCV 20

4 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 1210 PD 1210 ED 1250 BODY 26 Total Characteristics Cost: 180

Movement: Ground: 0m Flight: 20m-20,000 km FTL: 1 LY per day

Cost Powers END

Power Systems19 Antimatter Power Plant: Endurance Reserve (100 END,

21 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

11 Backup Fusion Power Supply: Endurance Reserve (60END, 12 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems11 Hyperwarp Engines: FTL Travel (1 LY per day) 3

OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)27 Subwarp Impellers: Flight 20m 5

MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾); OIF Bulky (-1)-12 Only Flies In Space: Running -12m (0m total)-2 Only Flies In Space: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems158 Hzeel Energy Beams: RKA 6d6 12

Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

plus: RKA +1d6Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼), Only AppliesAfter Beam Maintains Contact With Target For 2Phases (-¼)

plus: RKA +1d6Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼), Only AppliesAfter Beam Maintains Contact With Target For 4

Phases (-½)15 Hzeel Energy Beams: seven more Beams (total of 8) 127 Beam Interference Rays: Deflection 2

OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼),Only Applies To Energy Beam Attacks (-½)

15 Beam Interference Rays: seven more Rays (total of 8) 212 Ship Force-Field: Resistant Protection (10 PD/10 ED) 3

OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

Operations Systems68 Sensor And Communication Systems:

Variable Power Pool, 60 Pool + 60 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

112 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (.25 light-year perActive Point; +3¾) for any Sensor Pool Sense varOIF Bulky (-1)


2 Navigation Computer: +2 to Navigation (Space) rolls 0

OAF Bulky (-1½)17 Internal Monitors: Clairsentience (Sight And HearingGroups), Mobile Perception Point, MultiplePerception Points (up to eight at once) 5OAF Immobile (-2), Perception Point Cannot MoveThrough Solid Objects (-0)

81 Tractor Beams: Telekinesis (60 STR) 20MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)


Personnel Systems15 Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3

Selective (+½); OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull ObjectsStraight Down To The Floor (-1)3 Backup Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (5 STR) 1

OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull Objects Straight Down ToThe Floor (-1)


5 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]Only Within Affected Area (3m x 2m x 2m chamber;

-2), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (easily replaced fromsources outside the ship; 1 Month [i.e., hundreds ofthousands of man-days]; -0)

10 Backup Life Support: three more Backup Life Supportareas (total of 4)

11 Medical Facilities: Paramedics 13-7 Medical Facilities: SS: Medicine 13-


7 Computer Programming 11-7 Cryptography 11-7 Demolitions 11-7 Electronics 11-

7 Mechanics 11-9 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, Incendiary


GM based on the ship’s specific mission parameters)Total Abilities & Equipment Cost: 756Total Vehicle Cost: 936

Value Complications25 Distinctive Features: Hzeel Warship (Not Concealable,

Causes Extreme Fear)15 Physical Complication: Cannot Enter Atmospheres


Total Cost: 936/5 = 187




Val Char Cost Notes4 Size 20 5m x 2.5m x 2.5m m; mass 1.6 tons; -4 KB;

OCV+ 230 STR 0 Lift 1.6 tons; 6d6 HTH [0]18 DEX 168 OCV 258 DCV 254 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 128 PD 98 ED 920 BODY 6 Total Characteristic Cost: 130

Movement: Ground: 0m

Flight: 30m-3,000 km

FTL: 1 LY per week

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

11 Antimatter Power Plant: Endurance Reserve(60 END, 12 REC) 0

OIF Bulky (-1)4 Backup Fusion Power Supply: Endurance Reserve


Propulsion Systems

9 Hyperwarp Engines: FTL Travel (1 LY per week) 2OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

37 Subwarp Impellers: Flight 30m 7

MegaScale (1m = 100 km; +1½); OIF Bulky (-1)

-12 Only Flies: Running -12m (0m total)

-2 Only Flies: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems

83 Hzeel Energy Beams: RKA 3d6 6Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

plus: RKA +½d6Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼), Only AppliesAfter Beam Maintains Contact With Target For2 Phases (-¼)

plus: RKA +½d6

Constant (+½), MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼), Only AppliesAfter Beam Maintains Contact With Target For4 Phases (-½)

5 Hzeel Energy Beams: one more Beams (total of 2) 6

7 Beam Interference Rays: Deflection 2

OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼),Only Applies To Energy Beam Attacks (-½)

5 Beam Interference Rays: one more Rays (total of 2) 2

7 Ship Force-Field: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6 ED) 2OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

Operations Systems

46 Sensor And Communication Systems:Variable Power Pool, 40 Pool + 40 Control Cost var

OIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

75 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (.25 light-year per

Active Point; +3¾) for any Sensor Pool Sense varOIF Bulky (-1)

15 Long-Range Sensors: +20 versus Range for RadioGroup 0

OIF Bulky (-1)


54 Tractor Beam: Telekinesis (40 STR) 13

MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees forward; -¼)

Personnel Systems


3 Backup Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (5 STR) 1

OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull Objects Straight DownTo The Floor (-1)

7 Medical Facilities: Paramedics 11-

5 Medical Facilities: SS: Medicine 11-

12 Life Support: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing;Safe Environments: High Radiation, Intense Cold,Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) 2


Skills

8 +1 with Ranged Combat


5 Cryptography 10-

5 Demolitions 10-

5 Electronics 10-

5 Mechanics 10-

7 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, IncendiaryWeapons, Energy Weapons) 10-

Total Abilities & Equipment Cost: 428

Total Vehicle Cost: 558

Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Hzeel Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)


Total Cost: 558/5 = 112

6




ere are character sheets for two notableHzeel the characters might encounter —Admiral Norck and the infamous pirateArth the Scar — and sheets for some

“generic” Hzeel they might have to fight.

Background/History: Nmykstra Kgandhu Norckis the greatest military hero of modern Zeel. Hisconduct during the Solemnid War, particularlyhis daring tactics in the Battle of Solemnis thatresulted in the destruction of two Solemnid capitalships and essentially broke the enemy lines, hasearned him an unparalleled reputation for braveryand quick thinking under fire. Patriotic Hzeelsometimes travel for days just to have the chance tohear him speak, shake his hand, and get his auto-graph. He’s that rare example of an Hzeel who’s sofamous he’s known merely by his given name.

Te problem is, it’s all a lie.

When the Solemnid War broke out, Norck, astrong Hzeel patriot himself, felt he should do hisduty for his people. He put his extensive manu-facturing business on a war footing, turned overthe daily operations to his two eldest sons (twins), volunteered for the star navy... and bought himselfa commission straight up the ranks to admiral.

He’s tried hard to fill the enormous shoes hebought for himself. He spends hours each daystudying Hzeel military doctrine, operations, andstrategies, familiarizing himself with his flagship’sequipment, and otherwise trying to be the bestsoldier he can. But the truth is that he lacks thelifetime of experience needed to prepare a man to

command a space fleet. His triumph in the Battleof Solemnis was due partly to having an extremelycompetent junior staff assisting him, but largelyto dumb luck — something that he seems to havein abundance. A few members of the Hzeel highcommand, including his rival Admiral JmuwanLorran, suspect the truth, but Norck hopes hispopularity and luck will buy him enough timeto become in truth what he now simply pretendsto be.

Personality/Motivation: Admiral Norck is living alie, and he knows it. Having forged a false reputa-tion as a military genius and war hero, he feels hehas to live up to it, and he intends to do his best— aer all, as an ardent Hzeel patriot, that’s whathe should do. Partly for the sake of his personalreputation and partly to aid the Hzeel war effort,he’ll do anything he must to maintain his reputa-tion, up to and including facing down foes he’d

much rather run away from (such as a determinedand powerful group of Human superheroes).

Quote: “Gentlemen, the strategic situation is asyou see laid out on the holotable. Before I tell youmy own ideas about how we should proceed forthe next stage of the fight with the Perseids, I’d liketo hear each of your own opinions... in detail.”

Powers/Tactics: Admiral Norck has only thebarest of military training. He can fire most Hzeelweapons (and in fact isn’t a bad shot at all). Teonly one he routinely carries is his sidearm, whichhe paid a weaponsmith on Zeel to increase thepower of.

Norck prefers to study situations in advanceas much as possible so he can be as prepared ascircumstances allow. If forced into a confronta-tion where he has to react on the fly, he’ll rely oncommon sense, the advice of his subordinates, andhis luck. He’s good at using persuasion, bravado,and bluff to convince his enemies and rivals to dowhat he wants, and may fall back on those skills ifhe has the chance.

Campaign Use: If the PCs get involved in aconflict with the Hzeel (probably because theHzeel finally launch their invasion of Earth),they’re certain to come up against Admiral Norck

at some point even if they don’t realize it at firstbecause they’re fighting his ship rather than himpersonally. In a face-to-face confrontation he’llcome across as tough, determined, and patriotic— but also reasonable. He won’t fight to the dyingbreath and will do whatever he can to protect orrescue any of his personnel who get into a badsituation, including negotiating a temporary peacewith Humanity.

o make Admiral Norck tougher, give him asuit of Hzeel powered armor that enhances hisSR, SPD, and CVs, provides some ResistantProtection, and comes equipped with all sortsof weapons and other gadgets. o weaken him,

change his sidearm to a Blast 8d6 with 16 Charges.




Appearance: Norck is a short (1.0 meters tall), tough-

looking Hzeel whose face and body seem as gnarled

as old tree roots (thanks to the spurs and nodules that

have grown from his skeleton as he’s aged). He wears

a formal Hzeel military uniform and always carries

his custom blaster sidearm in a holster. He frequently

smokes the Hzeel equivalent of cigars.






Cost Powers END

30 Customized Sidearm Blaster: Blast 12d6 [12]OAF (-1), 12 Boostable Charges (-0)

12 Force-Field Belt: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6 ED) 0

OIF (-½)

5 Hzeel Eyes: Nightvision 0

4 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 0

7 Hzeel Regeneration: Regeneration (1 BODY per Week),Can Heal Limbs 0

20 Incredible Dumb Luck: Luck 4d6 0

Perks


9 Positive Reputation: greatest modern Hzeel military geniusand victor of the Battle of Solemnis (all of Hzeel) 14-,+3/+3d6

Talents6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

Skills

3 Acting 13-

3 Bureaucratics 13-

2 Gambling (Hzeel Card Games) 12-

2 KS: Hzeel Military Science 10-

3 Oratory 13-

3 Persuasion 13-

5 Stealth 13-


1 Tactics 8-2 WF: Hzeel Small Arms


Total Cost: 240


5 Distinctive Features: Hzeel Military Uniform (EasilyConcealed; Noticed And Recognizable)

15 Psychological Complication: Hzeel Patriot (Common,Strong)

5 Rivalry: Professional (with Admiral Jmuwan Lorran)

20 Social Complication: Subject To Orders (Very Frequently,Major)

10 Social Complication: Harmful Secret (bought his admi-ralcy, isn’t a military genius) (Frequently, Minor)



6





18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3½d6




Cost Powers END

43 Blaster Pistol: Blast 10d6 [32]

Autofire (5 shots; +½), 32 Charges (+¼); OAF (-1)

16 Concealed Mini-Blaster: Blast 8d6 [4]IAF (-½), 4 Charges (-1)

7 Knife: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with STR) 1

OAF (-1)

12 Force-Field Belt: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6 ED) 0OIF (-½)


4 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 07 Hzeel Regeneration: Regeneration (1 BODY per Week),

Can Heal Limbs 0

Perks

5 Fringe Benefit: Membership: leader of a band of skilledpirates

10 Money: Wealthy

150 Vehicle: the Sulianjrith (built on 750 Total Points)

Talents

3 Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty)


Skills


5 Accurate Sprayfire

3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Breakfall 13-

3 Climbing 13-


5 Concentrated Sprayfire

3 Deduction 12-

3 Fast Draw (Small Arms) 13-

2 Gambling (Hzeel Dice Games) 12-

3 AK: Hzeel Space 12-

2 KS: The Hzeel Underworld 11-2 Lockpicking 10-


2 PS: Pirate 11-


3 Stealth 13-


3 WF: Hzeel Small Arms, Blades


Total Cost: 481


10 Distinctive Features: well-known appearance (Conceal-able With Effort; Noticed And Recognizable)

25 Hunted: Hzeel military and police forces (Frequently, MoPow, NCI, Capture/Kill)

15 Negative Reputation: bloodthirsty Hzeel pirate(Frequently, Extreme)

15 Psychological Complication: Must Be Master Of HisOwn Fate; Hates To Knuckle Under Or Take Orders(Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Greedy (Common, Strong)

10 Social Complication: Criminal Record (Frequently, Minor)






Background/History: Piracy has a long and noblehistory on Zeel, beginning with the earliest daysof waterborne commerce and continuing up to thepresent day in space. Successful Hzeel pirates oenbecome folk or regional heroes, and more thanone has found a way to turn his criminal reputa-

tion into that of a patriot by becoming a privateer. In the modern day, no pirate is so well-known— or feared — as Arth the Scar, who’s robbedstarships throughout Hzeel space and still remainsfree despite major police and military efforts tocapture him. Cultivating an air of bravado andmystery, he refuses to divulge much about hisbackground and oen gives loot to the poorand downtrodden. Teories abound about him:he’s an Hzeel of ancient lineage driven to piracyby hard times; he’s a former space navy soldierdrummed out of the service for embarrasinghis commanding officer; he accidentally killeda bank official who tried to repossess his house

and turned to crime as the only way to supporthimself. Whatever the truth, the fact remains thatany Hzeel space merchant in his right mind fearsArth and dreads to see his distinctive ship, theSulianjrith, appear on the sensor screens.

Personality/Motivation: Arth is a lightheartedswashbuckler, a pirate with a heart of gold... whenthe cameras are on. When no one but his menis watching him, his true self comes out: greedy,ruthless, tyrannical, capable of turning to deadly violence in a flash. He’s a true pirate in everysense of the term, not some quasi-heroic, misun-derstood Hzeel driven to crime by hard circum-

stances. He loves it when people fall for that act,though — it just makes it all the easier to trickthem later on.

Quote: “Surely, captain, you didn’t think you couldevade me, did you? You’re going to suffer for thetrouble you caused by running from me, I assureyou.”

Powers/Tactics: Arth the Scar is a skilled fighterwith both knife and blaster pistol. As brave asa wild zeeth and just as reckless, he fights withabandon and flair, making use of cover and theenvironment while attacking his foe as viciouslyas possible. He has no qualms about dirty blows,

treachery, or anything else that will earn him anadvantage in combat.Arth’s ship, the Sulianjrith, is a small but

powerful vessel cobbled together out of this partand that, and kept flying by his dedicated andoverworked (but also lavishly paid) engineers.You can use the karku-class Warship’s charactersheet for it, but reduce the number of weapons byabout half.

Campaign Use: Arth has several possible uses.First, your PCs could fight and capture him toprove their bona fides and goodwill to the Hzeelpeople. Second, if you make him more of a RobinHood type he could become the PCs’ ally in a waragainst the corrupt Hzeel government (or he could pretend to be Robin Hood-like to trick the naiveHumans). Tird, he could enter a Human-Hzeelwar as a privateer... for whichever side can payhim the most.

o make Arth a tougher opponent, give himsome SUN Only Damage Reduction and perhapsa few more weapons or gadgets. o weaken him,reduce his SPD to 3 and OCV to 6.

Appearance: Arth the Scar is a male Hzeel ofaverage height in his mid-thirties. His nicknamecomes from the fact that he’s got a large, livid scar(from some sort of cutting weapon) down theright side of his face, neck, and chest. He wearstypical Hzeel clothing (usually very good clothingthat he’s stolen that’s become shabby and wornbecause he doesn’t take care of it) and usually hasa blaster and a knife on his person (if not more

weapons, the rest concealed).

Tis character sheet represents various typesof gangsters, thugs, and petty criminals that areso common on Hzeel. Even an average Hzeel mayhave a criminal Skill or two at a low level, but theHzeel Gangster is a full-time crook who makes hisliving on the other side of the law.

If and when the Hzeel begin their invasion ofEarth, Human superheroes will encounter Hzeelsoldiers by the droves. Tis character sheet repre-sents a typical well-trained Hzeel soldier; you canadd Skills and abilities to represent “special forces”soldiers, or remove some for an “average” soldierwho’s just trying to laze through his term.

Tis character sheet represents the sort of spythe Hzeel are likely to send to Earth immedi-ately before they launch their invasion to gatheruseful last-minute intelligence on Humanity.Tey use high-tech devices to disguise themselvesand penetrate secured areas, but they have to becareful how they interact with people since theirdisguises are only holograms.

6





15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d64 OCV 55 DCV 103 OMCV 03 DMCV 03 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12



Cost Powers END


4 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 0


Skills

12 Choose one of the following Skill packages:

Con Man: Acting, Charm, Forgery (3 points’ worth),Persuasion

Smuggler: Concealment (INT Roll +2), 5 points’ worth

of AKs and CKs Thief: Climbing, Lockpicking, Security Systems, Sleight

Of Hand

Thug: +3 STR, +2 PD, Interrogation, HA +1d6

5 Stealth 13-

3 Streetwise 12-

2 WF: Hzeel Small Arms


Total Cost: 92


10 Hunted: various police and government authorities (Infre-quently, Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

20 Negative Reputations, Psychological Complications,Rivalries, and/or Social Complications appropriate tothe individual







Cost Powers END36 Assault Blaster Rifle: RKA 3d6 [60]

Autofire (5 shots; +½), 60 Charges (+½); OAF (-1),Two-Handed (-½)

7 Knife: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with STR) 1OAF (-1)

12 Impact-Resistant Uniform: Resistant Protection(6 PD/6 ED) 0OIF (-½)


5 Hzeel Eyes: Nightvision 04 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 07 Hzeel Regeneration: Regeneration (1 BODY per Week),

Can Heal Limbs 0 Skills10 +1 with All Combat

2 KS: Hzeel Military Science 11-2 KS: The Hzeel Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World 11-2 PS: Soldier 11-3 Stealth 12-3 Tactics 11-3 WF: Hzeel Small Arms, Knives6 6 points’ worth of Skills from the following list:

Autofire Skills, Bureaucratics, Climbing, CombatDriving, Combat Piloting, Combat Skill Levels, ComputerProgramming, Concealment, Cryptography, Demolitions,

Electronics, Fast Draw, Interrogation, Martial Arts,Mechanics, Navigation, Paramedics, Persuasion, SecuritySystems, Skill Levels, Stealth, Survival, Systems Operation,Weapon Familiarity, Weaponsmith, any Background Skill


100 Matching Complications (30)5 Distinctive Features: uniform (Easily Concealed; Noticed

And Recognizable)10 Hunted: Hzeel military (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)20 Social Complication: Subject To Orders (Very Frequently,

Major)Total Complications Points: 30






18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3½d6




Cost Powers END

46 Personal Hologram Generator:Multipower, 58-point reserveAll IIF (-¼)

3f 1) Disguise Field: Images to Sight and Hearing Group, -8to PER Rolls 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); IIF (-¼), Set Effect(only to disguise self as various Humans; -1)

2f 2) Stealth Field: Invisibility to Sight Group 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); IIF (-¼)

5 Hzeel Eyes: Nightvision 04 Hzeel Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 0


Perks

3 Fringe Benefit: Espionage Rank

3 Fringe Benefit: Security Clearance

Skills

12 +1 Overall

6 Hzeel Electro-Multitool: +3 with Technology SkillsOnly Works On Skills Involving Electronic Devices (-1)


2 KS: Human Society 11-

3 KS: The Hzeel Espionage World 12-2 KS: The Hzeel Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World 11-

3 Language: one Human language (fluent conversation;Hzeel is Native)

3 PS: Tradecraft 12-

3 Stealth 12-

2 WF: Hzeel Small Arms

15 15 points’ worth of Skills from the following list:

Acting, Bribery, Bureaucratics, Charm, Climbing,Combat Driving, Combat Piloting, Combat SkillLevels, Concealment, Conversation, Cramming, Cryp-tography, Deduction, Disguise, Forgery, Lipreading,Lockpicking, Martial Arts, Mimicry, Navigation,

Persuasion, Security Systems, Shadowing, SkillLevels, Sleight Of Hand, Streetwise, Weapon Famil-iarity, any Background Skill


Total Cost: 232


10 Hunted: the Hzeelo Rganthkorsha (Infrequently, Mo Pow,NCI, Watching)




6



THE QULARR:

CREATORS OF MONSTERS

Chapter

Seven



156 n The Qularr: Creators Of Monsters Hero System 6th Edition

strange species of insecto-crustaceanhumanoids, the Qularr are the mostimmediate threat to Humanity as of 2011according to most estimates. Tey occupy

a section of Monster Island despite numerousattempts to dislodge them, and in 2009 launched adevastating, but fortunately unsuccessful, effort toconquer Earth.

Te Qularr are humanoids who typically standabout 5’8” to 6’1” tall (females are about two-thirds the size of males, on average). In Humanterms they’d be referred to as “insecto-crustacean,”since they descend from creatures who sharecharacteristics with both the insects and the crus-taceans of Earth. Humans and Qularr are biologi-cally incompatible; implanting biomaterial fromone in the other would cause illness, and couldeven be poisonous.

Te most notable feature of a Qularr is thehead, a forward-thrusting, crustacean-like thing. Ithas two large eyes (usually, but not always, facetedlike a fly’s) and two prominent mandibles (whichcan be used as natural weapons, though in mostcases weak ones).

A Qularr’s “skin” is actually a chitin-likematerial that functions like a sort of exoskeleton,though they also have cartilaginous structuresanalogous to bones. Te exoskeleton is usuallya reddish, pinkish, or yellowish shade, rangingfrom relatively light to quite dark. o a Human,the average Qularr’s skin color tends to suggest aslightly faded boiled lobster or a badly sunburned

Caucasian.A Qularr has two large, thick fingers and a

thumb on each hand. Because of this, Humansmay have trouble using some Qularr devices, and vice-versa (-1 or worse penalties to relevant SkillRolls and/or OCV). Te fingers are tipped withsharp nails that can function as claws in somegenotypes, but again usually weak ones (if theQularr wears gloves they’re ineffective most of thetime, for example). Qularr legs have joints thatbend backwards. Te feet have two toes and look vaguely cloven to Humans; the tough, sharp nailsare as effective a natural weapon as the claws.

Te Qularr have the same five senses Humansdo. However, the Qularr can hear both ultra- and

infra-sonic sound, and generate sounds in thoseranges with their vocal apparati. A Qularr’s senseof touch is also more sensitive than a Human’sdespite the presence of the exoskeleton. On theother hand, a Qularr’s eyesight and sense ofsmell are inferior to a Human’s, particularly forperceiving fine color gradations.

Qularr minds are sufficiently different from

Human minds that they cannot be affected byMental Powers which target the Human class ofminds. Affecting them psionically requires powersthat work against the Alien class of minds.

REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPANTe Qularr don’t reproduce like Humans or

most other sentient humanoid species. Instead, afemale who desires children consciously triggersthe emission of a “reproduction hormone” intoher body that makes her lay eggs on a cycle thatroughly follows the solstices and equinoxes (thus,about 90% of Qularr birthdays are clustered intofour two-week periods, and those periods aremajor holidays among the Qularr). Laid eggs canbe fertilized by any male. However, fertilizing afemale’s eggs without her permission is one of themost serious crimes on Reqqat, usually meritingthe death penalty.

For reasons not even the Qularr themselvesunderstand, at around age 30 a tiny percentageof Qularr females undergo a metamorphosis,becoming (to Human eyes) gigantic, monstrous,and bloated. In this state, which they remain in for10-20 years until they die, they become hyper-fecund, laying hundreds of eggs at the standardperiod and sporadic clutches even at other times.Tese “great brood mothers,” as the Qularr call

them, are revered and honored... but also feared,because they’re immensely strong, highly protec-tive of their eggs, and very temperamental andmoody. Males regard being chosen to fertilize agreat brood mother’s eggs as an honor.

Te Qularr have lifespans roughly equivalent tothose of Humans. An individual is considered an“adult” at age 15 (the age at which females becomefertile) and typically reaches “retirement age” at70-80 years. As a Qularr ages, he becomes moresusceptible to his species’s versions of cancer andheart trouble. Compared to Humanity the Qularralmost never suffer skin disease; the closest thingthey sometimes experience is a painful infection

of their chitinous “exoskeleton.”

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Champions Beyond n Chapter Seven 15

SUPERPOWERSTe Qularr can manifest superhuman powers,

though at only about one-third the rate that

Humanity does. Te average super-Qularr is abouttwo-thirds as powerful as the average super-Human. About one-fourth of super-Qularr arementalists, one-fourth are metamorphs of sometype, and the rest are more or less evenly dividedamong the classic superhero archetypes.

Since crime is rare among the Qularr, super-Qularr usually work for the government in variouscapacities, including homeworld defense. Tey’rerarely allowed off-planet or assigned to militaryexpeditions. See below for several examples ofsuperpowered Qularr.

Despite having known of the Qularr for over fortyyears, Humanity actually knows very little about them.Here’s the sum of Human knowledge about the Qularr:

BIOLOGY Te Qularr aren’t like anything terrestrial. Based on

study of Qularr corpses from 1965 (of which there are

few le, since not many were retrieved by Humans andeven with refrigeration most of those have decomposedpast the point of usefulness) and 2009, the Qularr havesome characteristics in common with Earth insects, andsome in common with Earth crustaceans. Teir “skin” istough and inflexible enough to be considered an exoskel-eton, though they also have some cartilaginous structuresanalogous to bones.

Te Qularr have all five senses Humans do, but atdifferent levels of effectiveness. Qularr hearing is muchmore advanced than Human, and their voices capable of amuch greater range of expression; they can communicatein infrasonic and ultrasonic levels inaudible to Humans.Teir sense of touch is also much more sensitive thanHumans’. On the other hand, their eyesight and olfactorysenses aren’t quite as good as Humans’, particularly whenit comes to seeing precise gradations of color.

Qularr reproduction is something of a mystery, sinceno Qularr female corpses have ever been retrieved (it’sbelieved only the males of their species become soldiers).Based on examination of male reproductive systems andcomparison to similar Earth animal species, Humanxenologists believe that Qularr females lay eggs duringcertain seasons of the year, which the males then fertilize.

Qularr “skin” (chitin) color is usually a reddish,pinkish, or yellowish shade, ranging from relatively lightto quite dark. o a Human, the average Qularr’s skin color

tends to suggest a slightly faded boiled lobster or a badlysunburned Caucasian.Te Qularr seem to have roughly the same lifespan as

Humans.

TECHNOLOGY As a species, the Qularr seem to possess much more

advanced technology than Humans do. Tey use faster-than-light vehicles, and during their attemptedinvasions have employed high-powered force-field

technology, personal blaster weapons, hovercra, anda variety of other devices that only Earth superhumanshave. Teir abilities as bioengineers seem especiallyadvanced; they either bred, altered from native stock, orbioengineered the giant monsters that were a crucial partof their military force. Why they didn’t simply use biolog-ical warfare to wipe out Humanity quickly and cleanlyremains unknown (in fact, it’s the biggest single questionmany military strategists have about the Qularr).

SOCIETY Humanity knows almost nothing about Qularr society

or culture, and making educated guesses isn’t even easysince the Qularr language remains untranslateable. (Andthe spoken form probably involves reproducing soundsHumans cannot make without technology.) However, afew solid deductions based on the existing evidence havebeen made.

First, Qularr society seems to be rigidly stratified.During the 1965 and 2009 invasions, several types ofQularr were observed, with different types distinguishedby specific clothing and gear (and to a vague extent byminor differences in skin coloration or size). Te various“castes” rarely mingled with one another, and some gaveorders to others. Human scientists believe this isn’t justan “officers and enlisted men” sort of separation, and thatsome sort of “caste system” extends throughout Qularrsociety.

Second, the Qularr also seem to assign specific jobsto specific genders. Not a single Qularr female corpsewas ever retrieved, nor was any Qularr with recognizablefemale traits of any sort observed (though some scientistsargue that female Qularr wouldn’t necessarily have visiblegender characteristics). Military activity must be limited

only to male Qularr, so it stands to reason that other jobsare limited to only men or only women.Based on analysis of gathered intelligence and first-

hand observations of a skirmish or two, Humanity isaware that the Qularr are unfriendly toward the Gadroonand fight them when they have the opportunity. Teextent and age of this state of animosity remain unknown;it may simply be brought on by competition for Earth.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS ABOUT THE QULARR

QULARR TEMPLATE Cost Ability

8 +2 STR, +2 CON, +2 PD, +2 BODY

7 Qularr Mandibles: HKA ½d6; No STR Bonus (-½)5 Claws: HKA 1 point (plus STR)

5 Kick: HKA 1 point (plus STR)

2 Qularr Skin: Resistant (+½) for 2 PD/2 ED

3 Qularr Hearing: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group)

3 Qularr Hearing: Infrasonic Perception (Hearing Group)

2 Qularr Touch: +2 to PER Rolls with Normal Touch


Value Complications

15 Physical Complication: Poor Eyesight And Olfactory Senses(-1 to PER Rolls with both) (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)





7




Te Qularr homeworld, Reqqat, orbits a G4Vstar they call Qror that’s located spinward ofPerseid space. It’s the second of fourteen planets,most of which have been colonized by the Qularrto some degree (though oen just for industrial

purposes). As of 2011, Reqqat has a population offour billion.

Reqqat is a world of archipelagos and largeislands; there’s no body of land larger than twicethe size of Earth’s Greenland. Much of the land-mass is clustered in the tropical zone, makingit a humid, swampy world. (Te Qularr prefersuch climates and might even join forces withthe Elder Worm for purposes of changing Earth’sclimate to one both species would prefer more...though inevitably each would betray the other atsome point, since neither has any desire to sharedominion over Earth.) It’s also subject to moreearthquakes and vulcanism than Earth, though

Qularr science can predict and minimize the effectof such disasters.

Te largest city on Reqqat, and the capital ofthe planet, is Q’qlarash, which occupies almost allof an island roughly half the size of Madagascar.Dominated by the squat, broad, dome-toppedarchitecture that most Qularr cultures havefavored due to the prevalence of earthquakes,it bustles with trade and cultural events. But toa Human it would seem somewhat quiet andsubdued, since the telepathic element in Qularrspeech (see below) minimizes the need for voices.Q’qlar High Port, a space station in geosynchro-

nous orbit above the city, is a hub of interstellartrade.

FLORA AND FAUNA Historically, Reqqat was a deadly place infested

with numerous animal species capable of huntingand killing an adult Qularr... and more than afew plants equally as dangerous! Qularr societiesoen arose specifically for protection against thesethreats; hunters, warriors, and heroes able to fightoff or kill such horrors were revered, sometimespassing into myth and legend as the years went by.

As the Qularr became more technologicallyproficient, slowly but surely they brought most ofthese threats under control (sometimes by drivingthem to extinction). In some cases they foundways to “tame” and use them, giving rise to a habitof employing “monsters” for various purposes thatstill exists. oday, the most dangerous of Reqqat’snative life is kept in carefully-tended naturepreserves. Hunters seeking to relive the old glories— albeit with energy rifles instead of spears — canbuy licenses to risk their lives to find, fight, andkill one of these monstrosities.

Based on the fossil evidence, the Qularrevolved hundreds of thousands of years ago from acreature that a Human would describe as a sort ofhumanoid horseshoe crab. Driven to abandon theshallow waters it favored by volcanic activity thatraised many of the current Reqqat islands, it hadto become larger and more intelligent to stand achance against the planet’s deadly flora and fauna.Eventually it evolved into the modern Qularr.

Te earliest Qularr civilizations began on thelarger islands, where the most dangerous animalsand plants lived. Cave settlements soon gave riseto walled villages, some of which grew to townsand cities as methods of administration and foodproduction improved. By about three thousandyears ago, most of the planet was controlled by oneof three realms: the Ulk’ta Empire; the K’zemniHegemony (a confederation of small entities ruledby a triumvirate controlled by the K’zem people);and the Empire of the Pearl Archipelago. Since

each of them was roughly equal in strength, atense but stable political situation arose in whichno one power could dominate any of the others.

Tat changed when barbarians from somehinterland islands swarmed into K’zemni lands,eventually overthrowing the Hegemony in anorgy of slaughter that le millions of Qularr dead.Te Ulk’ta and Pearl empires began to nibblearound the edges of K’zemni territory in searchof gain, but before they could achieve much aplague brought into civilized lands by the barbar-ians swept the planet. Over the next six decadesroughly a third of Reqqat’s population fell todisease or starvation, resulting in severe labor

shortages in every field. No one thought anymoreof conquest or power, but simply of survival.

Te next several centuries were a dark agein which empires fragmented into tiny localstates, much learning was lost (temporarily orpermanently), and entire cultures were wipedout or absorbed into larger groups. Te situationbegan to stabilize about 2,300 years ago when thelegendary philosopher-prince High Ruler foundedthe S’thoth’n Empire by conquering three king-doms neighboring his own. His sons expandedthe S’thoth’n lands, and elsewhere other strongkings emulated their example. By approximately2,000 years ago the situation had stabilized into

one where roughly a dozen large states controlledmost of Reqqat’s islands — though of course someof them were ruled very differently than others,due to cultural or religious variations from regionto region.

Te next twelve hundred years were roughlyequivalent to the medieval and Renaissanceperiods on Earth. Kingdoms became more politi-cally and socially sophisticated, while advancesin science and learning occurred, oen at arapid pace in certain centers of scholarship andthen slowly spreading outward across the world.




Te Battle of Trikune, in which a small forcearmed with the latest weaponry (simple buteffective firearms) defeated a large army armedwith less advanced weapons, signalled the endof this period and the advance into more of an“Age of Reason” era. However, since technologicaldevelopments tended to spread rapidly across theplanet and strong states existed in every region,there was no period of colonization and empire-building such as Earth saw in the latter half of thesecond millennium.

Competition, and not-infrequent wars,between the various nations of Reqqat pushedtechnological development at a rapid pace. Byabout 1500 AD the leading nations had enteredspace and begun exploring the Qularr solarsystem. By 1650 AD, the first faster-than-lightdrives had been developed, and energy weaponsand force-fields were becoming standard weap-onry. Unfortunately the drive to outdo othernations also bred animosity and prejudice, whichnearly led the Qularr to disaster.

THE BIO-WARSAbout two hundred years ago, various long-

simmering hatreds, diplomatic entanglements,and struggles to control natural resourcescombusted, plunging all of Reqqat into war — orrather a series of wars lasting nearly fiy years.oday these conflicts are known as the Bio-Wars because their defining feature was the widespreaduse of biological weapons.

In all three conflicts, the combatants alignedthemselves into two camps: the eqari Alliance

and the so-called “Union of Iron.” Modern Qularrgenerally regard the Alliance as the “good guys”who wanted to preserve the general freedom andthe Union as “bad guys” who wanted to conquerthe planet and rule it as they saw fit, but in truthneither side was entirely justified or entirely evil —the situation was far more complex than that.

THE FIRST BIO-WARTe first Bio-War was initially fought with

conventional weapons: blasters; explosive missiles;kinetic projectiles launched from space-basedplatforms; and more. Aer three years the Unionhad begun to lose and saw ultimate defeat asinevitable within two years unless it took drasticmeasures. Dominated by the fanatic High General,whose hatred of the Alliance knew no bounds, theUnion High Command took a step never beforetaken in a major Qularr war: it used biologicalwarfare. Its initial attacks were devastating, virtu-ally wiping out two entire Alliance armies (aswell as several civilian cities). Unfortunately forit, though, its initial impressive gains were soonoffset by (a) its own soldiers falling victim to

lingering pockets of the disease as they advancedinto enemy territory, and (b) Alliance fury at themillions of deaths caused by the bio-weapon.When it was able to, the Alliance struck backwith tremendous force, obliterating the Union’scapital island with a nuclear bomb and thenoverwhelming armies cut off from their HighCommand. It took three more years, but eventu-ally the Alliance triumphed. Harsh terms wereimposed on the nations of the Union.

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THE SECOND BIO-WARwo decades of economic suffering and

political turmoil followed as both sides stroveto rebuild. errified of a resurgent Union, theAlliance essentially ruled its former enemy withan iron fist, leaving occupation forces in placefor over twelve years and suppressing most civicprivileges for Union citizens. Tis bred tremen-dous resentment among the populace, most of

whom had nothing to do with the Union’s policiesor practices. Tese bitter feelings festered andeventually gave rise to a demagogue: ResearchScientist, a former scientist who preached thatQularr technological and social advances shouldbe equally available to all and that the nations ofthe Alliance were “oppressors and exploiters” whowere simply using the Union nations as a sourceof materials and cheap labor to rebuild their owncities at the Union’s expense.

Research Scientist’s following became larger,louder, and more violent as the years passed.Eventually the Alliance realized that he was onepolitical rabble-rouser it couldn’t ignore. Alli-

ance troops moved in to arrest him and his chiefunderlings, but they fled mere minutes beforethe soldiers arrived. From a secure hiding placeResearch Scientist called for a general uprising,and he got it. Some of his lieutenants returned topublic to lead the rebellion, which soon blossomedinto a full-scale war, while he himself remained inseclusion.

Again the Union made some early gains,largely because the Alliance wasn’t as preparedfor a “rebellion” as it should have been, but aer ayear of fighting the Union’s relative lack of mate-riel began to take its toll. Tat’s when ResearchScientist revealed what he’d been working on inhis hidden stronghold: another bio-weapon, evenmore powerful than the ones used in the FirstBio-War. Released by missile in over a dozen Alli-ance cities and several major military installations,it caused millions of deaths in less than a week.Several key political and military figures amongthe Alliance were victims, significantly disruptingthe Alliance response.

While the Alliance floundered, inoculatedUnion troops pressed forward, making seriousinroads into Alliance territory. But soon Alliance virologists, aided by data obtained by Alliancespies, developed their own inoculant and the war

returned to an equal footing. Four more yearsof inconclusive fighting followed, but eventuallyboth sides, exhausted by the struggle, settled into atense, unspoken peace.

THE THIRD BIO-WARTe quiet that followed the Second Bio-War

was merely the calm before the storm. Insteadof learning their lesson and finding a way to livetogether peacefully, the Alliance and the Unionboth secretly began rebuilding their militaries.Espionage became the order of the day as eachside tried to learn what the other was doing.Pleas for peace and unity from the Qeqlub Arlavo

Dhren (the Qularr religion, see below) and manyothers fell on deaf ears.en years later, with the inevitability of a wave

crashing on the shore, the Tird Bio-War flaredup. A seemingly trivial dispute over the customsprocedures at a busy border checkpoint led to ashooting match between guards, and soon theentire military force of both Union and Alliancehad been mobilized. Both sides has new weaponsthey’d developed over the past decade, so the firstfew years of the war were a learning experiencewhere each combatant had to adapt to the newtechnologies and find ways to counter them.

Te end came quicker than anyone had

anticipated. An Alliance scientist named Biolo-gist, who’d lost his wife and three children tothe Union’s bio-weapon in the Second war, wasdetermined to pay the Union back in kind. Hedeveloped the most lethal biological weapon yetseen on Reqqat, the culmination of the Qularrmastery of the biological sciences. errified at itspossible effects, the Alliance leadership refused touse it, ordering Biologist to stockpile it and turnhis researches to other weapons.

Infuriated, Biologist snuck into an Alliancemissile base, killed several guards, outfitteda dozen missiles with his new bio-weapon,and launched them. Unfortunately he mis-programmed two of them, which landed inAlliance territory. Now both sides were subjectedto the worst plague in Qularr history. Te war virtually ground to a halt as millions died. Scien-tists from both sides worked together in unprece-dented cooperation to develop a cure. By the timethey succeeded, 800 million Qularr around theworld were dead. o this day pockets of the bio-weapon are thought to exist in some wild areas ofthe planet, and every Qularr is inoculated againstthe disease in childhood.

AFTERMATH AND UNIFICATIONA grieving world had lost a fih of its popula-

tion to greed, anger, and stupidity. Realizing therewas no way they could possibly survive a fourthconfrontation, the Qularr began to come together,looking for things they had in common — reli-gion, culture, and more — that they could builda new society on, instead of emphasizing differ-ences and disputes. Tis led to the formation ofthe Reqqat Unity, a world government. Te veryfirst thing the new government did was pass a lawforbidding biowarfare and the use of biologicalweapons. Henceforth the Qularr would use theirskill at biology only for peaceful and commercialpurposes.




THE FIRST INVASION OF EARTHTe Qularr learned about, and became inter-

ested in, Earth aer the Kr’Aan War (see page 10)brought the Fabulous Five, and thus Humanity,to their attention. Some Qularr had an oppor-tunity to observe the Fabulous Five in action,and to obtain biological samples from them(blood spilled during the battle). Intrigued by thesamples, Qularr scientists believed that if they had

more, they might be able to find a way to bio-engi-neer more frequent, more powerful superpowersin the Qularr themselves. Tis led to the May 1965invasion attempt described on page 10.

THE SECOND INVASION OF EARTHTe Qularr defeat on Earth was one of the few

setbacks the species experienced since Reqqatbecame a unified planet, and it stung. For sometime they simply tried to put it behind them, butit rankled. Many in the Qularr military regardedit as “unfinished business” and vowed to return toEarth someday and defeat Humanity.

Tey got their chance in the early 2000s, when

a shi in the Reqqat Senate allowed them to pushthrough funding for another invasion. Tey spentyears planning and preparing, determined not tofall victim to overconfidence once again. Slowly,stealthfully, the invasion force approached Earthand began to study it...

...and then one of their warning beacons wentoff! Somehow, a Qularr soldier le behind decadesbefore had sensed their presence and triggeredone of the old beacons. Without waiting to finishtheir reconnaissance the Qularr launched theirinvasion.

Days of fighting followed around the world.Surprise gave the Qularr the edge initially, and

they were able to conquer several major cities,or trap them under domes of force (MillenniumCity fell into the latter category). But the numberof superheroes on Earth had grown significantlysince 1965, a fact the Qularr were unprepared for.Slowly but surely, Earth’s superhuman defendersturned the tide. Te final stroke was the destruc-tion of one of the Qularr capital ships by a super-hero, Ironclad, who was “fired” at the ship like abullet by a ground-based super-cannon.

Te bulk of the Qularr fleet fled, departing thesolar system. However, it le behind one groupof soldiers on Monster Island, who were so welldug-in, and so well-protected by the monsterMega-erak (whom they’d re-taken control of),that the Humans couldn’t dislodge them. Tey(and other groups of Qularr soldiers hiding outin the wild places of Earth) have been tasked withlearning as much as they can about Humanity.Once they feel they’ve learned enough to give theirpeople the edge they need to triumph, the Qularrplan to take over all of Monster Island, thenconstruct a communications array with whichthey’ll summon the full invasion fleet to conquerEarth once and for all.

Qularr society is highly organized along casteand gender lines. Male Qularr don’t do female jobs, and vice-versa; Qularr from high-rankingcastes run things while their low-caste brethren dothe hard labor. But it goes deeper than that — it’snot just a social thing, it’s part of Qularr biologyat the genetic level. A low-caste Qularr wouldn’tthink of trying to better himself or associate withhigher-caste Qularr; the concept would neveroccur to him.

Te Qularr of each caste may have enhancedcapabilities or special abilities that have been bredinto them over the millennia. For example, QularrShock roopers are stronger and tougher thanthe Qularr average; Qularr Scholars are smarterand more insightful. Tese abilities don’t reallyrise to the level of superpowers, but they do helpdistinguish one type of Qularr from another insome instances.

Te average Qularr tends to be somewhat

“xenophobic.” Tey dislike interacting with otherspecies either commercially or socially, thoughthey do it in the interest of maintaining trade anddiplomatic relations when necessary. Many ofthem actively despise other species, regarding theQularr as the acme of evolution and the eventualrulers of the Galaxy.

Te Qularr have a unified world governmentstructured around two institutions: the Presi-dent of Reqqat, an executive who’s responsiblefor enforcing the laws, running the military, and

performing many other administrative functions;and the Reqqat Senate, a legislative body thatproposes and passes laws, appoints judges andoversees the court system, allocates the budget,and so on.

All Qularr belonging to “upper class” or“middle class” castes are eligible to vote for thepresident, who takes office for an eight-year termand can serve up to four terms. All Qularr regard-less of caste can vote for their local senator, whoserves for a four-year term and can be re-electedan unlimited number of times.

THE QULARR EMPIRE

Te Qularr control a small empire of severalsystems surrounding their own. One of them,orbiting a star the Qularr call Hek’ta, hostssentient life. Te Hektanese of Hek’ta III arehumanoids with skin tones in the red-orange-yellow spectrum but otherwise similar to Humansin most ways. Teir civilization has technologyroughly equivalent to Earth circa 1850. TeQularr, whom the more primitive Hektanesecivilizations regard as gods, rule the planet withan iron hand, exploiting it at will and ruth-lessly quelling the slightest murmur of dissent orrebellion.

7




THE QULARR MILITARY Although they’re not currently at war with

anyone (aside from planning to invade Earth againat some point in the near future), the Qularr arean aggressive people who maintain a large mili-tary. Tanks to the Qularr “instinctual telepathy”(see below), the military functions with a highdegree of efficiency. (Te same holds true withother large Qularr organizations.)

As of 2011, the Qularr military forces consistof roughly half naval personnel who work on star-ships and fight battles in space, and half “marines”who land on planets to fight dirtside engagements,attempt boarding actions on enemy starships, andthe like. Human superheroes are most likely toencounter the latter; see below for character sheetsfor several example soldiers (such as the InvasionLeader, Drone, Shock rooper, and Bugkeeper).For a typical “sailor” on a starship, use the Dronecharacter sheet with appropriate Skill changes.

QULARR ESPIONAGETe Qularr have a relatively small intelligence-

gathering apparatus, and almost all of it isdedicated to signals intelligence (i.e., intercepting,monitoring, and/or analyzing electronic signalsand transmissions). Tey have little means forinfiltrating other species’s societies and collectinginformation directly or through hirelings, andlittle desire to do so.

Te Qularr are part of the intergalacticcommunity and as such engage in trade withother interstellar species who possess a similarlevel of technology. Tey’re happy to trade with

anyone who has better technology than they doin the hopes of advancing their own position, butnever sell their own devices to species who don’thave equal capabilities. Teir most prominenttrade items are biological, ranging from precisely-craed genetic samples, to custom-tailoredanimals and “monsters,” to various medicines.(Tey never sell bioweapons, or anything theythink could be used as a weapon, aside from the“monsters.”) Qularr technology sells relativelypoorly because its organic elements make itincompatible with many other technologies.

As mentioned above, the Qularr organizethemselves into hundreds of castes, each of whichdoes a particular type of job or serves a specificfunction within society. For example, members ofthe Shet’sa caste are mid-level civil bureaucrats,while Qularr in the Reqla caste conduct scientificresearch.

Each caste consists of a dozen or more families— enough to maintain genetic diversity, sincea Qularr can only “marry” within his caste. Onrare occasions a Qularr may “marry” someonefrom another caste of equal rank, in which casethe male immediately joins the female’s caste andchanges jobs to suit.

Te Qularr have no institution of marriageas most species do. Instead, a female and a malesimply agree that the male shall have the rightto fertilize that female’s eggs if he so desires.Assuming the caste and family leaders agree, thetwo Qularr live together and raise their children,but there’s no ceremony or other formal acknowl-

edgement of the relationship. If the two proveunsuitable, or one changes his mind, the “union”dissolves.

While the male and female Qularr who createthem have primary responsibility for their chil-dren, families oen raise all their children jointly/communally, and sometimes this phenomenonextends throughout entire close-knit clans. Casteswhose members have to work together well asadults — such as athlete castes or researcher castes— are more likely to do this.

QULARR LANGUAGE AND NAMESTe Qularr don’t have personal names. Instead,

they’re referred to simply as what they are orwhat they do. For example, the commander ofthe current Qularr force on Monster Island isnamed “Qularr Invasion Leader.” His second-in-command is named “Leader’s Chief Assistant,”and every single one of his shock troopers isnamed “Qularr Shock rooper.” Ordinarily thiswould cause constant confusion when a group ofQularr tries to work together, but the Qularr havea sort of “instinctual telepathy” that eliminates theproblem. Tey cannot communicate mentally anymore than Humans can, but if Qularr InvasionLeader says to a group of Shock roopers, “Shockrooper, go patrol that perimeter,” all the Qularr

involved know exactly which Shock rooper he’stalking to. Tis leads to a preciseness of commu-nication and discipline that many Human militarycommanders would envy.




Te Qularr language not only relies on thisinstinctual telepathy, but also on infra- and ultra-sonic sounds. Tus, Humans simply cannot learnto speak it without the aid of super-tech devicesthat can produce the right sounds and mental

impulses; learning to read their written languagewould be next to impossible. (If the GM permitsit at all, learning Language: Qularr costs triple the normal cost for an ordinary Language andrequires special speaking devices. Qularr wordsin this chapter, including the species’s name, areapproximations.)

Despite their (to Human eyes) “monstrous”appearance, the Qularr have a rich culture and cancreate and appreciate many forms of art.

ART AND LITERATURE Since Qularr aural and tactile senses are far

better developed than their vision, they favor artthey can touch and hear over what has to be seen.For example, sculpture is far better developed asan art form than painting. While the Qularr doproduce fine literature, many of them prefer toabsorb it by listening to recordings of a book beingread, or even listening to storytellers. Storytellinghas a long and ancient tradition on Reqqat. Inmodern times many storytellers still make a goodliving through a combination of traditional tale-telling and the memorizing of entire novels which

they recount at events that run for several hours aday over the course of roughly a week.

PERFORMING ARTSQularr drama, whether live theater or recorded

“movies,” is very “operatic,” relying far more

on songs and flashy “dance numbers” than onsophisticated, emotional acting or subtle dramaticcues. A Human watching it would probably beimpressed by the spectacle despite his inability tofollow the story.

Qularr music sounds flat and dull to Humanears, because Humans cannot hear the ultra- andinfra-sonic sound that make up a significantpart of it. Qularr music is actually elaborate andsophisticated, with songs to please everyone fromthe simplest working-class Qularr to the mostsnobbish aesthete.

SPORTS AND GAMES

Te Qularr enjoy participating in and watchingsporting events; in fact, entire castes are devotedto athletic pursuits for profit. Most Qularr sportsinvolve some level of physical contact. One of themost popular is qerg, which to Human sensibilitiesseems something like a cross between wrestlingand basketball. On the other hand, games tendto be an amateur pursuit, played for fun or as ahobby. wo of the most common are geldaro (achess-like game in which each player controls 40pieces with varying “powers”) and ruqo (an elec-tronic game that pits one or more players against alike number of opponents in a race to move their“pieces” through a trap-filled maze).

7




One of the factors that made unification ofReqqat fairly easy once the Qularr set their mindto it is that about four-fihs of all Qularr followthe same religion, a goddess-worshipping faiththey call Qeqlub Arlavo Dhren, roughly meaning“Church of the Holy Mother.” Dhrenists worshipa being they simply call “Goddess” who resembles

one of their great brood mothers (see above) ineven more monstrous form: larger, with six armsand an insecto-crustaceoid lower half instead oflegs. Tey consider her the mother of all Qularr,who laid the first clutch of eggs (thousands ofthem, according to the holy texts) which werefertilized by an obscure sky-god figure. Whilesome regional differences and ritual preferencesstill remain, the core of Dhrenism is the sameacross the planet, thanks to intrafaith councils thatharmonized various aspects of the religion duringthe unification period.

Te remaining twenty percent of Qularr mostlyfollow a sort of animistic faith that emphasizes

the spirit world, personal harmony with nature,and astrological practices. Most followers of thisfaith belong to certain upper lower class and lowermiddle class castes.

Qularr technology is quasi-organic (sometimesconsisting of up to 83% biological components)and significantly more advanced than Humandevices. It includes:

n starships with FL drives capable of achieving

speeds of one light-year per hour in the mostadvanced military models (though one light-year per day is more common for most vessels);

n various types of blasters and other energyweapons (they regard projectile firearms andsimilar technology as primitive);

n force-field systems that can maintain a high-strength field over large areas, or even projectforce-fields offensively instead of just defen-sively; and

n communications systems able to broadcast andreceive clearly over hundreds of light-years.

Te Qularr biological sciences are particularlysophisticated. Bio-materials are one of their majortrade items with other galactic civilizations. AsHumanity has seen, one aspect of Qularr skill withbiology is their ability to breed giant monsters for various purposes (for example, to carry burdens,assist with agriculture, or fight in wars).

In HERO System terms, Qularr technology is“Barely Compatible” with Human tech, meaningthat a Human who works with Qularr tech ortries to combine Human and Qularr componentsin a single device may suffer up to a -8 Skill Rollpenalty and other restrictions; see HSS 40.

QULARR WEAPONS Here are two examples of Qularr tech-

nology the aliens might use against Humansuperheroes:

HBIOWEAPONCONTROL HELMETEffect: Mind Control 12d6

(Animal class of minds), Activation Roll 14-

Target: One character

Duration: Instant

Range: LOS

END Cost: 6

Breakability: 12 PD/12 ED

Description: Tis device is a large, helmet-likegadget that only works for Qularr minds. A

Qularr wearing it can exert mental controlover animals — such as most of the giantmonsters on Monster Island. So far the Qularron Earth haven’t used any of these devices,partly because they want to keep them secretand partly because they’re not entirely reliableand pose a danger to the user.

Te Bioweapon Control Helmet is designedto be operated by a Qularr mind. If a Humantries to use one, the GM should roll 1d6.On a 1-3, if the Activation Roll succeeds theHelmet functions at half effect; on a 4-5 thesame thing, but it functions at full effect; ona 6 there’s dangerous psionic feedback andthe wearer takes RKA 1d6, AVAD (MentalDefense), Does BODY.

Game Information: Mind Control 12d6(Animal class of minds) (60 Active Points); OIF (-½),Activation Roll 14- (-¼). Total cost: 34 points.

H FORCE SHACKLECANNON

Effect: Entangle 8d6, 8 PD/8 ED

Target: One character

Duration: Instant

Range: 100m

Charges: 12 Charges

Breakability: 16 PD/16 ED

Description: Qularr Shock roopers some-times carry this big, bulky rifle, which usesQularr force-field technology to capture atarget in bands of force.

Game Information: Entangle 8d6, 8 PD/8 ED(80 Active Points); OAF (-1), Limited Range (100m;-¼), Two-Handed (-½). Total cost: 29 points.




Over their years of space exploration, inter-stellar trade, and conquest, the Qularr havedeveloped a wide variety of starships. Capital

ships and larger vessels tend to have a distinctivelyinsectile appearance, with a reddish-colored ovalmain body and two or more “propulsion spars”projecting to a from the port and starboard hullsegments. A ship may consist of multiple subsec-tions attached to form a whole, or simply be amuch larger version of the standard hull configu-ration (of which the Qu’na class, below, is a goodexample).

Smaller ships, on the other hand, tend tobe sleek and have a blue, green, gold, or purplemetallic look to them. Te Air-Runner describedbelow, a one-man fighter and scout with atmo-spheric capability, is one such vessel.

QU’NA -CLASS HEAVY FIGHTERTe Qu’na class is a “heavy fighter” — a ship

designed to have a small crew (in this case, nomore than 20 Qularr) but to move fast and almostas nimbly as a fighter. It mounts the standardQularr energy beam in two configurations: first,a large main weapon aimed forward; second,smaller turretted weapons on all sides of the shipbut a.

HSSQA -CLASS LIGHT WARSHIPTe Hssqa is a “light warship” — a military

vessel capable of anchoring small, mission-specificfleets, escorting traders through dangerous areas,protecting a fleet flagship, and the like. It has

a crew of approximately three to four dozen,depending on its assignment and exact internalconfiguration.

QULARR AIR-RUNNERTe Air-Runner is a one-Qularr spaceship

designed for near-space/near-mothership andatmospheric aerial combat. Its only weapon is aforward blaster fired by the pilot from a triggermounted on the steering column.

Air-Runners are dark blue. Tey’re “moored”to the ground by an energy tether generated by asmall Qularr post. Viewed from above or belowthey’re wedge-shaped. Viewed from the side,

front, or back they’re remarkably thin. Te pilotflies the vehicle in a laying-down position, thusminimizing the ship’s profile.

7




Val Char Cost Notes10 Size 50 20m x 10m x 10m; mass 100 tons; -10 KB;

OCV+ 660 STR 0 Lift 100 tons; 12d6 HTH [0]

17 DEX 148 OCV 256 DCV 154 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 129 PD 109 ED 1130 BODY 10 Total Characteristics Cost: 155


Flight: 30m

FTL: 1 LY per 6 Hours

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

22 Antimatter Power Plant: Endurance Reserve(120 END, 21 REC) 0

OIF Bulky (-1)

11 Backup Fusion Power Supply: Endurance Reserve(60 END, 12 REC) 0

OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

13 Hyperdrive: FTL Travel (1 LY per 6 Hours) 3

OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

33 Sublight Engines: Flight 30m 8MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾); OIF Bulky (-1),

Costs Endurance (-½)-12 Only Flies In Space: Ground Movement -12m (0m total)

-2 Only Flies In Space: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems

75 Forward Energy Cannon: RKA 10d6 19

Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc OfFire (60 Degrees; -½)

67 Qularr Energy Beams: RKA 8d6 15

Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc OfFire (180 Degrees; -¼)

10 Qularr Energy Beams: three more Energy Beams(total of 4) 15

30 Qularr Defense Field: Resistant Protection(30 PD/30 ED) 9OIF Bulky (-1), Ablative (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

64 Qular Stealth Field: Change Environment (hide ship),-12 to Sight and Radio Group PER Rolls 28

Area Of Effect (20m Radius; +1); IIF (stealth fieldgenerator; -¼), Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END;-½), No Range (-½)

Operations Systems

57 Sensor And Communication Systems: Variable PowerPool, 50 Pool + 50 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)




OAF Bulky (-1½)

68 Tractor Beam: Telekinesis (50 STR) 17MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees forward; -¼)

Personnel Systems

15 Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3





6 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation, IntenseCold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]

Only Within Affected Area (3m x 2m x 2m chamber;-2), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (easily replaced fromsources outside the ship; 1 Month [i.e., hundreds ofthousands of man-days]; -0)



Skills



9 Cryptography 12-

9 Demolitions 12-

9 Electronics 12-

9 Mechanics 12-




Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Qularr Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)

15 Physical Complication: Cannot Enter Atmospheres(Infrequently, Greatly Impairing)


Total Cost: 814/5 = 163




Val Char Cost Notes15 Size 75 64m x 32m x 32 m; mass 3.2 ktons; -15 KB;

OCV+ 1085 STR 0 Lift 3.2 ktons; 15d6 HTH [0]14 DEX 89 OCV 308 DCV 254 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 1212 PD 1512 ED 1540 BODY 15 Total Characteristics Cost: 203


Flight: 25m


Cost Powers END

Power Systems26 Antimatter Power Plant: Endurance Reserve


14 Backup Fusion Power Supply: Endurance Reserve(80 END, 12 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

14 Hyperdrive: FTL Travel (1 LY per 3 Hours) 3OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

28 Sublight Engines: Flight 25m 7

MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Endurance (-½)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Ground Movement -12m (0m total)


Tactical Systems

90 Forward Energy Cannon (Primary): RKA 12d6 22Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc OfFire (60 Degrees; -½)

83 Forward Energy Cannon (Secondary): RKA 10d6 19Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc OfFire (180 Degrees; -¼)

75 Qularr Energy Beams: RKA 9d6 17

Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc OfFire (180 Degrees; -¼)

15 Qularr Energy Beams: seven more Energy Beams(total of 8) 15

40 Qularr Defense Field: Resistant Protection(40 PD/40 ED) 12OIF Bulky (-1), Ablative (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

72 Qular Stealth Field: Change Environment (hide ship),-12 to Sight and Radio Group PER Rolls 32Area Of Effect (64m Radius; +1¼); IIF (stealth field

generator; -¼), Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END;-½), No Range (-½)

Operations Systems

68 Sensor And Communication Systems:Variable Power Pool, 60 Pool + 60 Control Cost var

OIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

112 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (.25 light-year perActive Point; +3¾) for any Sensor Pool Sense var

OIF Bulky (-1)


OIF Bulky (-1)3 Navigation Computer: +3 to Navigation (Space) rolls 0

OAF Bulky (-1½)


81 Tractor Beams: Telekinesis (60 STR) 20

MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼); OIF Bulky(projector; -1), Affects Whole Object (-¼), Limited ArcOf Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)


Personnel Systems






6 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation, IntenseCold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]


10 Backup Life Support: three more Backup Life Supportareas (total of 4)



7




Skills



9 Cryptography 12-

9 Demolitions 12-

9 Electronics 12-

9 Mechanics 12-

11 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, Incen-

diary Weapons, Energy Weapons) 12-60 60 Character Points’ worth of other labs (chosen

by the GM based on the ship’s specific missionparameters)



Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Qularr Warship (Not Conceal-able, Causes Extreme Fear)



Total Cost: 1,140/5 = 228

Val Char Cost Notes1 Size 5 2.5m x 1.25m x 1.25m; mass 200 kg;

-1 KB; OCV+ 020 STR 5 Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH [0]20 DEX 208 OCV 258 DCV 255 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 126 PD 66 ED 6

15 BODY 4 Total Characteristics Cost: 126Movement: Ground: 0m

Flight: 60m

Cost Powers END

48 Hover Generator: Flight 60m, x4 Noncombat Multiple 0

Sideways Maneuverability (+½); OIF Bulky (-1)

-12 Flight Only: Ground Movement -12m (0m total)

-2 Flight Only: Swimming -4m (0m total)

67 Forward Energy Beam: RKA 4d6 [100]

Armor Piercing (+¼), Autofire (5 shots; +½), 100Charges (+¾); OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180

Degrees forward; -¼)5 Communications System: HRRP (Radio Group) 0

OIF Bulky (-1), Affected As Sight And Hearing Group AsWell As Radio Group (-½)

8 Radar Array: Radar (Radio Group), Increased Arc OfPerception (360 Degrees) 0

OIF Bulky (-1), Affected As Sight Group As Well AsRadio Group (-½)

15 Long-Range Sensors: +20 versus Range for Radio Group0

OIF Bulky (-1)

12 Life Support: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing; SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, Intense Cold, IntenseHeat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) 2Costs Endurance (-½)

Skills

8 Maneuverable: +4 with Flight



Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Qularr Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)


Total Cost: 275/5 = 55




his section includes character sheets for twotypical Qularr superhumans and several“generic” Qularr soldiers that Humansuperheroes might encounter.

As noted above, a typical superpoweredQularr is about two-thirds as powerful as theaverage superpowered Human. About one-fourthof super-Qularr are mentalists, one-fourth aremetamorphs of some type, and the rest are moreor less evenly divided among the classic superheroarchetypes.

Te Qularr classify their superhumans ona scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the weakestknown example of that type of superhuman,and 10 the strongest. (Tus, the scales have tobe re-adjusted if new super-Qularr appear whoexceed previous norms.) Depending on the typeof superhuman, a Qularr of rank 6-8 usually hasequal power to an “average” super-Human witha similar power set. Tis system also provides aconvenient way for naming superpowered Qularr.

Background/History: Born into a caste of dataprogrammers, Class 7 mentalist manifestedmental powers shortly before reaching adulthood.Te military immediately plucked him from whatwas destined to be a dull, predictable life and sent

him to a training camp. Tere he was taught howto use his psionic abilities and indoctrinated withloyalty to the Qularr people and government.

Analysis of Class 7’s powers showed that theywould work as well on the minds of aliens asthey did on Qularr minds. Tus, instead of beingassigned to some relatively safe government job,Class 7 became a diplomatic and military asset,sent on missions to other worlds where Qularrhad to interact with other sentients. He currentlyfinds himself on Earth, fighting Humans.

Personality/Motivation: Class 7 is a typical Qularrmilitary superhuman. He’s intensely loyal to theQularr cause and views other alien species asinferior in various ways. In his time on Earthhe’s come to particularly despise Humans — aso, disgusting species destined to be ruled bythe Qularr one day. He’s proud to be a part of theeffort to subjugate this weak and pathetic species.

Quote: None. Class 7 doesn’t speak to Humans,and even if he did they couldn’t understand himdue to their ridiculously limited hearing.

Powers/Tactics: Class 7 Mentalist possessespsionic powers roughly equivalent to those of a“typical” Human mentalist. He can read minds,inflict psychic pain, take control of anotherperson’s mind, or pick a single mind out of a largecrowd. His powers work equally well on Qularrand alien (i.e., non-Qularr) minds.

Class 7’s most distinctive attack is one he’sdeveloped over years of contact with alien species.He overwhelms the victim’s mind with rapid-fire

impressions of the strongest (and thus, to aliens,most bizarre/disgusting) Qularr cultural andhistorical images he knows. Tis leaves most aliensshaken, weak, and even dazed.

Campaign Use: Te Qularr don’t oen send theirsuperhumans on military missions, but Class 7Mentalist is an exception due to the ease withwhich his power affects alien minds. Tis makesit likely he’ll encounter one or more PCs at somepoint. Unless you want to send a lot more super-Qularr to Earth, you may need to increase hispower — for example, give him a Damage Reduc-tion or Damage Negation force-field so he canwithstand a lot of attacks, or beef up his mental

powers so he can easily Mind Control one or twoPCs (or NPC heroes) and use them as pawnsagainst the other PCs. o weaken him, make hismental powers require Concentration or Extraime.

Appearance: Class 7 Mentalist looks similar to aQularr Invasion Leader (see below), though he hasno elbow-spines. His head is slightly larger and theshading on his skin more purplish.

7




Val Char Cost Roll Notes15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH damage [1]20 DEX 20 13-20 CON 10 13-23 INT 13 14- PER Roll 14-

23 EGO 13 14-25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6




Flight: 24m

Cost Powers END

65 Mental Powers: Multipower, 65-point reserve

6f 1) Mind Attack: Mental Blast 6d6 (Qularr and Alienclasses of mind) 6

6f 2) Mental Trickery: Mental Illusions 12d6 (Qularr andAlien classes of mind) 6

6f 3) Mental Control: Mind Control 12d6 (Qularr andAlien classes of mind) 6

6f 4) Mental Communication: Telepathy 12d6 (Qularr

and Alien classes of mind) 64f 5) Overwhelming Alien Impressions: Drain INT, EGO,

PRE, and STUN 2d6 6

Expanded Effect (four Characteristics at a time;+1½), ACV (uses OMCV against DCV; +0), Line OfSight (+½); Doesn’t Work On Qularr (-½)

65 Mindseeking: Mind Scan 12d6 (Qularr and Alienclasses of mind) 6

67 Psychokinesis: Telekinesis (30 STR) 7

ACV (uses OMCV against DCV; +0), Line Of Sight (+½)

7 Qularr Mandibles: HKA ½d6 1No STR Bonus (-½)

5 Claws: HKA 1 point (1d6+1 with STR) 15 Kick: HKA 1 point (1d6+1 with STR) 1

24 Force-Field Flight Belt: Resistant Protection(12 PD/12 ED) 0OIF (-½)

2 Qularr Skin: Resistant (+½) for 2 PD/2 ED 0

15 Super-Qularr Mind: Mental Defense (15 points) 0

24 Force-Field Flight Belt: Flight 24m 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OIF (-½)

3 Qularr Hearing: Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 0

3 Qularr Hearing: Infrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) 0

2 Qularr Touch: +2 to PER Rolls with Normal Touch 0

Perks

7 Fringe Benefit: Military Rank

Skills

18 +3 with All Mental Powers

2 Bureaucratics 10-

3 Deduction 14-

3 Interrogation 14-

2 KS: Qularr Military History And Customs 11-

2 Paramedics 10-

3 Persuasion 14-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 13-

2 WF: Qularr Small Arms


Total Cost: 589


10 Hunted: Qularr Military (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,Watching)

15 Physical Complication: Poor Eyesight And OlfactorySenses (-1 to PER Rolls with both) (Frequently, SlightlyImpairing)

15 Psychological Complication: Hates Aliens; ConsidersQularr Superior To All Other Forms Of Life (Common,Strong)

5 Rivalry: Professional, with another mentalist












Cost Powers END

23 Shape Alteration: Shape Shift (Sight and TouchGroups, any humanoid shape), Instant Change 2Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+¼); Affects BodyOnly (-¼)

7 Qularr Mandibles: HKA ½d6 1

No STR Bonus (-½)

5 Claws: HKA 1 point (1d6 with STR) 1

5 Kick: HKA 1 point (1d6 with STR) 1


14 Concealed Force-Field Belt: Resistant Protection(6 PD/6 ED) 0

IIF (-¼)




8 Rapid Healing: Regeneration (1 BODY per Hour) 0

Perks


Talents3 Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty)

3 Resistance (3 points)

Skills

3 Breakfall 12-


3 Electronics 12-

2 KS: The Qularr Military 11-


2 Language: English (fluent conversation; Qularr is Native)

7 Mimicry 14-

1 Paramedics 8-2 PS: Scientist 11-

3 SS: Biology 12-

2 SS: Chemistry 11-

2 SS: Physics 11-

3 Stealth 12-


1 Tactics 8-

3 Ventriloquism 12-



Total Cost: 245




10 Psychological Complication: Coward (Common,Moderate)




7




Background/History: Class 3 Metamorph usedto be Research Biologist. Like every other Qularrin his family, he entered the family business,conducting biological research in the quest forbetter genetic samples to sell, creating betterlab-grown animals than their competitors

could produce, and more. All that changed oneday when a clumsy lab technician tripped andknocked one of his experiments right onto him.Te mutagenic compounds the technician hadbeen carrying mingled with Research Biolo-gist’s experimental genetic materials, forming asemi-caustic compound that ate through ResearchBiologist’s skin and into his body. As he screamedin pain, his coworkers rushed him to the nearesthospital.

Research Biologist barely survived the expe-rience, and his doctors predicted it would takemonths for him to heal. Tey were astonishedwhen he got out of bed the next day, perfectly

healed! In fact he was better than he had been— stronger, faster, tougher. Word of this soonreached the Qularr military, which broughtResearch Biologist in for testing. Tey soonlearned that his powers were even more extensivethan suspected: he could change shape! He couldonly assume other humanoid forms and couldn’timitate another person’s appearance, but it was stilla very useful ability.

Te military trained him as a soldier andrenamed him Class 3 Metamorph. Deciding hecould best be used in the invasion of Earth, ittaught him English, the dominant language ofthe planet. Now that his training’s complete he’sbeen sent to Earth and is ready to assume his newduties.

Personality/Motivation: Class 3 Metamorphfeels like his life has spun out of control. He wasperfectly happy as a research scientist and neverhad any ambition to do anything more. He’s notsure how he feels about being a soldier and spy.On the one hand he’s proud to serve his peopleand help them extend their power across theGalaxy. But on the other, he’s worried that hemay not be good enough, that he may fail, thathis efforts may make things worse for the Qularr.A few successes under his belt may shore up his

confidence, but for now he intends to proceed very cautiously on every mission he’s given.

Quote: None.

Powers/Tactics: Class 3 is a metamorph withthe ability to assume nearly any humanoidshape. However, his power suffers fromsome significant restrictions. First,he cannot imitate other beings, onlychange his own appearance. Second, thechange does not reach the cellular level,so his fingerprints, “DNA,” and the likeremain the same, giving a canny enemya way to detect who he really is. Tird,

only his actual body changes; he has to physicallychange his clothes and gear if necessary.

A scientist by training, Class 3 Metamorphpossesses a wealth of scientific knowledge andskills — including many things that Humanitydoesn’t yet know, hasn’t yet discovered, or can’tyet do. If he’s ever captured and interrogated histraining dictates that he should escape or, if unableto escape, should commit suicide... but whether hehas the courage to do that remains to be seen.

Campaign Use: Since he’s trained to infiltrateHuman societies and spy on them, Class 3Metamorph may be the first Qularr the PCs everencounter (though they may not know it until it’stoo late). His goal is to attract as little attentionto himself as possible, but if he somehow has thechance to become a superhero’s “pal” or “sidekick,”he’ll take it — that’s too good an opportunity for aspy to pass up.

o make Class 3 stronger, give him the Imita-tion and Cellular Adders for his Shape Shi; thatway he can look like any Human he wants to. oweaken him, remove the Costs Endurance Only o

Activate (+¼) Advantage from his Shape Shi.

Appearance: Class 3 Metamorph is a short,average-looking Qularr. He can use his powersto become slightly taller, a little more handsome,and so on — a fact that’s done wonders for hissocial life.











Cost Powers END

46 Invasion Leader’s Energy Pistol: Multipower,62-point reserve

60 Charges (+½) for entire reserve; all OAF (-1)

3f 1) Standard Beam, 1-Mode: Blast 12d6OAF (-1)

3f 2) Standard Beam, 3-Mode: Blast 10d6

Autofire (3 shots; +¼); OAF (-1), Requires Multiple

Charges (2 Charges per shot; -¼)2f 3) Power Beam, 1-Mode: RKA 2d6

Penetrating (+½); OAF (-1)

2f 4) Power Beam, 3-Mode: RKA 2d6

Autofire (3 shots; +¼), Penetrating (+½); OAF (-1),Requires Multiple Charges (2 Charges per shot; -¼)

2f 5) Enhanced Power Beam: RKA 2d6

+2 Increased STUN Multiplier (+½), Penetrating(+½); OAF (-1), Requires Multiple Charges (3Charges; -½)

3 Qularr Mandibles: HKA 1 point 1

No STR Bonus (-½)

10 Elbow Spines: HKA ½d6 (2½d6 with STR) 15 Kick: HKA 1 point (2d6+1 with STR) 1

30 Qularr Battle-Armor: Resistant Protection(15 PD/15 ED) 0

OIF (-½)

20 Qularr Force-Belt: Resistant Protection (8 PD/8 ED/ 4 Power Defense) [1cc]OIF (-½), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (1 Hour, Easilyrecharged; -0)

2 Qularr Skin: Resistant (+½) for 2 PD/2 ED 07 Qularr Battle-Armor: Life Support (Self-Contained

Breathing) 0OIF (-½)

6 Fast: Running +6m (18m total) 1




3 Qularr Battle-Armor: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

OIF (-½)

6 Battle-Armor Communications System: HRRP(Radio Group) 0


Perks


Skills

12 +1 Overall


3 Combat Driving 13-


3 Deduction 13-

3 Fast Draw (Small Arms) 13-3 Interrogation 14-

2 KS: The Qularr Military 11-


3 Paramedics 13-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 13-



Total Cost: 428

400 Matching Complications (75)10 Hunted: Qularr Military (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,

Watching)


20 Psychological Complication: Determined To ConquerHumanity And Prove Qularr Superiority (Very Common,Strong)







Val Char Cost Roll Notes15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH damage [1]

15 DEX 10 12-15 CON 5 12-10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 11-10 EGO 0 11-10 PRE 0 11- PRE Attack: 2d6


5 PD 3 Total: 13 PD (10 rPD)5 ED 3 Total: 13 ED (10 rED)

6 REC 230 END 212 BODY 230 STUN 5 Total Characteristics Cost: 72


Tunneling: 8m

Cost Powers END

22 Basic Qularr Energy Rifle: Blast 9d6 [30]

30 Charges (+¼); OAF (-1), Two-Handed (-½)

30 Spit Acid: RKA 1d6 4Constant (+½), Penetrating (+½), Uncontrolled (+½);Limited Range (16m; -¼)

10 Claws: HKA ½d6 (1½d6 with STR) 1

3 Qularr Mandibles: HKA 1 point 1No STR Bonus (-½)

5 Kick: HKA 1 point (1d6+1 with STR) 1

16 Qularr Battle-Armor: Resistant Protection (8 PD/8 ED) 0

OIF (-½)


20 Burrowing: Tunneling 8m through 6 PD materials 2






OIF (-½)

6 Battle-Armor Communications System: HRRP (RadioGroup) 0OIF (-½), Affected As Sight And Hearing Groups AsWell As Radio Group (-½)

Perks


Skills

4 +2 OCV with Spit Acid


2 PS: Qularr Soldier 11-

3 Stealth 12-

1 Tactics 8-



Total Cost: 215







7













Tunneling: 8m

Cost Powers END

51 Implant Firebug Egg: RKA 1d6+1 [4]

NND (defense is removing the implanted egg in time,see text; +1), Does BODY (+1); No Range (-½)

plus: Summon four Firebugs built on 115 Character Points

Loyal (+½); OIF (unhatched egg; -½), Extra Time (egg“incubates” for 1d6 Segments after being implanted;

-½), Can Only Summon One Firebug Per Charge(-½), Can Be Negated With Appropriate Procedure(see text; -½), Linked (-½), 4 Charges (-1)

7 Implant Firebug Egg: +20 STR 2Only To Make STR Rolls To Implant Firebug Eggs (seetext; -2)

30 Spit Acid: RKA 1d6 4

Constant (+½), Penetrating (+½), Uncontrolled (+½);Limited Range (16m; -¼)

3 Qularr Mandibles: HKA 1 point 1

No STR Bonus (-½)

10 Claws: HKA ½d6 (1 ½d6 with STR) 1

10 Elbow Spines: HKA ½d6 (1 ½d6 with STR) 1

5 Kick: HKA 1 point (1d6+1 with STR) 1

16 Qularr Battle-Armor: Resistant Protection (8 PD/8 ED) 0

OIF (-½)


20 Burrowing: Tunneling 8m through 6 PD materials 2






OIF (-½)

6 Battle-Armor Communications System: HRRP(Radio Group) 0


Perks

33 Followers: 4 Firebugs built on 115 Total Points (see below)

22 Followers: Qularr Swarm built on 111 Total Points (seebelow)


Skills

6 Animal Handler (Insects And Arthropods) 14-


2 PS: Qularr Soldier 11-

2 SS: Qularr Entomology 11-

3 Stealth 12-

1 Tactics 8-



Total Cost: 320










Val Char Cost Roll Notes0 STR -10 9- Lift 0 kg; 0d6 HTH damage [1]14 DEX 8 12-10 CON 0 11-5 INT -5 10- PER Roll 10-5 EGO -5 10-8 PRE -2 11- PRE Attack: 1½d6

5 OCV 103 DCV 03 OMCV 02 DMCV -33 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12

1 PD -1 Total: 1 PD (0 rPD)1 ED -1 Total: 1 ED (0 rED)2 REC -220 END 010 BODY 016 STUN -2 Total Characteristics Cost: -3


Leaping: 2m Swimming: 0m Flight: 10m

Cost Powers END

23 Stinging: RKA ½d6 [64]Constant (+½), NND (defense is Life Support [appro-priate Immunity]; +1), Does BODY (+1), PersonalImmunity (+¼), 64 Charges (+½); No Range (-½),Must Target Unprotected Hit Locations (-½)

40 Swarm Form: Physical Damage Reduction,Resistant, 75% 0Not Versus Area Of Effect/Explosion Attacks (-½)

10 Swarm Form: Energy Damage Reduction,Resistant, 25% 0Not Versus Area Of Effect/Explosion Attacks (-½)

24 Swarm Form: Desolidification (affected by any attack) 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Cannot PassThrough Solid Objects (-½), Does Not Protect AgainstDamage (-1)

7 Wings: Flight 10m 1Restrainable (-½)

-1 Insect Legs: Leaping -2m (2m forward, 1m upward) 1-10 Insectile: Running -10m (2m total)-2 Insectile: Swimming -4m (0m total)6 Six Legs: Extra Limbs 0

Inherent (+¼)

5 Swarm Form: Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees)for Normal Sight 0

10 Insect Legs: Clinging (normal STR) 0Total Powers & Skills Cost: 112

Total Cost: 109


0 Physical Complication: Human Size30 Physical Complication: Instinctive Intelligence (All The

Time, Greatly Impairing)20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation

(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)Total Complications Points: 50


Val Char Cost Roll Notes1 STR -9 9- Lift 8 kg; 0d6 HTH damage [1]14 DEX 8 12-10 CON 0 11-8 INT -2 11- PER Roll 11-5 EGO -5 10- MCV: 210 PRE 0 11- PRE Attack: 2d6

5 OCV 1011 DCV 403 OMCV 02 DMCV -33 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12

6 PD 4 Total: 6 PD (3 rPD)6 ED 4 Total: 6 ED (3 rED)2 REC -220 END 05 BODY -514 STUN -3 Total Characteristics Cost: 47


Swimming: 2m Flight: 14m

Cost Powers END12 Spit Liquid Fire: RKA 1d6 [10]

Penetrating (+½); Limited Range (8m; -¼),No Knockback (-¼), 10 Charges (-¼)

7 Stinger: HKA 1 point 1Penetrating (x2; +1); No STR Bonus (-½)

11 Venom: Drain CON 1d6 [4]Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 perHour; +1¾), NND (defense is Life Support [appropriateImmunity]; +1), Damage Over Time (2 increments, oneevery 30 Seconds for one minute, defense only appliesonce, cannot be used again on same victim until allincrements accrue; +1); Stinger HKA Must Do BODY(-½), Extra Time (onset time begins 1 Turn after victimis stung; -1¼), No Range (-½), 4 Charges (-1)

3 Carapace: Resistant (+½) for 3 PD/3 ED 09 Wings: Flight 14m 1

Restrainable (-½)-10 Short Legs: Running -10m (2m total)-1 Short Legs: Swimming -2m (2m total)5 Firebug Eyes: Increased Arc Of Perception

(360 Degrees) for Normal Sight 010 Firebug Legs: Clinging (normal STR) 06 Six Legs: Extra Limbs 0

Inherent (+¼)

Skills15 Stealth 18-Total Powers & Skills Cost: 67Total Cost: 114

175 Matching Complications (50)20 Physical Complication: Animal Intelligence (Frequently,

Greatly Impairing)20 Physical Complication: Very Limited Manipulation

(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)15 Physical Complication: Tiny (.25m; +18m KB)

(Frequently, Slightly Impairing)15 Psychological Complication: Loyal To Bugkeeper

(Common, Strong)Total Complications Points: 50Experience Points: 0

7



THE GADROON:GREEN-SKINNED

MASTERS OF GRAVITY

Chapter

Eight





Champions Beyond n Chapter Eight 18

Te early “medieval” period of Gadroonhistory saw the rise of the planet’s first majorempire, the Kro’ang. Led by a series of bril-liant, militarily adept emperors, Kro’ang soldierswearing distinctive coppery armor and purplegarb swept over the opposition. Eventually nearlyninety percent of the planet came under theirsway. Like so many empires it eventually fell intodecadence and collapsed in the face of pres-

sure from younger, more vibrant peoples, buteven today the Empire holds a place of honor inGadroon hearts. o describe a Gadroon soldieras having “Kro’ang bravery” is one of the highestcompliments he can receive.

Te next two thousand years were markedby chaotic conditions and strife between variousnations. In time, through adroit economic andmilitary maneuvering, and a culture that gavefree rein to learning and experimentation, thesocieties in the o’lak Basin region emerged aspre-eminent. Tey eventually formed the o’lakUnion which became the de facto ruler of theplanet. It didn’t exert literal control over any but

a few nations, but its economic clout and militarywere so mighty that it could in effect dictate termsto the rest of the world.

Tis state of peace — unequal peace, but stilla welcome relief to many — existed for severalcenturies. It shattered when one of the membernations of the Union, Emlek, rose up against theothers in an attempt to take control of the Unionitself. Surprise gave Emlek an initial advantage,and a bloody civil war dragged on for years. Anextended war was not to Emlek’s benefit, though,and in time it and its allies were so thoroughlydefeated that Emlek ceased to exist as a distinctstate.

When the remnants of the Union turned backto the world stage, thinking to resume the pre-warstate of affairs, they found that the rest of theGadroon nations would have none of it. Havingexperienced what it was like to live without o’lakexerting influence over everything they did, andin many cases having taken the opportunity toramp up military production while the Union wasoccupied with more pressing matters, they wantedto chart their own destinies. Weakened by thewar, the Union couldn’t assert itself anywhere inthe world anymore, and in time settled down tobecome one nation among many.

Tis balkanization remained the norm untilapproximately 300 years ago when the nation ofHwuldep rose to prominence. Hwuldepian scien-tists had made some astonishing breakthroughsin the science of gravitics, and the nation’s leaderswere ambitious and aggressive enough to takeadvantage of them. Armed with gravitic weaponssignificantly more powerful than what othernations had, and riding in gravity-manipulating vehicles whose speed and maneuverability othernations’ vehicles couldn’t match, the Hwuldepiansconquered the entire planet in under three years,founding the Hwuldep Empire.

THE SHATTERING AND THE EXODUSAbout a century ago, a Hwuldepian scientist

seeking to increase the speed of starships’ graviticengines made a tragic error. Te magnetic shieldscontaining the “gravitic wave” he was workingwith came down. Te resulting blast destroyedhis laboratory and the wave sank directly into theplanet itself.

Within days a series of tremendous earth-quakes began wracking Gadro. Before long it wasapparent to everyone, scientist and civilian alike,that the rogue gravitic wave was somehow causing

the planet to tear itself apart. Numerous solutionswere devised and implemented, but none of themworked. Some of them might have, if the Gadroonhad had the time to improve and strengthen them,but it was obvious that time was the one thing theydidn’t have. Seeing no alternative, the Emperorordered an evacuation. Every starship that wasavailable took on as many people as it could andfled the system just as Gadro obliterated itself ina massive explosion that caught more than a fewstraggling ships. Te Emperor himself was amongthe Gadroon killed in the explosion, for he’dwaited to take the very last ship.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS ABOUT THE GADROON

Humanity has learned a lot about certain aspects ofthe Gadroon thanks to three failed (and a fourth so farsuccessful) invasion attempts by the green-skinned aliens.Te United States, United Nations, and a few other nationsall possess samples of Gadroon bodies and technology(the US has the most extensive collection; see page 18).

Humans have been able to dissect numerous Gadrooncorpses and have developed a thorough knowledge ofGadroon anatomy and biology (or at least, as much asthey can without observing living Gadroon in their nativeenvironment). Teir knowledge is sufficient to developchemical or biological weapons specifically tailored toaffect only the Gadroon, if necessary.

Tanks to studying numerous computer records andother material, Humans have been able to translate theGadroon language. Several xenologists have made thestudy of Gadroon literature, public records, or anthropo-logical articles a focus of their scholarly efforts.

Gadroon technology remains maddeningly obscure,despite Humanity’s having numerous samples (includingtwo nearly-intact vessels captured by the US) to study.Te Gadroon seem to have a physics that’s almost totallydifferent from what Humans understand the laws ofphysics to be; according to Human science, Gadroon tech-nology shouldn’t even work. Analysis of Gadroon devicescontinues, but researchers aren’t hopeful.

Based on analysis of gathered intelligence and first-hand observations of a skirmish or two, Humanity isaware that the Gadroon are unfriendly toward the Qularrand fight them when they have the opportunity. Teextent and age of this state of animosity remain unknown;it may simply be brought on by competition for Earth.



184 n The Gadroon: Green-skinned Masters Of Gravity Hero System 6th Edition

Te fleet that remained seemed pitifully small— a few hundred thousand survivors of a thrivingcivilization that had numbered in the billions onlydays before. Gadroon colonies on other worlds intheir system, and in nearby systems, were mostlymining or industrial facilities on planets not suit-able for long-term habitation. So the Gadroon set

out in search of a new home.Tat search has continued up to the present

day. Te Gadroon have found several worldsthat might be suitable as new homeworlds, butthere always seems to be some problem. Severalhave been held by civilizations powerful enoughto make fighting for the world too dangerousa proposition. One world, so ideal at first thatthe Gadroon began settling it, proved to possessdiseases so virulent that even Gadroon medicalscience couldn’t cure them. Rather than risk anepidemic that could wipe them out, the Gadroonreturned to space aer less than two decades.

THE BATTLES WITH EARTHTe most frustrating find during the Gadroonexodus has been Earth. When the Gadroon firstdiscovered it, it seemed like a dream come true: aterrestrial world with a large tropical/subtropicalzone, rich in natural resources, inhabited by alow-tech civilization that would make excellentslave labor. But as recounted in Chapter One, thefirst three Gadroon efforts to conquer Earth werestymied by Human superheroes — a phenomenonthe Gadroon had not previously encountered.

Te Gadroon struck for a final time in 2008...and this time they succeeded. Using tactics notemployed in previous attacks, they were able toestablish a foothold in northern Canada thatEarth’s superheroes haven’t been able to removethem from. However, while they have modi-fied the geography, climate, and flora of that

area slightly to suit themselves, for some reasonthey’ve made no attempt at further conquest, norlaunched any attacks against major cities. Humananalysts remain baffled by this behavior and fearthat it’s a prelude to some terrible danger.

Te Gadroon are now a nomadic peopledriven by two goals. Te first is to find a newhomeworld; the second is to ensure the survivalof their species. In many ways these two goals gotogether, but sometimes they do not. For example,

a world that might serve admirably as a newhomeworld might require fighting the inhabitants,who are so powerful that the Gadroon dare notrisk the casualties that would result — there’s nopoint conquering a world if there aren’t enoughGadroon le to settle it. A being who could findthe Gadroon a new homeworld, even a Humanor some other alien, would become a great heroto the Gadroon... and save the Milky Way from aserious menace.

8




As a scant people in exodus, the Gadroondon’t have a formal government like they usedto. Instead they’re ruled by a “council” composedof their admirals — i.e., the captains of the fivelargest ships in the Gadroon fleet. Tis councilhas no formal rules or bylaws, though it generallyfollows Gadroon law as it existed at the time of

Gadro’s destruction (with a few necessary changesand adaptations to account for the present situa-tion, of course). However, by longstanding tradi-tion a majority vote on the council is incontrovert-ible. No matter how violently he disagrees with acouncil decision, an admiral on the losing side willdo what the council vote says he should do. TeGadroon long ago decided that they had to stayunited, or their extinction was ensured. Tat logicstill holds today.

THE GADROON MILITARY About half the ships that escaped the destruc-

tion of Gadro were military vessels of some sort,ranging from fleet flagships to hulking old tendersthat should’ve been retired decades before thedisaster. In addition to that, many of the civilianships in the fleet have since been retrofittedwith weapons and/or defense screens. Tus theGadroon exodus fleet as a whole has a sort ofmilitary character, and every ship captain knowsthat he and his crew may be required to take theirship into battle if the situation becomes desperateenough.

Te true military vessels in the exodus fleet areorganized into five “wings,” each commanded by acapital ship captained by an admiral. wo of thesecapital ships were flagships of main Gadroon fleets

prior to the destruction; they’re enormous vesselswith crews in the four figures (plus many civilianGadroon crammed into any spot they can live in,if necessary). Te other two are former capitalships that have been “uprated” to flagship status.Te rest of the ships in each wing are a roughlyequal division of large, mid-sized, and small shipsintended to maximize efficiency of both attack anddefense.

Gadroon space military tactics have tradition-ally relied on large ships, with smaller vessels andfighters being a tiny percentage of the overall fleetcompared to many starfaring species. However,necessity is the mother of invention, and the

exodus fleet has adjusted to using smaller (oenadapted civilian) vessels in a variety of roles.

GADROON ESPIONAGEGiven their history of balkanization and strife,

the Gadroon have long employed a wide variety ofespionage techniques and practices. Putting theirintelligence-gathering expertise to work in theirquest for a new homeworld has required the use ofholographic disguise devices (see sidebar), sinceotherwise a Gadroon’s presence would instantlyalert the authorities.

Tus concealed from detection, Gadroonagents have infiltrated over a dozen major Humancities including Millennium City, New York, LosAngeles, London, Paris, Moscow, New Delhi,Singapore, okyo, and Beijing. Teir targetsinclude not only generally assessing the Humanmood toward aliens in general (and themselvesin particular), but targeting think tanks, defensecontractors, government offices, superhero bases,and military installations for specific infiltrationmissions.

Te Gadroon no longer really have an“economy” to speak of. Whatever resources theyhave, can acquire, or can manufacture with thelimited facilities available on some of their ships isgathered at a central collection point on the fleet’slargest commercial vessel, then distributed to theother ships according to population. Naturallythere’s a certain amount of black marketeering andgra, particularly when it comes to luxury items,

but security personnel enforce the laws againstsuch practices very harshly.

Te Gadroon once enjoyed a rich and variedfamily life, no different in any significant wayfrom Human practices on the subject. But asdiscussed above, Gadroon children are now bornin large “incubation chamber rooms.” Aer thatthey’re typically raised on their ship in a sortof communal fashion, with nearly every adultlooking aer them or teaching them in some way.Many adults give special preference to their ownbiological children, but until the Gadroon havea new homeworld and a more stable populationthey feel their offspring have to be raised to servethe Gadroon people as a whole, not with loyalty toany one set of parents.

Te Gadroon once had a thriving culture withan uncounted number of types of art, literature,sports, games, and more. In addition to culturalforms analogous to those of Earth, in recent

centuries they’d developed new art forms usingtheir gravitic technology. For example, graviticshapers and molders made possible types of sculp-ture never considered before, and being able tomanipulate the gravity on a playing field gave riseto new sports (or variations on existing sports).

Much of that culture has fallen by the waysidedue to the exigencies of the exodus and the needto prevent extinction... but it hasn’t disappeared.Databanks on many Gadroon ships containrecordings of thousands of years’ worth of musicalcompositions and dramatic performances,pictures of every important work of art, and more.

GADROONHOLO-DISGUISE

SYSTEM

Sight, Hearing,

Smell/Taste, and

Touch Group Image

-8 to PER Rolls,

Reduced Endurance

(0 END; +½) (73 Active Points); IIF

(belt; -¼), No Range

(-½), Set Effect (onl

to disguise Gadroon

see text; -1). Total

cost: 26 points.

A Gadroon holo-

disguise system

uses holograms,

customized force-

fields, and other

systems to create a

disguise that makesa Gadroon look, fee

smell, and sound

like a Human. (Radi

Group Senses such

as Radar, and Menta

Senses, still reveal

a Gadroon for what

he really is.) Initially

the device (a sort

of belt) comes pre-

programmed with

20 disguises, which

the wearer selects

cybernetically. Whilthe device is worn i

can “scan” a Huma

and then reproduce

him as a disguise,

but the scan-

ning process

takes one

minute, during

which the target

cannot move.




Te heart of this species-wide repository is a singleship that used to belong to one of Gadro’s largestmuseums. It was a traveling cultural exhibit that visited various cities and colonies but now servesas an archive for all of Gadroon culture. Wheneverpossible its records and holdings are duplicated onat least two other ships in the hopes of preventingloss due to disaster.

Although the surviving Gadroon work hardevery day just to survive, they haven’t entirelygiven up cultural pursuits. Many ships haveamateur orchestras, theatrical companies, orteams that play sports and games suitable toshipboard life.

Pre-destruction Gadroon followed a wide variety of religions, the most popular of whichwere the Pellom Mysteries (a secretive religionworshipping a pantheon of six gods), Bordegism(a monotheistic faith evolved from primitivesun-god worship), Lauckta (another monotheistic

faith with some spirit worship mixed in), andRanamogtu (an extreme polytheistic faith withnearly a thousand gods, demons, and spirits).Tese religions, and others like them, produced awide variety of sacred literature which is still avail-able to the Gadroon via computer databases.

During the age of exodus, however, theGadroon fall into two camps: those who still clingto one of the old religions for the comfort theyprovide; and those who’ve abandoned religion onthe grounds there must not be any gods worthworshipping if they let Gadro be destroyed. About70% of Gadroon subscribe to the latter viewpoint.

Compared to Human technology, even someHuman super-technology, Gadroon technologyis extremely advanced. What’s worse, much ofit works despite the fact that Human sciencesays it shouldn’t! Te Gadroon seem to compre-hend entirely different principles of physics thanHumans do, ones so strange that Humans can’tgrasp them despite extensive study. Even superhe-roes who’ve examined it — including Dr. Silver-back, etsuronin, and Defender — are baffled byGadroon technology.

Te Gadroon are particularly noted for theirmastery of gravitic technology. Teir starships,force-fields, and most of their weapons and toolsmanipulate gravitic energy in some way, makingit easy to accomplish tasks that Human sciencestruggles with or deems impossible.

In HERO System terms, Gadroon technology is“Barely Compatible” with Human tech, meaningthat a Human who works with Gadroon tech ortries to combine Human and Gadroon compo-nents in a single device may suffer up to a -8 SkillRoll penalty and other restrictions; see HSS 40.

o Human eyes, Gadroon starships are sleekand slender, oen with angular lines and wedged-shaped bodies (though some larger vessels aremore saucer-shaped). Teir gravitic drives makethem fast and extremely maneuverable comparedto most other species’ starships of comparativesize; their ability to turn quickly or shi position

sometimes seems to defy the laws of physics (orat least the laws of physics Humans have to obey).Teir gravitic weapons and defense-fields makethem a force to be reckoned with in combat.

Here are examples of two Gadroon ships: theDruqo-class Invader and the Scoba-class Warship.

DRUQO -CLASS INVADERTe Druqo-class Invader is a medium-sized

Gadroon ship with a crew of approximately thirty.As the name implies, it’s intended for landingassaults against planets and space facilities, so itcan fly in atmospheres as well as space.

Te Druqo sports a large gravitic cannon at itsnose, and seven lesser gravitic blasters along itshull (two ventral, two dorsal, one port, one star-board, one a). Te gravitic beams are particularlypotent because they set up “gravitic shock waves”in the hull of a “hollow” target like a starship,space station, or building, which is very difficult todefend against. (Against a solid target such as anasteroid, this doesn’t occur. Against a humanoidtarget like a superhero, the GM might want tochange the Penetrating to Double Knockbackinstead.)

SCOBA -CLASS WARSHIPA mainstay of many sub-wings of the Gadroon

fleet, the Scoba-class warship is a large, roughlysaucer-shaped vessel with a crew of about 100. It’sintended as an “anchor” for squadrons of smallerships to rally around, and even has the capabilityto carry two dozen small fighters (though mostScobas have few or no fighters le at this stage ofthe Gadroon exodus).

Te Scoba mounts eight gravitic cannons: onedorsal, one ventral, and six spaced equidistantlyaround the “rim” of the ship. Like most otherGadroon ships it also has a gravitic point defensesystem that prevents physical projectiles fromreaching the vessel.

8




Val Char Cost Notes11 Size 55 25m x 12.5m x 12.5m; mass 200 tons;

-11 KB; OCV+ 765 STR 0 Lift 200 tons; 13d6 HTH [0]26 DEX 328 OCV 25

10 DCV 354 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 1210 PD 1210 ED 1225 BODY 4 Total Characteristics Cost: 195

Movement: Ground: 0m Flight: 40m FTL: 1 LY per 6 Hours

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

23 Gravitic Power Plant: Endurance Reserve(120 END, 24 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

11 Backup Gravitic Power Supply: Endurance Reserve (60END, 12 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

13 Gravitic Warp Engines: FTL Travel (1 LY per 6 Hours) 3OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

62 Secondary Gravitic Engines: Flight 40m 7MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾), No Turn Mode(+¼), Sideways Maneuverability (+½); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Half Endurance (-¼)

-12 Only Flies: Ground Movement -12m (0m total)

-2 Only Flies: Swimming -4m (0m total)

Tactical Systems

48 Gadroon Forward Gravitic Cannon: RKA 8d6 12OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (60 Degrees; -½)

20 Gadroon Forward Gravitic Cannon: Penetrating (+½)for RKA 8d6 6OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (60 Degrees; -½),Only Works Against Starships And Other “Hollow”Targets (see text; -½)

40 Gadroon Gravitic Blasters: RKA 6d6 9OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

16 Gadroon Gravitic Blasters: Penetrating (+½) for RKA

6d6 4OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼),Only Works Against Starships And Other “Hollow”Targets (see text; -½)

15 Gadroon Gravitic Blasters: seven more GraviticBlasters (total of 8) 9+4

27 Gadroon Gravitic Shield: Resistant Protection(18 PD/18 ED) 7Impenetrable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

7 Gravitic Point Defense Rays: Deflection 2OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼),Only Works Against Physical Projectiles (-½)

5 Gravitic Point Defense Rays: one more Ray (total of 2) 2

Operations Systems

57 Sensor And Communication Systems:Variable Power Pool, 50 Pool + 50 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)


OIF Bulky (-1)15 Long-Range Sensors:

+20 versus Range for Radio Group 0OIF Bulky (-1)



Personnel Systems





6 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]


7 Medical Facilities: Paramedics 11-5 Medical Facilities: SS: Medicine 11-

Skills



9 Mechanics 12-3 SS: Gravitics 12-




Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Gadroon Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)


Total Cost: 841/5 = 168




Val Char Cost Notes16 Size 80 125m x 645m x 64m; mass 6.4 ktons;

-16 KB; OCV+ 1090 STR 0 Lift 6.4 ktons; 18d6 HTH [0]20 DEX 208 OCV 25

8 DCV 254 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 1212 PD 1512 ED 1540 BODY 14 Total Characteristics Cost: 214


Flight: 40m


Cost Powers END

Power Systems

35 Gravitic Power Plant: Endurance Reserve


17 Backup Gravitic Power Supply: Endurance Reserve(100 END, 15 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

14 Gravitic Warp Engines: FTL Travel (1 LY per 3 Hours) 3OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

53 Secondary Gravitic Engines: Flight 40m 6MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾), No Turn Mode(+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Half Endurance (-¼)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Ground Movement -12m (0m total)


Tactical Systems

60 Gadroon Gravitic Cannons: RKA 10d6 15OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (60 Degrees; -½)

25 Gadroon Forward Gravitic Cannon: Penetrating (+½)for RKA 10d6 7OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (60 Degrees; -½),Only Works Against Starships And Other “Hollow”Targets (see text; -½)

15 Gadroon Gravitic Cannons: seven more GraviticCannons (total of 8) 15+7

39 Gadroon Gravitic Shield: Resistant Protection

(26 PD/26 ED) 10Impenetrable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)

7 Gravitic Point Defense Rays: Deflection 2OIF Bulky (-1), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼),Only Works Against Physical Projectiles (-½)

10 Gravitic Point Defense Rays: three more Rays(total of 4) 2

Operations Systems

68 Sensor And Communication Systems: Variable PowerPool, 60 Pool + 60 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)



OIF Bulky (-1)3 Navigation Computer: +3 to Navigation (Space) rolls 0

OAF Bulky (-1½)


Personnel Systems


5 Backup Artificial Gravity: Telekinesis (10 STR) 1



6 Backup Life Support: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) [1cc]Only Within Affected Area (3m x 2m x 2m chamber;-2), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (easily replaced fromsources outside the ship; 1 Month [i.e., hundreds of

thousands of man-days]; -0)10 Backup Life Support: three more Backup Life Support

areas (total of 4)11 Medical Facilities: Paramedics 13-7 Medical Facilities: SS: Medicine 13-

Skills



9 Mechanics 12-3 SS: Gravitics 12-11 Weaponsmith (Firearms, Missiles & Rockets, Incendiary

Weapons, Energy Weapons) 12-Total Abilities & Equipment Cost: 688


Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Gadroon Warship (Not Concealable,Causes Extreme Fear)



Total Cost: 902/5 = 180

8




his section includes character sheets fortwo Gadroon “superhumans” and several“generic” Gadroon soldiers that Humansuperheroes might encounter.

As noted above, the Gadroon cannot havesuperpowers. However, they can use advancedtechnology, and for that matter their “standard”technology is equal to or better than most Humansuper-technology. Here are two Gadroon “super-heroes” — Commander and Sky-Knight — whose“powers” derive from Gadroon tech and/ortraining.

Background/History: Pruglor was born aboardone of the exodus fleet’s flagships and raised in amilitary environment. From his earliest days hewanted to be a soldier, and as soon as he was oldenough he volunteered. He made it through basictraining with top marks, and the high commanddecided he was perfect for a project they had inmind. Tey felt the Gadroon people needed asymbol to inspire them — a soldier who embodiedall that was best about the Gadroon, who couldlead them into battle against any foe, who’d inspirethem to greatness during their long and difficultsearch for a new home.

Willing to do anything to help his people,

Pruglor eagerly agreed to become part of theproject. Years of training followed as his bodywas honed to the peak of Gadroon perfection.Gadroon military scientists designed a powerfulpair of “gravitic gauntlets” for him, and he taughthimself to use them with consummate skill.rainers drilled him in every ability he mightpossibly need, from the hand-to-hand combattechniques of his people to how to fly starships.When they felt he was ready, the high commandpromoted him and gave him the code nameCommander, since he would be a great leader ofthe Gadroon. He’s been doing that job and strivingto live up to that name ever since.

Personality/Motivation: Commander epitomizesall that’s best about the Gadroon, and he’s utterlydevoted to the welfare and success of his people.He’s driven to defeat their enemies, lead them togreatness, and hopefully help them find/acquire anew homeworld. Sometimes he goes days withoutsleep so he can keep performing his mission andhelping other Gadroon. He won’t hesitate to put

himself in danger, or if necessary sacrifice his ownlife, to preserve the Gadroon from extinction orwin them a new home. If that means killing everyHuman or Qularr in existence, he’ll do it if he can.

Quote: “Fool! You cannot hope to stand againstthe might of the Gadroon!”








Movement: Running: 12m Flight: 20m Swimming: 6m

Cost Powers END

29 Gravitic Gauntlets Batteries: Endurance Reserve(120 END, 21 REC) 0OIF (-½)

5 Gravitic Gauntlets Batteries: a Battery for the secondGauntlet 0

50 Gravitic Gauntlets: Multipower, 75-point reserveAll OIF (-½)

5f 1) Gravitic Lance: Blast 15d6 (physical) 7

OIF (-½)5f 2) Gravitic Bolt: Blast 10d6 (physical) 7


4f 3) Gravitic Containment Field:Entangle 6d6, 6 PD/6 ED 6

OIF (-½)

4f 4) Gravitic Lariat: Telekinesis (40 STR) 6OIF (-½)

4f 5) Gravitic Crushburst: Blast 10d6 (physical) 7

Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity(+¼); OIF (-½), No Range (-½)

3f 6) Shaped Wormhole: Suppress Movement Powers 4d6 6

Variable Effect (any one Movement Power at a time;+½); OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -½)

5 Gravitic Gauntlets: another Gravitic Gauntlet (total of 2)

Martial Arts: Gadroon Fighting Arts


4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, 55 STR4 Dodge +0 +5 Dodge all attacks, Abort3 Legsweep +2 -1 10d6; Target Falls4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 4d6 NND(1)4 Punch +0 +2 11d6 Strike5 Side Kick -2 +1 13d6 Strike

16 +4 Damage Classes (already added in)


OIF (-½)

7 Psi-Shield: Mental Defense (10 points) 0OIF (helmet; -½)

23 Flight System: Flight 20m 0

No Turn Mode (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END;+½); OIF (-½)

1 Gadroon Limbs: Swimming +2m (6m total) 1



1 Gadroon Lungs: Life Support (Extended Breathing:1 END per Turn) 0

Perks


Talents5 Lightning Reflexes: +5 DEX to act first with All Actions

Skills


3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Breakfall 13-

3 Bureaucratics 14-

3 Climbing 13-


2 KS: Enemies Of The Gadroon 11-

2 KS: Gadroon Military 11-

2 Navigation (Space) 13-2 PS: Soldier 11-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 13-

2 TF: Gadroon Starships

2 WF: Gadroon Small Arms


Total Cost: 535


10 Hunted: Gadroon Military (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,

Watching)20 Psychological Complication: Ardent Gadroon Patriot;Determined To Protect His People From Extinction AndEnsure Their Place In The Galaxy (Common, Total)




8




Powers/Tactics: Commander has been trainedto be nearly as strong, swi, tough, and skilled atcombat as a Gadroon can be. He also uses severalpowerful weapons and gadgets. His GraviticGauntlets can project energy beams and otherattacks, ranging from simple bolts of gravitic force,to gravitic pulses, to creating miniaturized “worm-holes” that interfere with his opponents’ ability tomove. He also has a force-field belt to protect himfrom harm, and a flight system (a combination ofbelt-jets and gravitic manipulation) that allowshim to move through the air.

Commander is a tactical genius who fights asintelligently and effectively as possible. He usuallyhas other Gadroon soldiers (and possibly Sky-Knight) working with him and deploys them toallow for interlocking fields of fire, covering fire,and other advantages. While he’s bold and aggres-sive, he understands that sometimes retreatingand regrouping are more effective than continuinga futile fight.

Campaign Use: Commander is definitely anopponent of the PCs, but he’s not actually a villain.

Much like the iger Squad (see CV2), he’s an agentof an opposing political power and thus can comeinto conflict with the PCs even though they couldeasily work together in other circumstances. Forexample, charitable PCs might help him protectthe Gadroon from an attack that could wipe themout, and he might become a valuable ally in afight against an overwhelming threat like IstvathaV’han.

o make Commander a tougher opponent,give him more gadgets: a stealth field (Invisibility,and perhaps also Desolidification); a hologramgenerator he can use to confuse his enemies; anaugmented force-field that provides DamageNegation; some sensory devices; and so on. oweaken him, remove his Martial Arts, makinghim more of a pure weaponmaster and less of awell-rounded soldier. You might also reduce hisSPD to 5.

Appearance: Commander is a tall (4’6”!),muscular male Gadroon. His helmet looks similarto those of regular Gadroon troops, but it’s bulkier,has three fins, and is purple. He wears a vest-and-belt sort of thing made of the same purple metalwith electronic green highlighting, with belt-jetson each hip so he can fly. His gauntlets, madeof the same purple metal with electronic green

highlighting, come up to his elbow and containnumerous blasters and weapons (remember, theGadroon only have three fingers and a thumb oneach hand). His boots come up to his knees andhave a fin-like flare in front. On his back there’s apower pack shaped sort of like a half-oval.

Background/History: Rongeep was a Gadroonmilitary scientist working on various weaponand defense system projects... but he wanted todo more for his people. He didn’t want to hide inthe interior of his ship when an attack happened,he wanted to be on the front line, striking a blow

for the Gadroon! Inspired by these dreams, hebegan working on a suit of powered armor in hisspare time. Aer months of effort he created apowered armor suit that made several significantadvancements in Gadroon armor technology.When he showed it to his superiors and beggedto be allowed to wear it into battle to test it, theydecided to grant his wish. Christening him Sky-Knight, they told him to prove that his armor wasas good as he claimed and destroy the enemies ofthe Gadroon. And that’s just what he’s been doingever since.

Personality/Motivation: Like many Gadroon,Sky-Knight is devoted to serving and protecting

his people, but his real motivating force is his loveof technology. He’s fascinated by it, and he thinksthat it can solve all of the Gadroon’s problems...somehow. Right now he’s focused on brute-force approaches (creating weapons, destroyingenemies) because that jibes with his background.If he ever begins to think on a broader scale andreally put his genius to work, he could become atrue hero of his people... and a deadly threat toHumanity.

Quote: “Powerful you may be, but you’re no matchfor Gadroon technology!”

BLACK HOLECOLLAPSE

If he were to appea

in the Champions

Online massively

multiplayer online

roleplaying game,

Commander’s

Gravitic Gauntletswould have an

additional power:

Black Hole Collapse

the ability to create

an intense gravitic

field that captures

a single target and

crushes him for

several seconds

before dissipating.

It’s too expensive a

attack to include in

his Multipower, but

here’s what it lookslike in HERO System

terms in case you

want to let him use

it:

Telekinesis (60 STR

Reduced Endur-

ance (0 END; +½),

Uncontrolled (lasts

Phases or until victi

breaks free with his

STR; +½) (180 Activ

Points); Set Effect

(only to Grab onecharacter, hold him

in place, and inflict

Squeeze damage;

-½). Total cost: 120

points.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes10+40 STR 27* 11- (19-) Lift 100 kg (25 tons); 2d6

(10d6) HTH damage [1 (5)]10+10 DEX 13* 11- (13-)10+20 CON 13* 11- (15-)20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-15 EGO 5 12-10+20 PRE 13* 11- (15-) PRE Attack: 2d6 (6d6)

3+4 OCV 13*3+4 DCV 13*3 OMCV 05 DMCV 62+3 SPD 20* Phases: 6, 12 (3, 5, 8, 10, 12)


*: OIF (Powered Armor; -½)


Flight: 30m

Cost Powers END

43 Powered Armor Batteries: Endurance Reserve(200 END, 21 REC) 0

OIF (-½)

60 Gauntlet Blasters: Multipower, 90-point reserveAll OIF (-½)

6f 1) Gravitic Blast: Blast 12d6 9


6f 2) Auto-Gravitic Beam: Blast 9d6 9Autofire (5 shots; +½), Double Knockback (+½);OIF (-½)

5f 3) Gravitic Pulse Blast: Blast 10d6 7Area Of Effect (22m Radius Explosion; +½); OIF (-½)

5f 4) Auto-Pulson Beam: Blast 12d6 9

Autofire (5 shots; +½); OIF (-½)

4f 5) Laser Blast: RKA 4d6 6

OIF (-½)

6f 6) Gravitic Lariat: Telekinesis (60 STR) 9

OIF (-½)

24 Powered Armor: Resistant Protection (12 PD/12 ED) 0OIF (-½)

53 Powered Armor: Damage Negation(-8 DCs Physical and Energy) 0OIF (-½)

7 Psi-Shield: Mental Defense (10 points) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Force-Field: Power Defense (10 points) 0

OIF (-½)7 Flare Shielding: Sight Group Flash Defense (10 points) 0

OIF (-½)

7 Hearing Protection: Hearing Group Flash Defense(10 points) 0OIF (-½)

13 Life Support Systems: Life Support (SafeEnvironments: High Pressure, High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing) 0

OIF (-½)

35 Flight System: Flight 30m 0No Turn Mode (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END;+½); OIF (-½)


6 Helmet Communication System: HRRP (Radio Group) 0OIF (-½), Affected As Sight And Hearing Groups AsWell As Radio Group (-½)


Perks


Skills



3 Deduction 13-

3 Electronics 13-

3 High Society 11-

3 Mechanics 13-

2 SS: Biology 11-

2 SS: Chemistry 11-

3 SS: Physics 13-




Total Cost: 505


10 Hunted: Gadroon Military (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,Watching)

15 Psychological Complication: Technocrat; FascinatedBy Technology And Believes Most Problems Can BeSolved Technologically (Common, Strong)




8




Powers/Tactics: Sky-Knight is an ordinaryGadroon most of the time (albeit one with agenius mind and a gi for designing weapons).His “powers” all come from his powered armor,which is equipped with a variety of weapons(gravitic blasters and lariat, a laser, a pulsonbeam), a flight system, and powerful defensivescreens. He loves using his armor and is somewhatprone to picking (or prolonging) fights just so hecan go on blasting his enemies. He particularlylikes to humble other gadgeteers and poweredarmor wearers to prove the superiority of Gadroonscience.

Campaign Use: Sky-Knight’s interest in tech-nology provides several plot hooks for the GM towork with. He might, for example, try to steal (orotherwise obtain) samples of Human or Qularrtechnology to study, with consequences rangingfrom the humorous to the deadly. Or he mightfixate on a PC who’s known for his technology andbecome determined to show that his devices arebetter (i.e., become his Hunted).

o make Sky-Knight more powerful, give him

a broader range of weapons. Some Drains, Flashes,devices to Aid other Gadroon, and the like wouldreally increase his tactical flexibility; so wouldsystems that let him teleport, cancel gravity overa wide area, or become invisible. o weaken him,reduce his Damage Negation by half and removehis Auto-Gravitic Beam attack.

Appearance: Sky-Knight is a Gadroon soldier whowears a suit of powered armor. His armor covershis entire body and is orange and gold; it featuresthe usual Gadroon aesthetic of flares, fins, andother decorative touches on the gauntlets, boots,helmet, shoulders, and other appropriate places.

Description: A Gadroon Gravitic Shaper is ahigh-ranking combat officer in the Gadroonmilitary. Equipped with special weapons built intohis triglepa (“arm-shields”), he’s not only able tocommand large numbers of Gadroon troops butto take on a Human superhero singlehandedly.

Powers/Tactics: A Gravitic Shaper’s arm-shieldshave several weapons built into them. Te first isa standard Gadroon gravitic bolt that’s capable ofknocking even heavy targets head over heels. Tesecond is an atomic blast, which hits harder thanthe gravitic bolt but lacks its kinetic potential.

Tird, the arm-shields can manipulate bands ofgravitic force to stop everyone within a 1m radiusarea from moving. (If you’re using the Black HoleCollapse weapon described in the sidebar onpage 191, the Gravitic Shaper should have it aswell.)

When facing a single foe, a Gravitic Shaperusually opens with a gravitic bolt in the hopesof doing Knockback, then follows up on itsadvantage with other attacks as needed. Againstmultiple foes it will try to Entangle any he thinksare vulnerable to such attacks (i.e., who don’t looklike they can escape or break free somehow), thenfocus on the toughest-remaining foe.

Appearance: A typical Gravitic Shaper is a tall,confident looking Gadroon wearing a uniformappropriate to his rank (including his force-fieldbelt, which is a part of his flight system). Teuniform is mostly grey and white, with orangehighlights, though this sometimes varies based onassignment. On his lower arms he wears triglepa, a form of traditional Gadroon military garbbest translated as “arm-shield.” Te arm-shields

contain sophisticated weaponry and are usuallyorange or transparent.

Description: Adjudicators are mid-rankingGadroon officers who are the security corps ofthe Gadroon military. Tey’re responsible forguarding sites of interest to the enemy, investi-gating crime and corruption among the ranks,and so on. Human superheroes are most likely toencounter them as defenders of sensitive militarytargets.

Powers/Tactics: An Adjudicator can fight in twoways. First, the triglep (arm-shield) he wears onhis right arm can project various gravitic boltsand also a “gravitic lariat” (a sort of tractor beam).Additionally, he has implanted technology thatmakes him superhumanly strong and has beentrained in hand-to-hand fighting.

When fighting an enemy at range, an Adju-dicator typically fires one or two Ranged attacks,then uses his Gravitic Lariat to pull his opponentto HH Combat distance. A Clobber or two and aclosing Uppercut are usually enough to finish theenemy off.

Appearance: An Adjudicator wears an orangeuniform with white combat vest, belt, helmet,

shoulder pads, and triglep (arm-shield) on hisright arm. His le arm is let bare so he can use hishand-to-hand combat abilities.









Flight: 20m

Cost Powers END

26 Gravitic Arm-Shields Batteries: Endurance Reserve(100 END, 21 REC) 0OIF (-½)

40 Gravitic Arm-Shields: Multipower, 60-point reserve

All OIF (-½)

5f 1) Gravitic Bolt: Blast 8d6 (physical) 6Double Knockback (+½); OIF (-½)

4f 2) Gravitic Crushburst: Blast 8d6 (physical) 7

Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity(+¼); OIF (-½), No Range (-½)

4f 3) Gravitic Lariat: Telekinesis (40 STR) 6

OIF (-½)

20 Gadroon Brawling: Multipower, 20-point reserve

1f 1) Clobber: HA +2d6 1


1f 2) Uppercut: Double Knockback (KB is in an upwarddirection; +½) for STR 40 4

Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -½)


OIF (-½)





Perks


Skills


2 Bureaucratics 10-

3 Interrogation 12-


2 KS: Gadroom Military Law 11-

2 KS: Gadroon Security Procedures 11-2 PS: Soldier 11-


3 Stealth 12-

3 Tactics 12-

3 Teamwork 12-


9 Choose 9 Character Points’ worth of Skills from thefollowing list: Autofire Skills, Climbing, CombatDriving, Combat Piloting, Combat Skill Levels,Computer Programming, Concealment, Cryptography,Demolitions, Electronics, Fast Draw, Martial Arts,Mechanics, Navigation, Paramedics, Persuasion,Skill Levels, Streetwise, Survival, Systems Operation,Weapon Familiarity, Weaponsmith, any BackgroundSkill, Contacts


Total Cost: 387






8




Val Char Cost Roll Notes15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH damage [1]16 DEX 12 12-

15 CON 5 12-15 INT 5 12- PER Roll 12-13 EGO 3 12-18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3½d6





Flight: 20m

Cost Powers END

26 Gravitic Arm-Shields Batteries: Endurance Reserve(100 END, 21 REC) 0

OIF (-½)

45 Gravitic Arm-Shields: Multipower, 67-point reserve

All OIF (-½)

4f 1) Gravitic Bolt: Blast 9d6 (physical) 7

Double Knockback (-½); OIF (-½)4f 2) Atomic Blast: Blast 12d6 6

OIF (-½)


Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼); OIF (-½)


27 Force-Field Belt: Damage Negation (-4 DCs Physicaland Energy) 0

OIF (-½)






Perks


Skills


2 Bureaucratics 10-2 KS: Gadroon Military 11-

2 PS: Soldier 11-

3 Stealth 12-

3 Tactics 12-

3 Teamwork 12-


12 Choose 12 Character Points’ worth of Skills fromthe following list: Autofire Skills, Climbing, CombatDriving, Combat Piloting, Combat Skill Levels,Computer Programming, Concealment, Cryptography,Demolitions, Electronics, Fast Draw, Interrogation,Martial Arts, Mechanics, Navigation, Paramedics,

Persuasion, Security Systems, Skill Levels, Survival,Systems Operation, Weapon Familiarity, Weaponsmith,any Background Skill, Contacts


Total Cost: 356









Description: A Lancer is a mid-ranking Gadroonofficer who leads troops in the field — roughlyequivalent to a lieutenant or captain in a Humanarmy, though some function more akin tosergeants. Tey’re oen accompanied by Initiates,Pacifiers, Observers, and/or other troops.

Powers/Tactics: A Lancer wears a twin-barrelled

arm-blaster on each of his arms. Primarily he usesthis weapon to fire Gravitic Lances, but in HHCombat he can channel its energy into deliveringa more powerful punch. (If you’re using the BlackHole Collapse weapon described in the sidebar onpage 191, the Gravitic Lancer should have it aswell.) Te arm-blasters’ trigger mechanism andhousing cover the whole hand, making it impos-sible for the Lancer to pick up or manipulateobjects while wearing them.

Appearance: A Lancer wears an orange uniformwith white boot, belts, vest, and helmet. Hisarm-blasters have a housing of transparent plastic

that reaches up to the elbow on the outside of theforearm for protection, but only just past the wriston the inner forearm. wo orange barrels projectfrom the front.

Description: A Gravitic Initiate is a low-rankingGadroon officer who’s only recently been admittedto the ranks of soldiers given personal graviticweapons. ypically his career path leads to being aLancer or Adjudicator, but those are far from theonly possibilities open to him.

Powers/Tactics: In addition to his standardcombat role (attacking the enemy with graviticbolts and gravitic containment fields), an Initiatealso has a support function. His “distortion shield”allows him to provide a short-term “boost” toanother Gadroon’s health. In battle most Initiatesfocus on Entangling enemy soldiers and assistingtheir fellows with Aid SUN, but they try not tomiss a chance to inflict injury (and Knockback!) toa vulnerable target.

Appearance: A Gravitic Initiate wears a lightgreen uniform with white boots, belt, vest, helmet,and jetpack (which is part of his flight system). Hisgravitic arm-blaster covers his right arm similar

to the Lancer’s blaster, but the barrel is visuallydistinctive: a single rod surrounded by a series ofconcentric orange “fins.”

Description: A Pacifier is a low-ranking Gadroonofficer trained and equipped to disrupt enemysoldiers’ battlefield efficiency by interfering withtheir ability to move. Te Gadroon rely on highmobility (i.e., their troops’ Flight Systems) fortactical advantage, so they like to slow downthe opponent to heighten that advantage when

possible.Powers/Tactics: Te Pacifier performs his dutiesusing three weapons that are built into his arm-blasters. Te first is a standard Gadroon graviticbolt, oen used to knock an opponent down untilthe Pacifier can close to HH Combat range.Te second is a device that generates a “shapedwormhole” that distorts space around a target,making it harder for him to move (sometimes he’scompletely frozen in place). Lastly, the Pacifiercan channel power to his arm-blasters to deliverpowerful hand-to-hand blows.

Appearance: A Gadroon Pacifier wears a grey

uniform with white boots, belt, vest, and shoulderpads. His helmet is noticeably smaller than mostother Gadroon soldiers’. His arm-blasters aretransparent and reach up to the elbow on theoutside of the forearm for protection, but only just past the wrist on the inner forearm. Tey lackprojecting blaster-barrels like the Lancer has.

Description: An Observer is a Gadroon combatdrone about the size and shape of a basketball.Its main purpose is to keep track of soldiers inthe field, watch what they’re doing, and transmit

real-time data to Gadroon commanders behindthe front lines so they can maintain an accuratemodel of what’s going on and direct their troopsaccordingly. However, it does have some built-inweapons (a gravitic lance and a tractor beam) thatit will use to defend the troops it’s assigned to ifnecessary.

8









Flight: 20m

Cost Powers END

26 Gravitic Arm-Blasters Batteries: Endurance Reserve(100 END, 21 REC) 0OIF (-½)

5 Gravitic Arm-Blasters Batteries: another Battery(total of 2) 0

30 Gravitic Arm-Blasters: Multipower, 60-point reserve

All OIF (-½), Side Effects (prevents use of hands formanipulatory purposes, always occurs; -½)

3f 1) Gravitic Lance: Blast 12d6 (physical) 6OIF (-½), Side Effects (see above; -½)

1f 2) Gravitic Distortion Pulse: HA +4d6 2

OIF (-½), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼), Side Effects(see above; -½)

5 Gravitic Arm-Blasters: another Arm-Blaster (total of 2)


OIF (-½)






Perks


Skills

10 +2 with Gravitic Arm-Blasters Multipower

2 Bureaucratics 10-


2 PS: Soldier 11-

3 Stealth 12-3 Tactics 12-

3 Teamwork 12-

















Flight: 20m

Cost Powers END

26 Gravitic Arm-Blaster Batteries: Endurance Reserve(100 END, 21 REC) 0OIF (-½)

22 Gravitic Arm-Blaster: Multipower, 45-point reserve

All OIF (-½), Side Effects (prevents use of right handfor manipulatory purposes, always occurs; -½)

2f 1) Gravitic Bolt: Blast 6d6 (physical) 4Double Knockback (+½); OIF (-½), Side Effects (seeabove; -½)


OIF (-½), Side Effects (see above; -½)

1f 3) Distortion Shield: Aid STUN 4d6 4Ranged (+½); OIF (-½), Only Aid Others (-½), OnlyWorks On Gadroon (-0), Side Effects (see above; -½)






1 Gadroon Lungs: Life Support (Extended Breathing: 1END per Turn) 0

Perks


Skills

5 +1 with Gravitic Arm-Blaster Multipower

1 Bureaucratics 8-


2 PS: Soldier 11-

3 Stealth 12-

2 Tactics 10-




Total Cost: 239






8






Val Char Cost Roll Notes0 STR -10 9- Lift 25 kg; 0d6 HTH damage [1]20 DEX 20 13-20 CON 10 13-20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-15 EGO 5 12-

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d68 OCV 258 DCV 253 OMCV 05 DMCV 64 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

15 PD 13 Total: 15 PD (15 rPD)15 ED 13 Total: 15 ED (15 rED)5 REC 150 END 68 BODY -222 STUN 1 Total Characteristics Cost: 148


Cost Powers END

45 Built-In Weaponry: Multipower, 45-point reserve

4f 1) Gravitic Lance: Blast 8d6 4

4f 2) Gravitic Beam: Telekinesis (30 STR) 4

15 Robotic Body: Resistant (+½) for 15 PD/15 ED 0

70 Antigrav Unit: Flight 40m 0

No Turn Mode (+¼), Reduced Endurance(0 END; +½)

-12 Only Flies: Running -12m

-2 Only Flies: Leaping -4m

-2 Only Flies: Swimming -4m

12 Communications Systems: HRRP 0

5 Visual Sensors: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

5 Visual Sensors: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 015 Built-In Sonar: Active Sonar (Hearing Group) 0

20 Built-In Radar: Radar (Radio Group), Increased Arc OfPerception (360 Degrees) 0

40 Cyber-Link: Mind Link, specific group of up to 12 minds(defined Gadroon computer systems, robots, andthe like that it’s in electronic contact with), No LOSNeeded 0

Talents

3 Onboard Computer Systems: Absolute Range Sense

3 Onboard Computer Systems: Absolute Time Sense

3 Onboard Computer Systems: Bump Of Direction

3 Onboard Computer Systems: Lightning Calculator

Skills


3 Cryptography 13-

3 Electronics 13-

3 Mechanics 13-



3 Stealth 13-


Total Cost: 400


20 Physical Complication: No Manipulatory Limbs(Frequently, Greatly Impairing)

15 Physical Complication: Affected By Mental Powers ThatAffect Machine Class Of Minds As Well As HumanClass (Infrequently, Greatly Impairing)



8



THE ELDER WORM:

TERRORS OF THE GALAXY

Chapter

Nine



202 n The Elder Worm: Terrors Of The Galaxy Hero System 6th Edition

n insidious race of disgusting aliens whoonce ruled nearly half the Galaxy, theElder Worm have fallen far from theheights of power they once occupied...

but the scattered survivors who lurk in the hiddenplaces of the Milky Way still pose a terrible threatto other sentients.

As their name and appearance suggests, theElder Worm evolved from a sort of worm-likecreature native to their homeworld, giving themflexible, slimy, annelidoid bodies that most speciesfind disgusting even to look at. Te typical ElderWorm is 5’7” tall (the species lacks genders) andslender.

An Elder Worm’s skin is usually ochre-colored,though the deepness of the shade may vary fromindividual to individual. Teir heads are roughlyconical and have no mouths. Tey have the same

five senses as Humans, but communicate viatelepathy. Tey don’t eat in the same way as mostother species. Some nutrients they absorb throughtheir skin subconsciously, some they consumeconsciously by placing a special tentacle-likeconstruct into liquified food substances, and somethey consume telepathically by slowly killing anedible being and feeding on its “life essence.” Manytypes of sentient beings (including Humans) fallinto the latter category of food; the Elder Wormconsider them particularly succulent delicacies.

Te Elder Worm are native to a climate that’smuch warmer and more humid than Earth’s(except perhaps for the most tropical, swampy

regions). Exposure to atmospheres such as thoseof Earth (particularly the drier and/or colderregions) causes them pain that leads to debilita-tion and eventually death. o avoid this, they wearspecial armored “humidity suits” that recreatethe sort of environment they prefer (thougheven a humidity suit can’t protect against trulyintense heat, such as inside a volcano). In some oftheir lairs, such as the Echinocos Shore region ofMonster Island, they also use “vaporative humidi-ator” machines that make the climate hotter andwetter; these look like cross-shaped towers abouttwice the size of a man that pump steam into theair. In comfortable environments they usually

wear robes, mostly in earth-tone colors. Temore elaborate the robe, the higher-class or moreimportant the wearer; powerful or importantElder Worm may attach valuable (or mysticallypotent) gems to their heads, arms, or other partsof their bodies.

Te Elder Worm can burrow through theground (or even rock) as fast as they can run by

emitting a sort of acid-like substance from theirhands (this substance has no effect on livingflesh). Tey oen use this ability to ambush theirenemies, or to escape from an attacker and thenstealthily return for a sneaky counterattack. Areaswhere one or more Elder Worm have spent a lotof time tend to be riddled with their tunnels andwarrens.

REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPANTe Elder Worm do not have different genders.

Instead, they reproduce through a fairly simplebudding process that allows an adult ElderWorm to “grow” an infant version of itself fromits own body. Tis incapacitates the parent forfour months, but creates an extremely intensebond between parent and child. Even comparedto Humans and Gadroon, the Elder Worm arefanatically protective of their young, and in theirown way doting; it’s biologically and psychologi-cally impossible for an Elder Worm parent to beabusive or neglectful (except in the case of severemental illness). Loss of a child may cause an ElderWorm parent such grief that he commits suicide.

Certain Elder Worm rituals and artifacts,including the Slug’s Worm-Gem, can create ElderWorm-sentient hybrids called helminths. See CV1196 for more information.

Te average Elder Worm lifespan is approxi-mately 120 years. An Elder Worm is considered anadult when it becomes able to bud, which usuallyoccurs around age 20.

SUPERPOWERSIt’s possible for Elder Worm to have super-

human powers naturally. Elder Worm superhu-mans are on average as powerful as Human ones,though not nearly as common. Te vast majorityof Elder Worm superhumans are mystics ormentalists, though metamorphs, bricks, and moreunusual types aren’t unknown; martial artists,gadgeteers, powered armor wearers, and weapon-

masters are virtually unknown.

9



Champions Beyond n Chapter Nine 20

ELDER WORMTEMPLATE

Cost Ability

-2 -2 STR

4 +2 DEX

2 +2 CON

5 +5 EGO5 +5 PRE

5 +1 OCV

5 +1 DCV

3 +1 OMCV

3 +1 DMCV

4 Double-Jointed

13 Lesser Worm-Gem: Mental Blast 2d6; OIF(-½)

12 Humidity Suit: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6ED), Impermeable; OIF (-½)

31 Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except

for Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Heat); OIF (-½)

24 Path Of The Worm: Tunneling 12m through6 PD material

30 Voice Of The Worm: Telepathy 4d6 (Alienand Human classes of mind); ReducedEndurance (0 END; +½); CommunicationOnly (-¼)


Value Complications

0 Dependence: must remain in an environ-ment of at least tropical jungle/swamphumidity, or suffer 1d6 damage per 6hours (Very Common)

20 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm body (NotConcealable; Always Noticed, CausesMajor Reaction [fear/disgust])

25 Physical Complication: Mute (All The Time,Slightly Impairing)

25 Psychological Complication: TotallyDevoted To The Slug (Very Common,Total)

10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Fire attacks(Common)

10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Magicattacks (Common)

5 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Cold attacks(Uncommon)


Note: See page 217 for some other Complicationscommon to the Elder Worm.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS ABOUT THE ELDER WORM

Humanity’s knowledge of the Elder Worm islimited. In fact, most Humans, including manyexperts in xenology, don’t even understand thatthey’re an alien species — they think the ElderWorm are some sort of civilization that onceexisted solely on Earth. Only those who’ve readIronclad’s accounts of Malvan history closelyhave stumbled across brief mentions of the ElderWorm-Malvan war hundreds of thousands ofyears ago.

Humans understand some of the basics ofElder Worm biology, including how they eatand the fact they communicate telepathically.American and British authorities even have ElderWorm corpses that they’ve been able to dissect(though Elder Worm internal fluids are some-times poisonous to Humans). Tey know virtuallynothing of Elder Worm history or culture, though

a few superheroes have been able to piece togetherbits of Empyrean lore, statements the Slug hasmade, and the like to discover that the ElderWorm arrived on Earth one to two hundred thou-sand years ago and enslaved proto-Humanity. Noone, not even eleios, is aware that microscopicfragments of Elder Worm genetic material “infest”Humanity’s DNA due to forced interbreedingduring that time.




Te Elder Worm originally comes from a darkand distant homeworld located on the Outer Rimfar beyond what Humans would call Perseid space.For thousands of years few explorers or tradershave visited that region of space due to the feelingsof dread and anxiety that seem to afflict anyonewho ventures close.

“Wormworld” itself was destroyed by theMalvans two hundred thousand years ago (seebelow), leaving nothing but an amalgam ofgargantuan chunks of former planet clumpedtogether in an area twice the volume of Jupiter.Most of the worlds the Worm ruled prior to andduring the Malvan War were taken from them orobliterated as well. But even today the Elder Wormstill control a few worlds in obscure corners of theMilky Way. Tey include:

SHUG’HLA-WTHELGAt the height of the Elder Worm empire, one

of their most sacred planets was Shug’hla-Wthelg,a “temple world” dedicated to the worship of theElder Worm’s foul Qliphothic gods and the pres-ervation and advancement of Elder Worm arcanelore. Te former inhabitants of the planet, threeand a half billion sentients whose name the ElderWorm never bothered to learn, were all sacrificedto consecrate the planet to the purposes of theElder Worm priesthood.

During the Malvan War, Shug’hla-Wthelgcame under frequent, at times constant, attackby the cursed Malvans, but it was just as stronglydefended. Te spells of the Elder Worm sorcerersand priests kept the enemy at bay — until thefateful day toward the end of the war when anentire legion of Golden Hunters, backed by afleet of Malva’s most powerful starships, came toobliterate Shug’hla-Wthelg once and for all. Andobliterate it they did...

...or so they thought. Te Malvans damaged theplanet severely, killing millions of Elder Worm inthe process, but three dozen Shadowmasks (ElderWorm sorcerers specializing in illusion and deceit)gave their lives to complete a powerful ritual thattricked the Malvans into thinking the entire planethad been destroyed. In fact it survived, but the

few Elder Worm who survived with it were cut offentirely from contact with their fellows. For thetens of thousands of years since, they have carriedon, performing the ancient rites in honor of theirQliphothic gods and hiding behind the veil of illu-sion that keeps the planet safe, hoping that someday they’ll find a way to resurrect the Elder WormEmpire. Te rise of the Slug on Earth has led tostrange whisperings and “tuggings” in their minds,giving them hope that all may not be lost. If andwhen the Slug finds them (or they him), the troveof Elder Worm spells and artifacts they’ve care-fully preserved through the millennia will vastlyaugment his power.

YSH’A-HNATHSHDuring the Malvan War, one of the Elder

Worm’s strongholds was Ysh’a-Hnathsh, a fortressworld near the galactic core. Tere a few ElderWorm and thousands of Tane cast rituals toweaken the Malvans and protect their own people.Te Golden Hunters of Malva struck it with everyweapon in their possession. Mountains werereduced to hillocks, seas were boiled away into the

clouds, entire chunks of atmosphere were rippedaway. Not a living thing was le upon the glazedsurface of the planet; only here and there did anElder Worm city or two survive — if such is theword — as pitiful ruins.

As a final gesture of contempt, the Malvansliterally tore Ysh’a-Hnathsh out of its orbit andflung it across the Galaxy and into intergalacticspace... or so they believed. By a billions to onefreak chance, Ysh’a-Hnathsh was captured by adark star, a supernova remnant surrounded byan obscuring planetary nebula, in a region of theGalaxy coreward of Perseid space but not on anyestablished spacelane. Secure in its obscurity, it’s

remained undiscovered to this day.Tousands of years aer Ysh’a-Hnathsh began

orbiting its new “sun,” a handful of Tane whosurvived the Malvan attack by entering suspendedanimation in special ritual chambers deep belowthe planet’s surface awoke and emerged. Dismayedby the ruin around them but determined not tosurrender to despair, they built a new temple totheir Elder Worm masters and their strange gods.Ever since then they’ve performed their strange,sorcerous rituals there, praying and waiting for theday when they might rise up again and take overthe Galaxy.

Should your PCs discover Ysh’a-Hnathsh —perhaps aer a hyperdrive accident sends themfar off-course — they’ll find a world that seems, toall intents and purposes, dead (aer all, the Tanedon’t register on bioscanners and other life forcesensors). A few ruins are in evidence... and onestrange structure, almost like a non-Euclideanstep-pyramid, that seems to be much more recentthan the ruins. As they explore Ysh’a-Hnathsh,they may find a few relics of the Elder Worm, andperhaps even a few bits of working technology...but all the while a sense of creeping horror andforeboding should overcome them. (You maywant to represent this by gradually decreasing

their PRE.) Eventually the Tane will ambushthem, hoping to capture them and convert them topuppets they can use to do their work on civilizedworlds undetected!

9




Much of ancient Elder Worm history was lostdue to the destruction wreaked upon the speciesduring the Malvan War, leaving only fragments of

knowledge preserved here and there in books anddatabases. When the stars are right Elder Wormsorcerers can sometimes create “windows in time”that allow them to view their species’s past, butthat can’t even begin to fill in all the gaps thatexist.

Te first Elder Worm civilizations arose ontheir swampy, humid homeworld around 800,000years ago. Villages of extended “families” united bya common purpose (such as security or improvedfood production) gave way to cities, whichbecame city-states and then sometimes empires.According to the records the Elder Worm stillhave, the greatest political entities of early Elder

Worm history were the Empire of Hsash-lethor(said to have once controlled nearly half theplanet) and the vast, wealthy city-state of Narthesh(which dominated trade throughout the northernswamplands for nearly a century).

Several times various Elder Worm leadersor nations tried to achieve the combination ofpolitical and arcane power that would allow themto control the entire world and all its people, butunification wasn’t truly achieved until around750,000 years ago, when the Elder Worm hadreached a level of technology equivalent to whatHumans will possess in the mid-twenty-first

century. In the city-state of Helgthret there liveda powerful politician named Rthchash, a memberof the oligarchy that ruled that nation, who wasalso a mighty sorcerer. Trough clever politicialmanipulation he brought all of Helgthret underhis rule just as the stars came right for him to cast

the Ritual of Control. Mystically empowered byhis political victory, Rthchash succeeded with theRitual, bending all but a few powerful Elder Wormto his will... and in time those who resisted fellbeneath his sway as well.

Rthchash thus became the first supremeleader of the Elder Worm... but not the last. Hebudded one offspring, to whom he passed themantle of leadership, the lore that went with it,and numerous powerful artifacts. Each ruler has,in turn, created a child who became supremeleader aer him, a line of succession that remainsunbroken to this day and terminates — for now —in the being known to Humanity as the Slug.

THE ERA OF EMPIREOnce the Elder Worm were united, it was

only a matter of time before they expanded theirempire to the stars. Tey’d already colonized afew worlds in their home system, mainly throughsettlements of hermetically-sealed buildings thatallowed them to create the environment theypreferred even on the most hostile of worlds. Itwas during this time that the first “humidity suits”were created, and they remain a staple of ElderWorm technology to this day.




Using powerful spells, the Elder Worm wereable to locate other species ripe for conquest —and sacrifice — and then build semi-mysticalstarship engines to transport fleets of warshipsdirectly to the target. Driven by a combinationof desire for political power, religious fervor, anda hunger to try new types of “food,” the ElderWorm steadily spread across the Galaxy. A fewenemies, including the Star*Guard, tried to stemthe tide, but they simply weren’t powerful enoughto overcome the Elder Worms’ weight of numbers,technology, and sorcery. By approximately fivehundred thousand years ago, the Elder Wormcontrolled roughly half of the Milky Way.

THE MALVAN WARAnd that brought them into conflict with

the other great power of the time: the Malvans.What would become a galactic war lasting threehundred thousand years started as a dispute overownership of a planetary system on the same sideof the galactic core as the Elder Worm home-world. At that time Elder Worm’s sphere of controloccupied roughly the “southern” half of the MilkyWay, with the Malvans dominating in the “north.”Te Malvan emperor was a cruel, aggressive manwho wanted to expand the Malvan frontier andbroke the unspoken “boundary line” to go aeran unclaimed system he craved. Angered by this,the Elder Worm moved a small fleet of theirstrange-looking “wormships” into the region toprotest “their interests.” Belligerent words wereexchanged... and then the Malvans fired on anElder Worm ship without warning or provocation.A full-scale battle erupted, and the war began.(Te Malvans have since claimed the Elder Wormgoaded them into attacking with magic, but the

Elder Worm flatly deny this and have no record ofany such thing ever occurring.)For the next three hundred millennia war

raged across the Milky Way. Te awesome magicsand mighty vessels of the Elder Worm were pittedagainst the vastly powerful starships and militarymachinery of Malva. At first that wasn’t enoughfor the Malvans, though, for unlike the ElderWorm they weren’t really prepared to fight a war.Te Elder Worm had been expanding and wantedto keep expanding, so they were ready to fight.For centuries the Worm pushed forward, takingadvantage of Malvan unpreparedness to smashtheir fleets and capture their worlds. Millions of

Malvan colonists and members of Malvan subjectspecies were thrown upon Elder Worm altars tofeed the Worm’s dark gods.

But it couldn’t last. Ten as now, the Malvanspossessed the most powerful technology in theGalaxy, and once they had time to regroup andfight back they were able to counter the ElderWorm’s advance and even find ways to thwartsome of their magics. Te middle period of thewar saw Malvan starships the size of planetscontending against extradimensional (and evenQliphothic) beings of equal sized summonedby Elder Worm wizards, Elder Worm spells ofmadness that caused Malvan starship crews to

turn their guns on other ships in their fleets,and mystic shields strong enough to block mostMalvan weapons.

WARRIORS OF THE WORMWhile the bulk of the Elder Worm war

machine consisted of ships and ordinary soldiers(albeit ones oen empowered by Elder Wormmagic), it was best personalized, and is bestremembered in Elder Worm thought and tele-

poetry, by the so-called warriors of the Worm: agroup of elite soldiers imbued with superpowersand equipped with weapons of arcane power. Teyoen led fleets or special missions forces, but theirpreferred assignment was tracking down anddestroying the hated Golden Hunters of Malva(see page 102).

Te most common Worm-warrior was theSorcerer-Priest, who received special gis fromthe Elder Worm gods to augment his naturalmystic powers. If multiple Sorcerer-Priests workedtogether, channeling their power into one mightyritual, they could devastate Malvan fleets or leaveMalvan worlds little more than smoking cinders.Other Worm-warriors included Astral Burrowerswho could flank their adversaries by movingbetween dimensions, Curselords who wieldedpowerful corruptive magics, Qliphothic Avatarswho channeled the power of one of the foul ElderWorm deities, Shadowmasks who were mastersof illusion and deceit, and Tanemasters whocontrolled packs of hideous animals and monsters.Elder Worm military lore includes many storiesof clashes between the Worm-warriors and theiropposite numbers — battles that sometimesdevastated entire star systems.

THE LATER WAR AND THE MALVAN VICTORY Aer the Elder Worm’s initial gains were beaten

back by the Malvans, the war settled down into along, bloody conflict marked by extended periodsof stalemate that eventually gave way, some-where in the Galaxy, to an advance by one side oranother. Untold trillions of sentient beings diedin the process (oen on Elder Worm sacrificialaltars, or as part of Elder Worm feasts), and morethan one species or civilization was entirely wipedout. In one triumphant victory, the Elder Wormsacrificed all 7.2 billion members of the Nl’ta’kspecies to power a ritual that summoned one oftheir gods, Zhalnathet, bodily into the Galaxy. He

wreaked havoc throughout Malvan space untilover four dozen cursed Golden Hunters sacrificedtheir lives to destroy his manifestation.

Gradually, though, the tide of war turnedagainst the Elder Worm. Te Battle of the Core-ward Fields (267,584 BC) shattered the largestElder Worm fleet and killed five of their mostpowerful sorcerers of the time, allowing theMalvans to make major inroads into Elder Wormterritory. By approximately two hundred thousandyears ago, the war was essentially over, and theMalvans had won. Te once-feared Elder Wormempire was no more, and the Elder Worm home-world had been shattered into fragments.

9




But even in seeming defeat, the mighty ElderWorm found an insidious way to strike back at thehated Malvans and achieve a measure of victory.Te fourteen strongest surviving Elder Wormsorcerers gathered on one of the last worlds, aplace of great mystic power, and began a mightyritual. As the Malvans closed in on the world, theyrushed to finish the great working... but they weretoo late.

Or so the Malvans thought, since theydestroyed the world and nothing seemed tohappen. In fact, the Elder Worm had completedthe ritual just in time. Instead of striking at theMalvans in some direct way, it was a slow andsubtle curse, one that over the millennia hassapped the Malvan people of their vigor. TeMalvans may have destroyed the Elder Worm...but the Elder Worm have effectively renderedthem impotent as a dying thrust of vengeance.

THE ELDER WORM DIASPORA Te Malvan War reduced the Elder Worm from

their trillions to a few pitiful, surviving remnants.As the Malvans destroyed most of the remainingElder Worm worlds, the Elder Worm survivorsfled into hiding on backwater planets and out ofthe way corners of the Galaxy. One particulargroup of survivors wandered the Galaxy in thecompany of the Elder Worm supreme leader,who’d escaped the Malvans due to his clevernessand power. Eventually this group made its way toa primitive world its inhabitants would one daycall Earth, where they enslaved much of proto-Humanity. In time their Human slaves, aided bythe mighty Empyreans, rose up against them,slaughtering many Elder Worm and driving therest into hiding. (See CU 155.) One of the slain

was the supreme leader, but at the last moment heembodied his mind in his mighty Worm-Gem sohis followers could flee into hiding with it.

Ever since then the Elder Worm have been ahiding, hunted people. Few species like or trustthem, making it difficult for surviving pockets ofElder Worm to establish diplomatic relations orengage in trade. Many, indeed, have found that thebest way to survive is to use their magic to enterstates of mystic slumber until such time as theElder Worm’s fortune changes.

And that time may be upon them. Scantdecades ago a Human found and grasped theWorm-Gem, allowing the last Elder Worm

supreme leader-in-exile, Tga’ur, to obtain aphysical body once more. Humanity knows himas the Slug (see CV1 191), but to the Elder Wormhe is the latest in their long, unbroken line ofrulers — and their great hope. Tose who areaware of his existence serve him without question;if Elder Worm hiding on other worlds ever learnof him they will flock to his banner... and withno Malvans to stop them this time, perhaps theElder Worm will at long last be able to conquerthe Galaxy.

Te Elder Worm no longer have a “society” inthe classic sense. Much of their common culturewas lost along with their history in the devastationof the Malvan War, and since then gulfs of spaceand secrecy have kept Elder Worm communitieshiding throughout the Galaxy from maintainingmuch contact. Some of these communities havecarefully preserved whatever they could of ElderWorm lore and practices, while others have forone reason or another fallen from the old waysand developed new traditions for surviving in ahostile galaxy.

Te Elder Worm are ruled by a monarch whosetitle, Y’shaal-Htath-Ml, roughly translates intoEnglish as “Supreme Emperor Sorcerer.” Tga’ur,referred to by Humans as the Slug, holds theposition as of 2011. He has not yet budded off a

successor (and some of his advisors worry aboutwhether he’ll be able to, since his body is a Humanone taken over and transformed by Elder Wormmagic).

Tanks to obedience instilled in the ElderWorm by millennia-old (and presumablyunbreakable) spells, the Supreme Emperor Sorcer-er’s rule over them is absolute. Tey’re fanaticallydedicated to him and his goals, even to the pointof sacrificing their own lives on his behalf if neces-sary. Tey enthusiastically perform any task hegives them, no matter how dull or dangerous itmight be.

Te Elder Worm no longer have a military

or espionage agency in the ordinary sense of theterm. If the various starship saved and hiddenaer the war were assembled into a fleet it wouldbe quite impressive and powerful (particu-larly since Elder Worm technology is still moreadvanced than that of most species in the modernGalaxy), but at present there’s almost no chanceof such a fleet ever being put together. As forintelligence-gathering, the Elder Worm do whatthey can with magic and summoned entities.

THE ELDER WORM ECONOMY As a scattered, oen hidden, people, the Elder

Worm have no real economy to speak of. A few

Elder Worm enclaves trade with other enclaves, orwork their way into local economies by providingsome resource that can’t be obtained any otherway; a few others rely on Tane servants to minglewith other species and somehow obtain what theyneed.




Te Elder Worm once had a rich, elaborate,exotic culture (albeit one whose products mostother species found repellent, repugnant, ordangerous). During the war and the diasporathat followed, much of this was lost. Nearly everygreat work of Elder Worm art was destroyed (or

captured by the Malvans), many works of litera-ture were lost in whole or part due to destructionor failure of computer systems, and countlessother cultural artifacts and traditions died alongwith trillions of Elder Worm. oday what littleremains is carefully hoarded and protected, in thehopes it will become the seed for a great floweringof Elder Worm culture at some point in the futurewhen the race’s fortunes turn for the better.

ARTo Humans and most other species, Elder

Worm art tends to be either horrifying andgrotesque, dull, or sometimes even both. Te

horror comes from the eldritch themes and motifsthat appeal to Elder Worm artists, and oen thematerials they work in as well: living flesh shapedand preserved by sorcery; eerie stone from theElder Worm homeworld that feels viscous anddisgusting to the touch; depictions of acts andpractices that most other sentients find revolting.

Te “dullness” occurs because most ElderWorm works of art have a psionic component. A viewer who lacks the telepathic senses of an ElderWorm simply can’t comprehend the work on alllevels, including many of its most important levels.(On the other hand, non-Elder Worm psionicsusually do their best to stay far away from Elder

Worm art once they encounter it a single time.)

FOODTe Elder Worm once had a rich and varied

cuisine, with skilled chefs sometimes as popularand wealthy as skilled sorcerers. It wasn’t a typeof food any other species could eat, since half ofit was liquescent materials absorbed through theskin (the culinary skill was in properly blendingthe components to create the right taste), and halfof it involves the life-essences of dying animalsor sentient beings. Even today an Elder Wormwill sometimes go out of his way in the hopesof obtaining new “game” to sample, since every

species’s life-essence “tastes” different.

GAMES AND SPORTSSimilarly, Elder Worm games (they play few

sports, particularly in the modern era) oen havepsionic or mystic components. An Elder Worm’sability to compete depends not on his swinessof limb or cleverness of observation, but on howstrong his mind is and how adroitly he can exerthis willpower. Te most popular game, still playedintensely by more than a few Elder Worm, is

sorthu, which is most easily described as “ElderWorm interdimensional chess.” Each of two orthree players must use both his mental abilitiesand his sorcerous skills to manipulate playingpieces across a five-level board that doesn’t entirelyexist in Earth’s plane of reality. Te winner is theplayer who captures all of his opponent’s pieces orrenders him incapable of moving safely — not aneasy task when some pieces can be moved astrally!

Te one aspect of their culture the Elder Wormhaven’t really lost, and which has remained largely

unchanged throughout their diaspora, is theirreligion. Something about it exists almost as arace-memory or instinct deep in their annelidoidbrains, keeping them on the path of true faith.

Te Elder Worm religion features a pantheonof dozens of gods and entities who come fromwhat Human mystics call the Qliphothic planes —beings akin to, but not identical with, the shadowyKings of Edom. As far as the Elder Worm priestscan tell, these beings are aware of the Elder Worm,appreciate/thrive on their worship, and give gisof power in return for the sacrifice of sentientbeings. Early in Elder Worm history competing

Elder Worm nations went to war to obtaincaptives to sacrifice, but since expanding into theGalaxy the Elder Worm have preferred to useother species to satisfy their deities. Te greater aworking of magic a priest wants to perform, themore sacrifices he needs to offer; history recordsat least two incidents in which the entire popula-tion of a planet was slaughtered in the name of theElder Worm gods (see above).

Te greatest of Elder Worm gods and the headof the pantheon is T’tash’tu, the Dweller Between,envisioned by the Worm as a sort of “cosmicskyfather” figure who protects them and grantsthem victory over their enemies. Other promi-

nent deities include Ha’gelw (a fertility figure) andYih’hna (a “god of magic” primarily worshippedby sorcerers).

Te Elder Worm worship their gods in gran-diose, altar-filled temples whose styling and decorare disturbing, even horrifying, to other species.(Perhaps fortunately for the sanity of any non-Elder Worm visiting a temple, the temples aren’tlit — Elder Worm “see” where they’re going andwhat’s happening telepathically.) Ceremonies arelong and elaborate, conducted by well-trainedpriests (who are oen sorcerers as well). Tesacrifice of sentient beings, oen in large numbers,is common.

ELDER WORMLANGUAGE

The Elder Worm have

a language, but it’s

not spoken — it’s

telepathic. Instead

of writing, an Elder

Worm “impresses”

whatever informationhe wishes to convey

onto a telepathically-

sensitive object or

sheet of paper-like

substance, to be read

later by another Elder

Worm (or telepath

from some other

species, though he

won’t understand the

“language” without

extensive study).

Elder Worm haveindividual names, but

again, those names

are telepathic and

thus irreproducible

by most Humans.

An Elder Worm

who’s particularly

accomplished in

some field, or who

achieves some great

deed, may be given a

descriptive “honorific

name” by the leaders

of the species. OneWho Ensorcels,

described below, is

an example of this.

9




Te Elder Worm possess extremely advancedtechnology — arguably the second most advancedin the Galaxy, aer the Malvans, since their shipsand weapons of hundreds of thousands of yearsago were able to fight the Malvans effectively and

no other civilization (aside from the Odruga-rans) has come close to those loy heights since.However, Elder Worm technology oen is barelyrecognizable as “technology” to other species, forthree main reasons (four, if you count its oendisgusting/disturbing appearance).

First, many Elder Worm devices, includingnearly all that PCs would regard as “important”(weapons, defensive systems, communicationsdevices, sensors, and more) have a psionic compo-nent. o members of other species they oen lookquite plain, even nonfunctional — they have few(if any) dials, levers, buttons, toggles, switches,readouts, indicators, or other such features. Te

user activates them psionically, operates thempsionically, and monitors them psionically.

Second, it’s difficult for other species todetermine where Elder Worm technology endsand Elder Worm enchanted items begin — infact, it’s not entirely clear that the Elder Wormdistinguish between “magic” and “technology”the way Humans and most other sentients do. Forexample, Elder Worm starships have “sorcerer-engineers” who oversee both the technologicaland mystical functioning of the engines, weapons,and other equipment.

Tird, Elder Worm technology oen has a

form totally unlike any equivalent Human device.For example, Elder Worm firearms might look vaguely like magic wands, orstrange glowing spheres held inthe hand, or bizarre gems.

In HERO System terms, ElderWorm technology is “Incompat-ible” with Human tech, meaningthat it cannot be made to worktogether at all (or, at best, couldonly work together for a shortperiod of time if the charactermakes an Extraordinary Skill roll);see HSS 40.

WEAPONS OF THEELDER WORM

Here are a few examples of technology anElder Worm or Tane might have. All of themare Personal Foci to Elder Worms and Tane(other species cannot use them, and in factusually don’t even like to handle or look at

them).

Dagger Of The Worm: Tis object looks likea small, golden sphere with finger-ridgesdesigned for Elder Worms or Tane. Althoughseemingly dull, it cuts like the sharpest blade.

HKA 2d6, Armor Piercing (+¼), +2 IncreasedSTUN Multiplier (+½), Penetrating (+½) (67 ActivePoints); OAF (-1), No STR Bonus (-½), No Knockback(-¼). Total cost: 24 points.

The Torc Of S’thlaghha: Tis large “collar,”made of an unknown silvery metal, fits aroundan Elder Worm’s or Tane’s head and neck. Itamplifies his Mental Powers, making him even

more of a force to be feared.Aid Psionics 4d6, Expanded Effect + Variable

Effect (all Mental Powers simultaneously; +4),Delayed Return Rate (points fade at the rate of 5 perMinute; +1) (144 Active Points); OIF (-½). Total cost:96 points.

The Yiinashc Chain: Tis silvery chain, whoselinks have non-Euclidean forms disturbingto the Human eye, can wrap around andimprison anyone.

Entangle 8d6, 8 PD/8 ED, Affects Desolidified(+½) (120 Active Points); OAF (-1), 1 RecoverableCharge (-1¼), Range Based On STR (-¼). Total cost:

34 points.




Compared to the time of the Malvan War, theElder Worm have few starships le, and evenfewer resources to build more, but they’re not

wholly without interstellar transport. (Te Slugis, but eventually some remnant of his peoplemay come seeking him and bring him a means tospread his evil beyond the surly confines of Earth.)Like nearly everything else the Elder Wormproduces, their starships evoke disgust and horrorin other species who seem them; they’re asymmet-rical, in places non-Euclidean, and possibly don’texist entirely within Earth’s dimension.

Elder Worm ships’ engines don’t propel themthrough space the same way most species’ shipsdo. While they do fly through space normally forlow-speed maneuvering, for long-distance travelthey open a mystic “gate” and travel through it,

effectively teleporting to their destination. Forgalactic distances it takes significant amounts oftime to open and use the gate, but short distances(within a solar system, for example) can becrossed almost instantaneously, providing theElder Worm with a significant tactical advantagein many situations.

Similarly, the weapons mounted on most ElderWorm ships are partly (if not entirely) mystical.Tis makes it difficult for most “normal” starshipdefensive systems to resist them.

Here are examples of two Elder Worm ships:the Uulthlas-class Carrier Warship; and theSh’athef -class Fighter/Scout.

UULTHLAS -CLASS CARRIER WARSHIPOne of the largest types of ships the Elder

Worm still possesses, the Uulthlas-class Warshipis a carrier that comes with a complement of 32Sh’athef fighters (see below) when fully equipped

(though as of 2011 none of them has its full loadof 32). Its “arcanobeams” are more mystical thantechnological, allowing them to cut through moststarships’ defenses with relative ease. If confrontedwith superior force, it can generate a warpgateto take it up to one light-year away in a singlesecond; longer “jumps” require more time.

SH’ATHEF -CLASS FIGHTER/SCOUTTe Sh’athef is a two-Elder Worm fighter that

can also serve as a scout ship. Capable of enteringatmospheres, it’s fast and maneuverable enoughfor a skilled pilot to use planetoids, asteroids,ruined ships, and other “space debris” as cover

when fighting less agile vessels.

9




Val Char Cost Notes27 Size 135 1 km x 500m x 500m; mass 12.5mkton;

-27 KB; OCV+ 18145 STR 0 Lift 12.5mkton; 29d6 HTH [0]10 DEX 0

9 OCV 307 DCV 204 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 1212 PD 1512 ED 1550 BODY 13 Total Characteristics Cost: 248



Teleportation: 1m-10,000 LY

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

57 Power-Rune Stone: Endurance Reserve(360 END, 36 REC) 0

OIF Bulky (-1)

30 Lesser Power-Rune Stone: Endurance Reserve(180 END, 24 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

30 Warpgate Generator: Teleportation 10m 6MegaScale (1m = 1,000 light-years; +5); OIF Bulky(-1), Extra Time (jumps of up to 1 LY take just a FullPhase, beyond that it takes 1 Minute per 10 LY toprepare and use the Generator; -0)

20 STL Maneuvering Engines: Flight 15m 4MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1¾); OIF Bulky (-1)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Running -12m (0m total)


Tactical Systems

200 Arcanobeams: RKA 10d6 45MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼), Penetrating (+½),Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

20 Arcanobeams: 15 more Beams (total of 16) 45

36 Ship Force-Field: Resistant Protection (20 PD/20 ED) 9

Hardened (+¼), Impenetrable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Endurance (-½)

Operations Systems

91 Sensor And Communication Systems:Variable Power Pool, 80 Pool + 80 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communica-tions (-1), Costs Endurance (-½)



OIF Bulky (-1)


OAF Bulky (-1½)

17 Internal Monitors: Clairsentience (Sight And HearingGroups), Mobile Perception Point, Multiple Percep-tion Points (up to eight at once) 5

OAF Immobile (-2), Perception Point Cannot MoveThrough Solid Objects (-0)




Personnel Systems

15 Glyphs Of Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3Selective (+½); OIF Bulky (-1), Only To Pull ObjectsStraight Down To The Floor (-1)

3 Backup Glyphs Of Gravity: Telekinesis (5 STR) 1


12 Spell Of Sustaining: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) 2Costs Endurance (-½)



Skills



7 Cryptography 11-7 Demolitions 11-

7 Electronics 11-

7 Mechanics 11-


90 90 Character Points’ worth of other labs (chosen by theGM based on the ship’s specific mission parameters)



Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm Warship (Not Conceal-able, Causes Extreme Fear)



Total Cost: 1,205 /5 = 241

OTHER SHIPSCost Power

148 Sh’athef-class Fighter/Scout

25 31 more Sh’athefs (total of 32)




Val Char Cost Notes6 Size 30 8m x 4m x 4m; mass 6.4 tons; -6 KB;

OCV+ 440 STR 0 Lift 6.4 tons; 8d6 HTH [0]20 DEX 20

8 OCV 258 DCV 254 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 128 PD 98 ED 924 BODY 8 Total Characteristics Cost: 146



Teleportation: 1m-100 LY

Cost Powers END

Power Systems

19 Power-Rune Stone: Endurance Reserve(120 END, 12 REC) 0OIF Bulky (-1)

9 Lesser Power-Rune Stone: Endurance Reserve(60 END, 6 REC) 0

OIF Bulky (-1)

Propulsion Systems

27 Warpgate Generator: Teleportation 10m 4MegaScale (1m = 10 light-years; +4½); OIF Bulky(-1), Extra Time (jumps of up to .25 LY take just aFull Phase, beyond that it takes 1 Minute per .5 LY toprepare and use the Generator; -0)

37 STL Maneuvering Engines: Flight 30m 7MegaScale (1m = 100 km; +1½); OIF Bulky (-1)

-12 Only Flies In Space: Running -12m (0m total)


Tactical Systems

120 Arcanobeams: RKA 6d6 27

MegaRange (1m = 10 km; +1¼), Penetrating (+½),Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Limited Arc Of Fire (180 Degrees; -¼)

10 Arcanobeams: 3 more Beams (total of 4) 27

22 Ship Force-Field: Resistant Protection (12 PD/12 ED) 5Hardened (+¼), Impenetrable (+¼); OIF Bulky (-1),Costs Endurance (-½)

Operations Systems

57 Sensor And Communication Systems: VariablePower Pool, 50 Pool + 50 Control Cost varOIF Bulky (-1), Only For Senses And Communications(-1), Costs Endurance (-½)


OIF Bulky (-1)15 Long-Range Sensors: +20 versus Range for Radio

Group 0

OIF Bulky (-1)


17 Internal Monitors: Clairsentience (Sight And HearingGroups), Mobile Perception Point, Multiple Percep-tion Points (up to eight at once) 5OAF Immobile (-2), Perception Point Cannot MoveThrough Solid Objects (-0)




Personnel Systems

15 Glyphs Of Gravity: Telekinesis (20 STR) 3


3 Backup Glyphs Of Gravity: Telekinesis (5 STR) 1


12 Spell Of Sustaining: Life Support (Self-Contained

Breathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Low Pressure/Vacuum) 2Costs Endurance (-½)



Skills


4 +2 with Flight


5 Cryptography 10-

5 Demolitions 10-

5 Electronics 10-

5 Mechanics 10-




Value Complications

25 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm Warship (Not Conceal-able, Causes Extreme Fear)


Total Cost: 742/5 = 148

9




his section includes character sheets fortwo Elder Worm superhumans and several“generic” types of Elder Worm that Humansuperheroes might encounter.

As noted above, Elder Worm can have super-powers (typically mystical or mental ones, thoughother types are possible). Here are two examples:One Who Ensorcels, a powerful Elder Wormsorcerer; and Wglu the Mighty, who’s superhu-manly strong.

Background/History: One Who Ensorcels beganhis life as Uja’sha, child of a devout Elder Wormpriest living in a small, hidden Elder Worm“colony” on a planet spinward from Perseidspace. At first he was raised to join the priesthoodhimself, but as he grew he displayed an aptitudefor wizardry that attracted the attention of severalElder Worm sorcerers who offered to apprenticehim. Intrigued by the thought of the power thatcould be his, Uja’sha chose sorcery over theology.

Years of study followed, at which Uja’shaexcelled. He was particularly skilled at spells thattook control of other beings’ minds. He evenmastered the rare (and difficult) Elder Wormdiscipline of sga’shl, or “astral possession,” in whichhe transforms his body into astral energy so he

can merge with and take total control of anotherbeing. In time his skill with such sorceries earnedhim a new, greater, name: One Who Ensorcels.

Having come into the full bloom of his power,One Who Ensorcels is ready to do whatever he canto aid his people. He yearns for glory, adventure,and conquest, and eagerly awaits a leader he canserve to bring the Elder Worm back to the fore-front of galactic civilization and power.

Personality/Motivation: One Who Ensorcels looksdown on virtually everyone around him (withthe exception of Elder Worm priests). He regardsother beings as weak-willed pawns he can controlas he sees fit — beings whose true destiny is toserve him. He enjoys nothing more than control-ling an enemy’s mind and forcing that enemy todo degrading or horrifying things.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH damage [1]20 DEX 10 13-20 CON 10 13-25 INT 15 14- PER Roll 14-

25 EGO 15 14-30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d6



48 STUN 14 Total Characteristics Cost: 240Movement: Running: 12m Tunneling: 12m Teleportation: 40mCost Powers END

84 Powers Of Possession (Mental Domination):Mind Control 14d6 4Telepathic (+¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼);Unified Power (with Bodyjacking; -¼)

94 Powers Of Possession (Astral Possession): Posses-sion (Mind Control EGO +60, Telepathy EGO +40) 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); No Range (-½),Unified Power (with Desolidification and with Mental

Domination; -¼) plus: Desolidification

Projection (+0), Merging (+0), Reduced Endurance(0 END; +½); Feedback From Host Body (-1), Linked(-½), Unified Power (with Possession Mind Controland with Mental Domination; -¼)

75 Dark Magics: Multipower, 75-point reserve6f 1) Darkblast: Blast 12d6 67f 2) Dark Maelstrom: Blast 10d6 7

Area Of Effect (22m Radius Explosion; +½)7f 3) Dark Gate: Teleportation 40m, Increased Mass (x2),

No Relative Velocity, Position Shift 3Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

81 Mind Magics: Multipower, 81-point reserve6f 1) Psionic Assault: Mental Blast 6d6 (Alien and

Human classes of mind) 65f 2) Psionic Apocalypse: Mental Blast 3d6 (Alien and

Human classes of mind) 9Area Of Effect (20m; +1), Personal Immunity (+¼);No Range (-½)

8f 3) Greater Voice Of The Worm: Telepathy 12d6 (Alienand Human classes of mind) 3Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

8f 4) Illusions Of The Worm: Mental Illusions 12d6(Alien and Human classes of mind) 3

Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

1f 5) Horror Of The Worm: +30 PRE 3Costs Endurance (-½), Only For Fear-/Intimidation-Based Presence Attacks (-1)

12 Mystic Worm-Gem: Mental Blast +2d6 (Alien andHuman classes of mind) 2OIF (-½), Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

40 Mystic Humidity Suit: Resistant Protection (16 PD/16

ED), Impermeable 0Hardened (+¼); OIF (-½)10 Arcane Defenses: Mental Defense (10 points) 010 Arcane Defenses: Power Defense (10 points) 031 Mystic Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except for Safe

Environments: High Radiation, Intense Heat) 0OIF (-½)

24 Path Of The Worm: Tunneling 12m through 6 PDmaterial 2

30 Voice Of The Worm: Telepathy 4d6 (Alien and Humanclasses of mind) 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); CommunicationOnly (-¼)

Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

16 +2 with Ranged Combat18 +3 with All Mental Powers

2 Computer Programming 10-2 Cryptography 14-

Translation Only (-½)3 Interrogation 15-3 KS: Elder Worm Arcane And Occult Lore 14-2 KS: Elder Worm History And Lore 11-

2 KS: Elder Worm Theology 11-2 Navigation (Astral) 14-3 Power: Elder Worm Magic 14-3 Power: Psionics 14-3 Stealth 13-2 WF: Elder Worm Small ArmsTotal Powers & Skills Cost: 604

Total Cost: 844


0 Dependence: must remain in an environment of at leasttropical jungle/swamp humidity, or suffer 1d6 damageper 6 hours (Very Common)

20 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm body (Not Concealable;Always Noticed, Causes Major Reaction [fear/disgust])25 Physical Complication: Mute (All The Time, Slightly

Impairing)15 Psychological Complication: Considers Other Beings

His Pawns (Common, Strong)10 Psychological Complication: Devout Worshipper Of The

Elder Worm Gods (Uncommon, Strong)10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Fire attacks (Common)5 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Cold attacks (Uncommon)Total Complications Points: 75


9




Despite the fact that he doesn’t think muchof most Elder Worm (or other sentients) individually, One Who Ensorcels is dedicated to thegreater good of his people as a whole. He devoutlyworships his species’s gods and obeys the ordersof the priests. He’s always looking for a leader whocan command his respect and bring his peopleback together; if he ever learns of the existenceof the Slug, he’ll stop at nothing to travel to Earthand pledge allegiance to him.

Quote: <<You are weak, unable to resist my power.Submit to the commands of your master!>>

Powers/Tactics: One Who Ensorcels is a powerfulElder Worm sorcerer. In addition to the usualabilities and lore possessed by one of his profes-sion (plus some that most of them lack, like hiseleportation and Mental Illusions powers), he’sespecially adept at controlling minds. He cando this two ways: standard Mind Control; anda Possession power that lets him “merge” with atarget’s body (see APG 74 for rules on Possession,and APG 92 for Projection). In combat he prefers

to rely on straightforward Mind Control (sincethat lets him affect multiple victims at a time), buthe’s learned that his “Astral Possession” can serveas an excellent defense as well as an attack (sincehe’s “protected” by the body he’s Possessing).

One Who Ensorcels is also harder to hurt thana typical Elder Worm sorcerer. His humidity suitwas partially created with magic, making it muchstronger than most, and he also has powerfuldefenses against magic and related attacks. He’seven undergone difficult (and painful) rituals toremove the Vulnerability to Magic that most ElderWorm suffer from.

Campaign Use: One Who Ensorcels isn’t strong

enough to stand up to multiple PCs, but he makesan excellent “support villain” for an Elder Wormmilitary commander, or better yet a leader likethe Slug. He’s got intelligence and initiative, butis loyal and follows orders well. Indeed, in someways his entire life has been a quest for a trueElder Worm leader he can serve.

o make One Who Ensorcels more powerful,replace his Multipowers with a Variable PowerPool for Magic that he can change as a Zero PhaseAction (and increase his Power: Magic Skill tohandle the load). o weaken him, remove his Dark Magics Multipower.

Appearance: One Who Ensorcels is one of themost powerful Elder Worm sorcerers of themodern day. On most planets (including Earth),he wears a special humidity suit that he createdwith magic; it’s mostly black, and it looks as muchlike Elder Worm medieval armor as a space suit,and in place of power-packs and many otherdevices it has odd-shaped plates etched with evenodder-shaped runes that glow with eerie colors.

Background/History: Wglu the Mighty, perhapsthe strongest Elder Worm alive today, was “born”one of the weakest. His parent was an Elder Wormsorcerer, and when Wglu was budded, a flaw inhis parent’s genetic code carried over to Wglu aswell, making him sickly and small. Grieving forthe life of pain and misery he’d unintentionallycondemned Wglu to, his parent craed a mightyritual that poured his life-force and power intohis child’s body. He sacrificed his own life in thehope that his child would grow to become an evengreater sorcerer than he... but the ritual didn’t

work exactly as intended. Instead of augmentingWglu’s mystical and mental potential, it affectedhis physical potential, causing him to grow up tobecome superhumanly strong and tough.

Wglu went to live with a friend of his parent’s,an old Elder Worm commander who forced himto live a life of military discipline. He trainedWglu, drilling him every day to improve hispowers and practice effective ways of using them.By the time he reached adulthood Wglu could lia hundred tons, resist the effects of most spells andattacks, and make enormous leaps. He’s a livingweapon of the Elder Worm, ready to assault theenemy at any time.





25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d67 OCV 207 DCV 204 OMCV 34 DMCV 35 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12


Movement: Running: 12m Tunneling: 16m

Leaping: 40m

Cost Powers END

50 Brick Tricks: Multipower, 50-point reserve

1f 1) Augmented Haymaker: HA +4d6 2Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼), Only When UsingHaymaker To Punch (-1)

2f 2) Bearhug: Blast 5d6 5

NND (defense is Life Support [Self-ContainedBreathing]; +1); Must Follow Grab (-½), No Range(-½), Requires A Brick Tricks Roll (-½), Side Effects(if character fails roll, opponent takes character’s fullSTR damage; -¼)

2f 3) The Big Wrap-Up: Entangle 5d6, up to 5 PD/5 ED 5OIF (appropriate materials of opportunity; -½),Extra Time (at least a Full Phase, and often longer,depending on how long it takes to get the materials;-½), Defense Depends On Materials Used (-½), NoRange (-½), Side Effect (may cause considerabledamage to the environment; -0)

1f 4) Power Punch: Double Knockback (+½) for up to60 STR 4

Requires A Brick Tricks Roll (-½), Increased Endur-ance Cost (x2 END; -½)

2f 5) Flick Of Unconsciousness: Blast 6d6 4NND (defense is rigid Resistant PD covering the head,or any innate Resistant PD protecting the head; +½);No Range (-½), Requires A Brick Tricks Roll (-½),Side Effects (if character fails roll, opponent takescharacter’s full STR damage; -¼)

2f 6) Shockwave: Area Of Effect (26m Radius Explosion;+½) for up to 60 STR 4Hole In The Middle (the 1m radius area the characterstands in when he uses the power; +¼); Only AffectsTargets On The Ground (-¼), Extra Time (Full Phase;-½), Only Does Knockdown, Not Knockback (-0)

17 Super-Tough Form: Hardened (+¼) for 35 PD/35 ED 044 Super-Tough Form: Resistant (+½) for 35 PD/35 ED 0

Hardened (+¼)

20 Humidity Suit: Resistant Protection (10 PD/10 ED),Impermeable 0OIF (-½)

16 Super-Tough Form: Knockback Resistance (-16m) 0

31 Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except for SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, Intense Heat) 0OIF (-½)

18 Super-Strong Leg Muscles: Leaping +36m(40m forward, 20m upward) 1

40 Super-Strength Path Of The Worm: Tunneling 16mthrough 12 PD material 4


Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

24 +3 HTH

3 Breakfall 13-

2 Deduction 10-2 KS: Elder Worm History 11-

13 Power: Brick Tricks 18-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Teamwork 13-


Total Cost: 687



20 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm body (Not Concealable;Always Noticed, Causes Major Reaction [fear/disgust])

25 Physical Complication: Mute (All The Time, SlightlyImpairing)

15 Psychological Complication: Wants To Lead His People;Believes He Has A Destiny (Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Complication: Hatred Of Malvans(Uncommon, Strong)

10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Fire attacks (Common)

10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Magic attacks (Common)

5 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Cold attacks (Uncommon)Total Complications Points: 75


9




Personality/Motivation: Wglu has been trained tolead — and lead is what he wants to do. He dreamsof days of glory when the Elder Worm once againravage across the stars, conquering world aerworld and destroying (or sacrificing) enemies asthey see fit. As a “good soldier” he can serve aswell — if he must — but he’ll be a constant thornin the side of his superiors until he’s given hisown command and allowed to lead as he sees fit.Only the Slug could command his absolute loyalty,and even then he’ll passively-aggressively ques-tion orders and strategies he disagrees with untilallowed free rein in some theater of operation.

Wglu is something of a student of Elder Wormhistory. He’d love to uncover details that have beenlost to destruction or diaspora, and can even seehimself teaching history someday. His studies ofthe past have given him a hatred of the Malvansthat runs hot and deep. He’d like nothing morethan to meet them on the battlefield and smashthem, or better yet destroy their worlds the waythey destroyed the Elder Worm’s and take theirplace as the greatest power in the Galaxy.

Quote: <<Te Elder Worm are mighty in more waysthan magic and the mind — now you will fall beforemy supreme strength! >>

Powers/Tactics: Wglu is superhumanly strongand tough; he can li 100 tons, punch hardenough to kill ordinary beings, and withstandattacks as if he were wearing powered armor. Inbattle he prefers to open up with a shockwave(assuming he’s far enough away from any allies orElder Worm troops to avoid harming them), andthen pick off targets one at a time as they stand up.

Campaign Use: You can think of Wglu as adeadlier form of Elder Worm Warrior (see below)

without ego blades or telekinetic powers. If youplan to stage frequent encounters between the PCsand the Elder Worm, he might become a goodarch-enemy for an equally strong PC.

o make Wglu tougher, increase his SPD to6, and perhaps give him another point or two ofOCV. o weaken him, get rid of some or all of his“brick tricks” abilities.

Appearance: Compared to most Elder Worm,who tend to be spindly and thin by Human stan-dards, Wglu the Mighty is thick-set, broad-shoul-dered, and heavily-muscled. His humidity suit isheavier than those worn by other Elder Worm,

and is mostly battleship grey.

Here are character sheets for the main types ofElder Worm that Humans have encountered (allof whom are among the servants of the Slug to onedegree or another). Additionally, see CV1 196 fora character sheet for a “typical” Elder Worm withno special abilities.

Besides the Complications listed here, ElderWorm on Earth have the Psychological Complica-tion Must Destroy/Enslave Humanity And Cleanse

Te Earth For Te Return Of Te Elder Worm

(Very Common, otal; 25 points). ypicallythey’re also Hunted by UNIL (and possibly otherauthorities and/or specific superheroes.) ElderWorm in the greater Galaxy who’ve become awareof the existence of the Slug have the PsychologicalComplication otally Dedicated o Te Slug AndHis Goals (Very Common, otal; 25 points).

Description: Elder Worm Acolytes have worm-like heads (similar to the bodies of Initiates; seebelow) atop humanoid bodies. Teir humiditysuits are typically orange-ish, reddish, or golden-ish, making it easy to distinguish them fromthe grey-suited Aspirants (who are also taller).Higher-ranking Acolytes wear white or black suitswith red and gold highlights.

Powers/Tactics: Elder Worm Acolytes attack witha mental blast that’s particularly effective if twoor more of them focus on a single target (whichthey can easily do thanks to being in telepathiccontact). However, they typically play a support

role in combat rather than a fighting role. Tey usetheir Spells Of Protection and Balm Of Te Wormto protect other Elder Worms and heal them whenthey suffer injury. Elder Worm Aspirants andWarriors oen fight fiercely to protect Acolytes ifanyone threatens them.

An Elder Worm Aspirant is a fighter intraining — a junior Warrior (see below), if youwill. Tey have two small Ego Blades wielded intandem instead of a Warrior’s single large Blade,

wear lighter armor, and lack Warriors’ telekineticpowers. Tey wear grey or grey-white humiditysuits and are taller than most types of ElderWorm.

Description: While many alien civilizations arebased entirely on technology, the Elder Wormhave always used magic as much as science (infact, in some ways the two are indistinguishablein Elder Worm society). Initiates are Elder Wormwho are training to become sorcerers — appren-tices, so to speak. Tey wear humidity suits in a

variety of colors: grey with green highlights; blue;purple; light orange.

Powers/Tactics: Elder Worm Initiates only knowtwo spells: a Darkblast of shadowy, destructiveenergy; and a Dark Explosion that unleashesthat same energy over an area. Tey also have abasic knowledge of Elder Worm mysticism, andif the GM wants can make a Power: Elder Worm Magics Skill Roll at -1 to come up with other, veryweak, spells (no more than 5 Active Points) whennecessary.




Description: Tis character sheet represents thetypical Elder Worm sorcerer. Sorcerers, sometimesalso known as Priests, typically wear reddishhumidity suits with gold highlights.

Powers/Tactics: Elder Worm Sorcerers are well- versed in Elder Worm magics. Teir standardspells include a Darkblast and Dark Explosion

(like those of Initiates), a Mental Blast, and a“Psionic Apocalypse” spell that causes intensemental pain to everyone around them (for gamepurposes, assume that other Elder Worm areimmune to this).

Sorcerers’ knowledge and understanding ofElder Worm wizardry allows them to use theirPower Skill to create better spells “on the fly”than Initiates. Tey can create spells with up to30 Active Points, but suffer a -1 penalty to theSkill Roll per 10 Active Points. Alternately, youcan simply give them more spells (more slots intheir Multipowers). Use the spells from CU 66-68or HSG 266-80 (and possibly other parts of theHSG, such as Black Magic or Voodoo), but changethe special effects to make them creepier, moresinister, more horrifying. An Elder Worm spellshouldn’t look or “feel” like an equivalent Humanspell.

Description: An Elder Worm Warrior is a highly-skilled fighter. He wields a single Ego Blade.He’s taller and heavier than other Elder Worms,and wears a grey-white humidity suit with goldhighlights.

Powers/Tactics: Besides being strong and tough,an Elder Worm Warrior has two main forms ofattack. Te first is his Ego Blade, a large single“sword” that he can strike with in HH Combatto inflict Mental Blast damage. Te second is histelekinetic powers. He can grab or blast a singletarget, or can unleash a “telekinetic wave” tosmash into multiple foes, knocking them awayfrom him. (It takes an Extra Segment for the waveto build, giving potential victims a chance toleave the targeted area or try to stop the attack.).Multiple Warriors oen try to aim their waves toeither overlap or fit together to cover a lot of thebattlefield.

ELDER WORM MEGADRILESA Megadrile is an Elder Worm term for a

particularly powerful form of Warrior who’susually assigned to guard important persons ortargets (such as the humidiator machines andhumus piles on Monster Island). Tey’re likeWarriors but with +5 SR, +2 CON, +2 PD, and+2 ED. Teir humidity suits are black and white.

Description: In addition to the many races theyenslaved aer conquering them, the Elder Wormcreated some with sorcery. Te greatest of theirservitor species was the Tane, whom they createdtoward the end of their struggle with the Malvansin the hope they would turn the tide of the war.Tey did not, and when the Elder Worm wereannihilated, so were the Tane... for the mostpart. Like their masters, of whom they were nowfreed, the Tane fled and hid, mostly along thegalactic rim.

As of the early twenty-first century, the Tane

feel powerful enough to re-assert themselves andattempt to establish an empire of their own. Teycan feel the mystic “tug” of the Slug, and intend tocome to his aid as soon as they may. (As of 2011he doesn’t realize any of them are alive, and will beglad to learn of it and make use of them.)

A Tane is swier and tougher than a Human,and has the ability to attack with various psychicpowers (he also uses his elepathy to communi-cate with his Elder Worm masters when neces-sary). A few Tane have learned some sorceryduring the years of diaspora, but this is rare.

Te average Tane is about 1.8 meters tall

with disproportionately long arms and fingers.His moist, leathery skin is a disturbing brownish-purple shade, and his glowing orangish eyes bulgefrom their sockets (and, on close examination,are faceted like those of an insect). His mouth is amass of large cilia or small tentacle-like append-ages, rather than a jaw with teeth; no one knowswhat he eats, or how. He typically wears a hoodedbrown robe. Due to the strange nature of hiscreation, he doesn’t register on bioscanners andother life force sensors.

9








Cost Powers END

50 Mind-Writhings: Mental Blast 4d6 2Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼)

24 Augment Protection: Succor PD and ED 4d6 4

Expanded Effect (two Characteristics at a time;+½), Limited Range (24m; +¼); Costs Endurance(to maintain; -½), Unified Power (with ProtectiveBarrier; -¼)

55 Protective Barrier: Barrier 10 PD/10 ED, 10 BODY(up to 8m long, 4m high, and 1m thick), Non-

Anchored, Dismissable 7Unified Power (with Augment Protection; -¼)

40 Balm Of The Worm: Simplified Healing 4d6 4

Only Works On Elder Worms (-0)

12 Humidity Suit: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6 ED),Impermeable 0

OIF (-½)


24 Path Of The Worm:Tunneling 12m through 6 PD material 2

30 Voice Of The Worm: Telepathy 4d6 (Alien and Humanclasses of mind) 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); CommunicationOnly (-¼)

Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

3 Stealth 12-

3 Teamwork 12-


Total Cost: 377





25 Psychological Complication: Totally Devoted To The Slug

(Very Common, Total)10 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Fire attacks (Common)


5 Vulnerability: 1½ x STUN from Cold attacks (Uncommon)










Cost Powers END

60 Ego Blades: Mental Blast 3d6 3

Autofire (2 shots; +1¼), Alternate Combat Value(uses OCV instead of OMCV; +¼), ReducedEndurance (½ END; +½); No Range (-½)

8 Fighting Skill: HA +2d6 1



31 Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except for SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, Intense Heat) 0

OIF (-½)24 Path Of The Worm:

Tunneling 12m through 6 PD material 2


Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

4 +2 OCV with Ego Blades

3 Climbing 12-

3 Stealth 12-

1 Tactics 8-

3 Teamwork 12-


Total Cost: 298



20 Distinctive Features: Elder Worm body (Not Concealable;

Always Noticed, Causes Major Reaction [fear/disgust])25 Physical Complication: Mute (All The Time, Slightly

Impairing)

25 Psychological Complication: Totally Devoted To The Slug(Very Common, Total)






9








Cost Powers END

60 Dark Magics: Multipower, 60-point reserve

5f 1) Darkblast: Blast 10d6 5

6f 2) Dark Explosion: Blast 8d6 6Area Of Effect (18m Radius Explosion; +½)


31 Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except for Safe

Environments: High Radiation, Intense Heat) 0OIF (-½)



Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

2 KS: Arcane And Occult Lore 11-2 KS: Elder Worm History And Lore 11-

3 Power: Elder Worm Magics 13-

3 Stealth 12-


Total Cost: 274














Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [1]18 DEX 16 13-18 CON 8 13-20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-20 EGO 10 13- MCV: 720 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6




Tunneling: 12m

Cost Powers END

90 Dark Magics: Multipower, 90-point reserve

6f 1) Darkblast: Blast 12d6 6

7f 2) Dark Explosion: Blast 10d6 7Area Of Effect (22m Radius Explosion; +½)

1f 3) Horror Of The Worm: +30 PRE 3

Costs Endurance (-½), Only For Fear-/Intimidation-Based Presence Attacks (-1)

6f 4) Psionic Assault: Mental Blast 6d6 6

6f 5) Psionic Apocalypse: Mental Blast 4d6 9

Area Of Effect (20m; +1), Personal Immunity (+¼);No Range (-½)


31 Humidity Suit: Life Support: Total (except for SafeEnvironments: High Radiation, Intense Heat) 0

OIF (-½)



Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills

2 Cryptography 13-; Translation Only (-½)

3 Interrogation 13-

2 KS: Arcane And Occult Lore 13-

2 KS: Elder Worm History And Lore 13-

5 Power: Elder Worm Magics 14-

3 Stealth 13-


Total Cost: 387


0 Dependence: must remain in an environment of at least

tropical jungle/swamp humidity, or suffer 1d6 damageper 6 hours (Very Common)









9








Tunneling: 14m

Cost Powers END

80 Ego Blade: Mental Blast 8d6 5

Alternate Combat Value (uses OCV instead ofOMCV; +¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼);No Range (-½)

36 Telekinesis: Telekinesis (30 STR) 4

Unified Power (with other Telekinetic powers; -¼)

32 Telekinetic Blast: Blast 8d6 4

Unified Power (with other Telekinetic powers; -¼)

40 Telekinetic Wave: Blast 8d6 4

Area Of Effect (16m Cone; +½), Double Knockback(+½), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); Extra Time(Extra Segment; -½), No Range (-½), Unified Power(with other Telekinetic powers; -¼)

8 Fighting Skill: HA +2d6 1






Talents

4 Double-Jointed

Skills10 +1 with All Combat

6 +3 OCV with Ego Blade

3 Climbing 13-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Tactics 12-

3 Teamwork 13-


Total Cost: 504


0 Dependence: must remain in an environment of at least

tropical jungle/swamp humidity, or suffer 1d6 damageper 6 hours (Very Common)












Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage [2]16 DEX 12 12-18 CON 8 13-20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-20 EGO 10 13- MCV: 720 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6




Cost Powers END

50 Psychic Attack: Multipower, 75-point reserveAll Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

5f 1) Basic Psychic Attack: Mental Blast 6d6 3

Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); Extra Time (FullPhase; -½)

5f 2) Lingering Psychic Attack: Mental Blast 4d6 3Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼);Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

50 Psychic Powers: Multipower, 75-point reserve

All Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

5f 1) Psychic Domination: Mind Control 12d6 7Telepathic (+¼); Extra Time (Full Phase; -½)

5f 2) Psychic Speech: Telepathy 12d6 3Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); Extra Time (FullPhase; -½)

10 Aura Of Horror: +20 PRE 0

Only For Fear-/Intimidation-Based PresenceAttacks (-1)

6 Resilient Form: Resistant (+¼) for 6 PD/6 ED 0

40 Resilient Form: Life Support (Total, including Longevity:Immortality) 0

5 Thane Eyes: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

5 Thane Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 05 Thane Eyes: Nightvision 0

23 Arcane Life-Force: Invisibility To Detect Life 0

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+¼);Always On (-½)

Talents



Skills

3 Interrogation 13-

3 Shadowing 13-

5 Stealth 13-


Total Cost: 391


25 Distinctive Features: Thane (Not Concealable; CausesExtreme Reaction [horror and loathing])

20 Psychological Complication: Totally Loyal To The ElderWorm And Their Laws, Customs, And Traditions(Common, Total)



9



THE STAR * GUARD:

PROTECTORS OF THE GALAXY

Chapter

Ten



226 n The Star*guard: Protectors Of The Galaxy Hero System 6th Edition

ne of the greatest forces for peace,truth, and justice throughout theGalaxy during the past million yearshas been the Star*Guard, an organiza-

tion of powerful heroes overseen by the people ofOdrugar. Te Guard has had its highs and lows,and is currently suffering from perhaps the worstlow in its entire history, but despite the obstacles

and challenges facing it has always striven to serveand protect the people of the Milky Way.

A million years ago the Odrugarans were themost advanced species in the Milky Way, the firstin the second great wave of galactic civilizations.echnologically, sociologically, and intellectu-ally advanced when even the Malvans were stillessentially primitive, the Odrugarans could haveconquered the Galaxy... but such was not theirway. Tey were a contemplative, introspectivepeople, preferring to stay on Odrugar and let therest of the universe go its own way.

Ten the greatest hero in all of Odrugaranhistory — Gloran the Great, also known as theInspirer, the Redeemer, the Bold, and the Fatherof the Guard — was born. Te son of the philoso-pher Kedron, Gloran was a genius of unparalleledintellect whose gis also included wisdom andan almost boundless curiosity about the worldaround him. By the time he was an adult he’dstudied practically every subject under the sunand had learned everything he could learn from

the Odrugarans.But Gloran was no simple scholar. Fromdiscussions with his father he’d learned of the exis-tence of evil, and unlike the rest of his people hewasn’t content simply to ensure it never touchedhim and then go on with his life. He wanted to fight evil, to oppose wrongdoing and injusticewherever they existed, and make the Galaxy abetter place for all who lived there: high and low,rich and poor, of whatever species or background.

Gloran realized that he couldn’t tackle such anenormous mission on his own, so he decided tobuild himself a helper. It took years of work, but

eventually he created CONROL, a gargantuan,sentient computer — the most advanced thinkingdevice ever created. CONROL would seek outevil and cruelty for him to battle, and then assisthim in the fight. And to equip himself for thestruggle, Gloran used Odrugaran technology(then at a level roughly equivalent to late twentiethcentury Earth’s) to fashion a suit of battle-armor.

Gloran finished his work just in time, for aterrible threat, the ravaging extradimensionalinvaders known as the Sklaar, soon attackedOdrugar. For nearly a decade Gloran fought theSklaar, protecting his people and their home-world from rapine and destruction. At first hestruggled against them singlehandedly, but as theyears passed his example inspired more and moreOdrugarans to assist in whatever way they could.A few actually joined him on the front lines, butmany others helped by analyzing Sklaar strategiesand motivations, repairing or suggesting improve-ments to his equipment, and the like.

In time Gloran and the Odrugarans defeated

the Sklaar and drove them back from whencethey came. Realizing that they were not the onlyevil in the universe that he should oppose, Glorancontinued his war against injustice, suffering,and cruelty for centuries. But he was not alone.Odrugaran society itself had been changed by itsexperiences with the Sklaar. No longer were theOdrugarans content to keep to themselves; nowthey wanted to use their abilities and resources tocarry on with Gloran’s mission. Some CONROLeven deemed worthy to help Gloran directly, andthis small corps of heroes was soon christenedthe Star*Guard. Tey wore a uniform based onGloran’s powered armor, and CONROL designed

for them the wondrous, multifunctional Star-Staff that could serve as both weapon and tool.

Te rest of Odrugaran society slowly but surelyaligned itself to support the Guard and its ideals.Te old Odrugaran religious, social, and politicalstructures inexorably gave way to the benign ruleof CONROL and a dedication to the ideals of theGuard. From that day to this, Odrugaran societyhas remained essentially the same. Not everyOdrugaran is directly involved with Star*Guardaffairs, but each of them helps it with its missionin whatever way he can.

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Champions Beyond n Chapter Ten 22

AFTER GLORANAer nearly four hundred years fighting evil

and injustice, and preserving the innocent fromsuffering and harm, Gloran finally succumbedto age and injuries. Before he passed away,he ensured that he’d always remain with theStar*Guard to advise and assist it. He implantedhis own brain engrams onto CONROL’s circuits,in effect making the ultra-computer an immortalextension of himself and his burning passion toprotect and serve all life. And then he died. Odru-garan legend claims that upon his death, his bodywas transformed into a light that illuminated theOdrugaran skies for a week as the gods took himto heaven. His battle-armor and Star-Staff werekept as nigh-holy relics, and can be seen today inthe Guard’s Hall of Victory.

Although the Guard mourned Gloran’s passing,it did not let grief distract it from its mission. Ledby CONROL, which could maintain telepathiccontact with dozens of Guardsmen at a time,they continued the battle against evil whereverthey could find it. Compared to modern Guardtechnology, they didn’t have the same ability totravel the Galaxy quickly, but they spread out fromOdrugaran space as fast as their technology wouldallow.

It took millennia, but the Guard established areputation in Odrugar’s region of the Milky Wayfor heroism, bravery, and an unswerving dedica-tion to its mission. Te relatively small number of

Guardsmen soon found itself hard-pressed to cope

with all the threats it felt honor-bound to oppose.Te solution, one resisted by some elements inthe Guard and Odrugaran society for centuries,was to allow members of other species to join the

Guard. Given that a Guardsman might visit anygiven world only once or twice in a century, ittook time to find worthy recruits — but here againCONROL showed its value and wisdom, usingits telepathic circuitry to scan entire planets andfind individuals with the intelligence, moral fiber,and bravery necessary to undergo (and hopefullycomplete) Guard training on Odrugar. Soon theranks of the Guard were swelled by “rookies” froma dozen sentient species... though then as now,the number of Guardsmen was pitifully smallcompared to the size and scope of the Guard’stask.

THE LYRANE CONFLICTA chronicle of the Star*Guard’s deeds duringthis time could fill many books (and, indeed, has).Perhaps the greatest of its adventures in the periodbetween Gloran’s death and the Malvan-ElderWorm War was its conflict with the would-begalactic conqueror Lyrane of Naxar.

Naxar is a world spinward from Odrugar,home to (at that time) an advanced civilizationwith low-level FL flight and other comparabletechnologies. wo centuries previously it hadbeen conquered and unified by Queen Lyrane,a ruler whose ambition was even greater thanher immensely powerful superhuman abilities.




When her species finally developed the necessarytechnology, she embarked on a series of interga-lactic conquests. Soon she ruled several systemsand species near Naxar... and her rule was not apleasant one. Oppressive and cruel, she exploitedboth the Naxari and her conquered subjects toserve her every whim. On one world she workedover two million subjects to death carving theplanet’s largest mountain into a colossal statue ofherself; on another she put down a rebellion byslaughtering the population of an entire country just to make sure none of the rebels escaped her“justice.”

Ordinarily the Star*Guard doesn’t get involvedin routine political matters, but that level oftyranny and murder could not be ignored. Asquad of three Guardsmen flew to Naxar to dealwith Lyrane, but soon found they’d underesti-mated both the strength of her own powers andthe fanatical devotion of her military (whom sheroutinely showered with money and privileges toensure their loyalty). One of the Guardsmen, anOdrugaran named Dorigan, was killed, and the

other two barely escaped with their lives.Te Star*Guard regrouped, this time sending

over a hundred Guardsmen to avenge their fallenand see justice done. First they encounteredLyrane’s spacefleet in an outlying system, butaer nearly two days of bloody battle they brokeher lines and forced her captains to retreat. Aerreinforcements from Odrugar arrived, the Guardpressed on, encountering the bolstered remnantsof her main fleet in the Naxar system. Tis timethey had to restrain themselves to avoid any situa-tions that might hurt the Naxari they were tryingto rescue. It took nearly a week before the fleet hadbeen defeated once and for all. Ten the Guard

had to face Queen Lyrane herself.Backed by squadrons of elite troops armed with

the best weapons Naxari scientists could design,Lyrane met the Star*Guard in the skies above hercapital. Her superhuman strength, speed, andenergy projection powers made her more than amatch for any single Star*Guard, and during thebattle she killed nearly two dozen of them with herown hands. But eventually the weight of numbersand the Guardsmen’s burning desire to free theGalaxy from her evil turned the tide. iringunder the barrage of the Guard’s attacks, Lyranewas eventually forced to ground in her imperialpalace, where the battle nearly destroyed the entirestructure. Sensing defeat, Lyrane attempted totrigger an ultra-powerful bomb that would havedestroyed not only her enemies, but half of Naxar.Te selfless Guardsman Vel’na-tar, aided by severalof his comrades, sacrificed his own life to containthe explosion and save billions of lives. Te onlycasualty was Lyrane herself, who was literallydisintegrated by the blast.

THE MALVAN-ELDER WORM WARTe Star*Guard also played a part in the

Malvan-Elder Worm War, though in the eyesof many their role was a surprisingly small one.Te Guard allied itself with the Malvans againstthe hideous Elder Worm, whose conquests andevil schemes the Guard had fought for millennia.But the Guard simply didn’t have the numbers tostop the Elder Worm from conquering half of the

Galaxy (though they were able to maintain somepockets of resistance, including Odrugar itself).Nor were their numbers of significant conse-quence compared to the vast Malvan militarymachine, though some scholars believe that thecreation of the Golden Hunters of Malva wasinspired, at least in part, by the Star*Guard.

Recognizing the nature of the situation, theGuard chose to function as supporters and protec-tors rather than frontline fighters against the ElderWorm. Tey devoted their energies and powersto evacuating warzones so that innocents wouldnot be hurt, protecting priceless cultural artifactsfrom the devastations of war, providing medical

help to the injured, assisting refugees, and more.According to some Malvan estimates, over thethree hundred thousand year course of the war,the actions of the Star*Guard saved an estimatedfive trillion sentient lives.

THE POST-WAR PERIODTe Guard continued its mission in the wake of

the War, oen helping to rebuild galactic societiesshattered by the conflict and then ignored by theincreasingly self-absorbed Malvans. But the Guarditself was weakened by millennia of war — casual-ties are inevitable in a conflict of that scope, andmany of the beings whom CONROL would have

deemed worthy to join the Guard were also killedor preferred to devote their energies to helpingtheir own peoples recover. Te Star*Guard neverceased its crusade against evil, but it entered along period of dormancy that saw it reach one ofits lowest points ever in terms of numbers andactivity.

Te nadir of this era was an incident that’sbecome known in Guard records as the “Golek-trah Scandal.” A hundred thousand years ago,Golektrah was assigned as the Star*Guardprotecting Sector Rho-278593. He was consideredone of the greatest Guards at that time, a paragonof bravery, nobility, and heroism. ime aertime he’d risked his life to save innocents, defeat villains, and protect societies from injustice. Butthen orvag, another Guard passing through thesector stopped to visit him and perceived thatsomething was amiss. Most Guardsmen wererevered by the people they protected (or at least,by those who knew they were being protected),but the people in Golektrah’s sector seemedanxious around him, even afraid.

0




Concerned, orvag began investigating thesituation on his own (since he didn’t want to sullyGolektrah’s reputation by getting other Guardsinvolved until he had proof). It took some carefuldigging, but he eventually discovered that Golek-trah had become something of a tyrant and a thug.He enforced his own will on planets where neces-sary, and oen took bribes from organizations towork on their behalf rather than for the greatergood. Ordinarily CONROL would have detectedthis, but Golektrah used the psionic abilities nativeto his species to disguise his thoughts.

When orvag revealed what he’d learned to theOverseers, the scandal rocked the entire Guard.Te Council immediately removed Golektrahfrom the Guard in disgrace and confined him inthe Guard’s prison for the rest of his life. Despitethis, many civilizations and species becamesuspicious of the Guard, wondering if it had itsown interests more than theirs at heart. Aer all,Guardsmen could basically go anywhere and doanything — could it be they were planning to takeover the Galaxy themselves at some point?

CONROL and the Overseers realized theyneeded to rejuvenate the Guard and restore theGalaxy’s faith in it and its mission. Tey came upwith several ways to do this. First, they reorganizedthe Guard, shuffling a lot of Guardsmen around sothey’d experience new things and work with newspecies rather than the ones they’d been assignedto for decades, and they made plans for morefrequent “duty changes” going forward. Second,they went on a major recruitment drive focusingon non-Odrugaran species, including manywho’d never had a Guardsman before. Nothingwas as likely to make a species sympathetic to theGuard as knowing it included one of their own, so

CONROL tried to see to it that more species thanever before were represented in the Guard’s ranks.

Tird, and perhaps most importantly, theycame up with the concept of Marshals, non-super-powered civilian “assistants” to help individualGuardsmen. Up to this time most Guardsmenworked entirely by themselves, sometimes fordecades, and that wasn’t entirely healthy forthem or the Guard as a whole. By providing eachGuard with a “support staff,” the Overseers servedseveral purposes at once. First, they eased manyGuards’ loneliness (and each Guard’s burden).Second, they created a “safety net” of people whocould monitor each Guard for the sort of anti-social behavior and Guard code violations thatGolektrah fell prey to, thus stopping the problembefore it went too far. Tird, by exposing morepeople and species to the Guard and its mission,they engendered increasing support among manynative populations — sunlight being not only thebest disinfectant but the best light to learn by, asthe old Malvan saying has it.

With these reforms in place, the Guard entereda period of rejuvenation and strength that’s lastedup to the present day. With the help and assistanceof their Marshals, Guardsmen now tend to reporthigher levels of job satisfaction and enjoyment

than ever before — and that, of course, translatesinto ever-greater dedication to their duty.

THE RAMPAGE OF THE WORLD-RAVAGEROne of the Star*Guard’s deadliest enemies in

modern times, Valak the World-Ravager, arrivedin the Milky Way in the Human year 2000. Hesoon proved how he earned his name as he beganbattling his way across the stars, attacking anddestroying several civilizations in the process.

Te Star*Guard received word of Valak’smurderous rampage, and soon the hunt was on.

A Guardsman finally found him in mid-2001 andgot word to the rest of the Guard via CONROL.Te first few Guardsmen to attack Valak all died athis hands, but eventually enough of them arrivedto take him on in numbers. Soon there were somany of them that he had to flee. Te Guardpursued, and eventually brought him to bay inthe arphalidon system. Trough clever maneuvering, they tricked him to fighting in the middleof a thick asteroid field. At precisely the rightmoment, three StarAvengers sacrificed their livesto hold him in place just long enough for a fourthto literally ram his Star-Staff through Valak’s chest.Weakened and pinned to an asteroid like a bug,

Valak was unable to stop the Star*Guard fromcollecting the rest of the asteroid belt and fusing itinto place around him, creating a small planetoidto serve as his prison for eternity.

Or so they thought. Unfortunately for theGalaxy, the Guardsmen had underestimatedValak’s resilience and recuperative powers. It tookfive years, but in 2006 Valak regained enoughstrength to free himself, shatter the planetoid, andlaunch a campaign of revenge. Soon CONROLbegan losing mental contact with individualStarGuards. One second they’d be there, the nextits psychic contact would be severed withoutwarning. So sudden and brutal were Valak’sambushes that none of the victims were able to somuch as “shout” a warning to CONROL.

Aer he’d killed more than two dozenGuardsmen, Valak attacked a StarKnight namedK’ru-dava, whose armor and powers bluntedthe attack just long enough for him to alertCONROL to what was happening before Valakslaughtered him. CONROL placed the Guard onmaximum readiness and once again ordered theGuardsmen to hunt Valak.

Valak’s next target was Andre Almena, theStarGuard in charge of the sector including Earth.Unfortunately for the World-Ravager, Almena

happened to be visiting his friends the Sentinelswhen he received a warning from CONROL.Te Sentinels accompanied him into space toconfront Valak before he could reach Almena’sStar*Base and kill his Marshals. Te heroes andthe Guardsman fought Valak in a battle that begannear Jupiter and finally ended on the streets ofNew York with Valak — who was still weak fromhis long imprisonment — unconscious and threeSentinels in need of serious medical attention.Valak was immediately placed in hot sleep inStronghold, where he remained until escapingduring the 2009 breakout. Te Guard remains onthe lookout for him; it won’t be caught be surprise

the next time Valak attacks.




THE EVIL OF MORDACEUnfortunately, no sooner had the Guard begun

to recover from Valak’s vendetta than it sufferedanother serious blow — the most devastating onein all its history, in fact. And most tragically of all,the cause of these troubles is one of their own.

A little over thirty years ago, a Lorghil namedMordace became a StarGuard aer being spon-sored for training by an injured Guardsman

he’d rescued. He served nobly and well for manyyears, but eventually the stress of the job and hisinability to truly defeat injustice and oppressionin the Galaxy affected him emotionally. Not longaer these problems began to develop, he chancedacross the preserved mental essences of the priestsof the Ghok’pa, an evil race the Star*Guard haddefeated and destroyed tens of thousands of yearsago. Mordace’s mind snapped under the priests’psionic assault and he became filled with theirutter, implacable hatred for the Star*Guard.

At first Mordace tried to attack the Guard fromwithin as a saboteur, using the mental powersawakened within him by the Ghok’pa to disguise

his true intentions from CONROL. But histreachery was exposed by Guardsman Brin Reiarn. Mordace escaped before the Guard couldimprison him, built his own version of the Star-Staff, and garbed himself in powerful Ghok’pabattle-armor, and became one of the Star*Guard’sgreatest foes. He frequently clashed with arn,and sometimes with other Guards as well, andwas responsible for killing two Guardsmen in theEighties.

In 1990 Mordace defeated and slew arn in abattle in the Black Forest of Germany on Earth.arn’s successor, the Human Andre Almena, atlong last defeated and captured Mordace with thehelp of arn’s Marshals. Mordace was imprisonedon Odrugar, but in 2005 he engineered a daringescape that cost the life of three Guardsman andone Overseer. He went into hiding, rebuilt hisEmpyrean Staff, and bided his time.

THE ATTACK ON ODRUGARIn 2009, Mordace attacked Odrugar at the head

of a massive, ragtag fleet of space mercenaries,pirates, villains, and assorted scum. For years he’dbeen slowly building his forces, convincing themost dangerous criminals in the Galaxy that theriches of Odrugar would be theirs for the taking ifthey followed his command.

Aer distracting a significant portion of the

Star*Guard with a false message that a star in aheavily-populated system was about to go novaand as many Guardsmen were needed as possibleto help evacuate the settled worlds, Mordace’s fleetapproached Odrugar. He used an ancient Ghok’padevice to “shield” the fleet’s mental emanationsfrom CONROL so their approach wouldn’t bedetected until it was too late.

Mordace’s fleet struck with sudden savagery,warp-gating into the system near Odrugar andbattering their way past its planetary defenses tostrike at the main Guard complex. Te word wentout summoning every available Guardsman backto Odrugar to assist the Overseers, but of course

travel distances meant many of them didn’t have aprayer of arriving in time to help.

Mordace’s forces landed under heavy fire fromGuardsmen and automated defensive systems.His first target was the Guard’s prison, where hefreed dozens of the most dangerous criminals inthe Galaxy (including Queen Lyrane, the “sludge-monster” Trale, Korggon the Butcher, and theenergy-being Zractor), more than a few of whom joined his army. Still, the defenders were slowinghis progress down, and with literally thousandsof StarGuards approaching as fast as possible,Mordace chose to abandon his other secondarygoals and go aer his main target: CONROLitself.

At hideous loss of life, Mordace and hisfollowers smashed their way into CONROL’scentral chamber and attacked the most advancedcomputer in the Galaxy. One of Mordace’sweapons in this fight was the freed super-criminalEgregor, a being apparently from “before time”whose strange quasi-psychic energies were able topierce CONROL’s defenses better than anythingelse Mordace had access to.

Unfortunately for Mordace, CONROL was just clever and powerful enough to hold him offuntil the assembled Star*Guard arrived to drive

him away. Rather than be captured again Mordacefled with as much of his fleet as he could, leavingthe rest to distract the Guard while he made goodhis escape.

Te Guardsmen and Overseers finally reachedCONROL’s central chamber and discovered totheir relief that the super-computer hadn’t beentotally destroyed. But the situation was still grim— CONROL’s physical quantum matrix, whichcontained much of its memory and processingpower, had been badly damaged. CONROL, andthus the Star*Guard, had been greatly weakened,perhaps for years to come.

WHAT HUMANITY KNOWS ABOUT THE STAR * GUARD

Humanity’s knowledge of the Star*Guard is rela-tively minimal, despite the fact that one of their own isa Guard. Based on information provided by Brin Reiarn and Andre Almena, and Anna Mills’s book StandOn Guard (see page 15), knowledgeable Humans areaware that there’s an organization called the Star*Guardthat’s dedicated to protecting the Galaxy and her inhab-itants from all sorts of threats, evils, and injustices.Tey know that this organization claims to be approxi-mately a million years old, and that it’s based on theplanet Odrugar, and that it supposedly has “thousands”of members. Tey know that each StarGuard wields apowerful super-tech staff as a weapon, but aren’t awareof how powerful and versatile a Star-Staff truly is.

Humanity is not aware of the damage sufferedby CONROL during Mordace’s 2009 attack or the

current weakened state of the organization as a whole.

0




oday the Star*Guard is the weakest it’s beensince the darkest days of the Malvan-Elder WormWar. It has a little under ten thousand activeStarGuards, but its unifying force — CONROL— is so badly damaged that it’s likely to takeyears before it’s restored to full functionality(and some data/memories may be lost forever).What’s worse, with the freeing in 2009 of someof its worst enemies — Queen Lyrane and Valakthe World-Ravager, to name just two — plus theongoing existence of threats like Mordace andXarriel, it and its members are at greater risk thanever before. If the Star*Guard is to survive, it willhave to marshal all of its resources, rely morethan ever on the bravery and competence of itsmembers... and perhaps seek the outside assis-tance of superheroes such as your PCs.

Prior to 2009, the Star*Guard didn’t reallyhave anything in the way of ranks or chains ofcommand. Tere was CONROL, there werethe Overseers of Odrugar, and then there werethousands of StarGuards. Tere was no real needfor any sort of organizational hierarchy, becauseCONROL could use its awesome power topsionically link itself with Guards on a missionand tell them which one of them was in charge, oreven issue orders itself if necessary (or convey theorders of the Council).

Mordace’s attack changed that, and thechanges are still controversial among much of theGuard. CONROL currently lacks many of its

psionic abilities, including its psychic link powers,thus cutting off immediate (or even short-term)communication between a StarGuard out inthe Galaxy and Odrugar. Tis has led to twodevelopments.

STAR*GUARD RANKSFirst, the Council of Overseers has instituted

a rank system for the first time in the Guard’smillion-year history. Existing Guards wereassigned ranks based on their experience, skills,and tenure; new recruits start with the lowestrank, Guardsman Blue, and work their way up.Te Council intends to keep the rank system in

place until either it thinks of something better orCONROL’s psychic link ability is restored.

From highest to lowest, the Star*Guard ranksare:

n Commander n Warden n Captain n Sentinel n Guardsman Gold n Guardsman Silver n Guardsman Blue




Since most StarGuards are assigned to asector and cope with any threats that arisein that sector on their own, the rank systemdoesn’t usually come into play. But it’s becomecrucial in situations when the Overseers ordertwo or more Guardsmen to work together on amission. Groups of Guards are usually referredto as “squadrons,”and are commanded by thehighest-ranking Guard present unless the Councilprovides other instructions.

THE MARSHALSStarGuards assigned to a particular sector

usually have a group of one to five Marshals assisting them and living in their Star*Base.Marshals are non-superpowered “civilians” who’vecome to the Guard’s attention for some reason.Perhaps they reacted particularly well during acrisis the Guard responded to, or have certainskills the Guard thinks would be helpful to hisoverall mission, or somehow impress the Guardwith their bravery, honor, and morality.

As a Marshal, a person gets the benefit of livingin an Odrugaran-built facility with Odrugarantechnology and amenities, extensive exposureto the greater galactic community (particularlyits superpowered elements), a generous stipend,and all the adventure he can handle. On the otherhand, his life is usually at risk on a regular basis,and more than one Marshal has le the Guardcrippled or in a coffin despite the best efforts ofhis Guard. It’s not a job for most people... but forsome, it’s perfect.

Most StarGuards make an effort to have adiverse group of Marshals, mixing species andgender to find a blend that enhances the group’sefficiency — but ultimately Guards care moreabout ability and results than anything else. If acrew of all-male Fex or a group of podlings fromthe R’kaili Hive are what’s needed to get the jobdone, that’s what the Guard will have.

Tere’s no set number or composition of agroup of Marshals. However, for most groupsof three or more Marshals, it’s common for theGuard to make sure one’s a medical specialist, onea technician who can maintain the Star*Base andits computers (particularly its link to CONROL),and at least one’s capable of piloting the Base’sStarJet.

SELF-RELIANCETe second result of losing CONROL’s

psychic link ability is that individual StarGuards,particularly those assigned to specific sectors,have had to become much more self-reliant. Inmost cases this isn’t a concern; aer all, everyGuardsman is heroic, moral, noble-minded, andintelligent, and thus tends to make the right deci-sions in most situations. But it can be a problemwhen a crisis skirts the edge of the Star*Guard’spolicies and codes — most commonly, when thequestion of whether a Guard should get involvedin a local political matter arises. Ordinarily aGuardsman would consult the Council and getpermission before deposing a dictator, interveningin a devastating war, or helping an establishedregime fight an opposition movement... but thesedays there oen isn’t time. Situations like that canevolve rapidly, and even Odrugaran technology

can’t transmit messages across the Galaxy withoutdelay. Tus a StarGuard oen ends up having torely on his own judgment... something not all ofthem are always comfortable with.

o maximize the effiency of the Guard, theCouncil of Overseers long ago divided the Galaxyinto 24 quadrants, each a wedge-shaped slice ofthe vast disk that is the Milky Way. Each quadrantis designated by a letter from one of the ancientOdrugaran alphabets and then subdivided intosectors that the Council identifies by six-digit

numbers. ranslated into English, this leads tosector names like Alpha-002749, Epsilon-193471,Omicron-221225, and au-943766. Earth is inSector Zeta-491738; Malva is in Sector Xi-826771(not that Malva needs any protection from galacticperils).

STAR * GUARD MARSHAL

TEMPLATE Cost Ability

4 +2 DEX

3 +3 INT

3 +3 EGO

5 +5 PRE

1 Criminology 8-

1 KS: Odrugaran History And Civilization 8-

1 Paramedics 8-

3 Stealth (DEX Roll)

12 Choose 12 points’ worth of the following Skills:Acrobatics, Animal Handler, Breakfall, Bureaucratics,

Charm, Climbing, Combat Piloting, Combat Skill Levels,Computer Programming, Conversation, Criminology,Deduction, Electronics, Forensic Medicine, Forgery,Gambling, High Society, Interrogation, Lockpicking,Martial Arts, Navigation, Paramedics, Penalty SkillLevels, Persuasion, Security Systems, Skill Levels,Streetwise, Survival, Systems Operation, Tactics, Team-work, Weapon Familiarity, any Background Skill, Contact


Value Complications

15 Hunted: Star*Guard (Frequently, Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)


0




Not every sector is the same size. Tey’re estab-lished based on what needs protection, so someonly cover a single heavily-inhabited solar systemthat’s frequently threatened by villains, naturaldisasters, or other dangers, while others covermultiple square parsecs of largely-uninhabitedspace. Nor does every sector have a StarGuardassigned to it. For one thing, there’s too muchgalaxy and too few Guards. But beyond that, somesectors were created purely for administrativepurposes, are relics of long-since-past patterns ofgalactic habitation or travel, and so on; they don’tneed protection like they did in “the old days.” Ifsomething occurs in an “unassigned” sector, theCouncil has the nearest StarGuard investigate thesituation and respond appropriately.

STAR*BASESA sector assigned a Guard has a Star*Base

where the Guardsman lives. Built using Odru-garan technology, it’s a veritable luxury resort,fortress, and police station rolled into one formost beings. Most Star*Bases are located farfrom centers of habitation to avoid any collateraldamage if an enemy attacks. Moons of a system’souter planets are a favorite site; for example,Andre Almena’s Star*Base is built on Europa, asatellite of Jupiter. However, sometimes for variousreasons a Star*Base is constructed on, or in orbitof, an inhabited world.

For an organization that’s a million years

old, the Star*Guard has a remarkably smallbody of written rules, regulations, and proce-dures. It never needed them, aer all, since anyGuard could instantly consult CONROL orthe Council of Overseers for information andadvice. Tat’s become something of a problemnow that CONROL isn’t telepathically linked toevery Guard, but fortunately the Star*Guard hasa long-established body of traditions, policies,guidelines, and beliefs that are well-known toevery Guardsman. Furthermore, the Council andCONROL believe that their stringent processfor finding and training Guards guarantees thatGuards who complete the program successfully

have the strength of character not to abuse theirabilities. (A few exceptions like Mordace aside,they’ve been proven absolutely correct on thispoint.)

Te primary tenets of the Star*Guard Code (asit’s usually referred to in formal writing) are:

n A StarGuard must strive to preserve sentientlife whenever possible, and must never usedeadly force unless absolutely necessary for thedefense of himself or others.

n A StarGuard must not interfere with theactivities of local planetary, interplanetary, orinterstellar governments without the express

permission of the Council of Overseers.

(Tis tenet has created more difficulties forthe Guard than any other, particularly sinceMordace’s attack. It’s definitely not unknownfor the Council to decide, for example, that anevil despot must be overthrown no matter howlegal his regime, that a rebellion is unjustifiedand must be stopped, or that a law is unjust andshall not influence a Guard in the conduct ofhis duties. But the Council wants to make thosedecisions itself, not leave them to StarGuards inthe field.)

n A StarGuard must respect the cultures, tradi-tions, and laws of the civilizations in his sector,where such things do not contradict othertenets of the Code or inflict significant harmthat a Guardsman believes, in his best judg-ment, must be prevented.

n A StarGuard must honor all request for helpfrom other StarGuards unless circumstancesprevent him from doing so.

n A StarGuard will not interfere with the naturalevolution or disintegration of a civiliza-

tion without the express permission of theCouncil of Overseers. (Tis is another onethat oen causes some difficulty. Even withthe Star*Guard’s experience and long-termperspective, deciding what constitutes “natural”societal evolution, and what’s “unnatural,” isoen problematic.)

As a significant player on the galactic stage, theStar*Guard interacts with planetary, interplan-

etary, and interstellar civilizations on a regularbasis. Most of the galaxy’s major governmentswelcome, or at least tolerate, the presence of theGuard as an adjunct to their own law enforcementagencies. Others actively reject their assistanceor consider them enemies of the state and threatsto local authority. Te Guard respects the wishesof the latter governments and doesn’t interferewith them... unless and until they begin inflictingsignificant harm on innocents. Not wanting tohave the Star*Guard around, and not becominga target of the Star*Guard’s crusade, are verydifferent things.

Te Guard tends to play several roles in galac-

tosociopolitics. First and foremost Guardsmensee themselves as one of the threads that binds thegreater galactic community together. Tey oencarry news from one species to another, intro-duce one civilization to another so they can begintrading or open diplomatic relations, and gener-ally try to improve the overall state of the MilkyWay for the benefit of all its citizens. Tey tend tolook at sentients who have starfaring capability aspart of the galactic community first, and citizensof their respective local governments/members oftheir respective species second.

THE STAR*GUARVERSUS A STARGUARD

The same term —

StarGuard — applie

to both the organi-

zation as a whole

and to its individual

members (many ofwhom are simply

known as “the

StarGuard” by the

people they serve

and protect, not by

a personal name).

Thus, some sentient

tend to get confused

by the distinction an

aren’t entirely sure

how to refer to their

friendly local galact

policeman and his

colleagues.

It’s easy enough to

determine what’s

being referred to in

writing: Star*Guard

(with an asterisk in

the middle) is the

organization; Star-

Guard (no asterisk)

is an individual

Guardsman. In

speech the speaker

has to make it clear

from context, whichcan be tricky (espe-

cially if two species

with very different

languages, cultures

or means of percep-

tion are trying to

communicate). Som

people default to the

term “Guardsman”

or “Guardsmen” to

avoid the confusion

others append

specific names

where known

(StarGuard

Almena, Star-

Guard na!dreee,

StarGuard 33-7-12)




Second, the Star*Guard oen helps to ushernew civilizations into the galactic community.According to the Guard’s traditions, when aspecies develops faster-than-light travel capabili-ties (and sometimes before that point), it’s ready tobecome a part of the greater galaxy. In more thanone case the first alien a new starfaring civilizationhas met has been a Star*Guard bringing them thegreetings of the Council (and other responsiblegovernments), databases of information on thegalaxy (including both its history and the currentstate of affairs), and other useful gis.

Tird, the Star*Guard oen acts as an arbi-trator between species or civilizations that arein the middle of a conflict or building up toone. Since there’s no “Galactic United Nations”to handle intergalactic disputes peacefully, theStar*Guard thinks of itself as the “next best thing”and tries to help as best it can. Some Guardsmenand Overseers are renowned for their diplomaticexperience and skills. Aer all, saving a life bypreventing a war from occurring is even moreeffective than saving one by intervening in an

ongoing battle.

Te heart of the Star*Guard is on the planetOdrugar, whose population is dedicated toassisting the Guard and upholding its ideals. Since2009 the Odrugarans have had to work harderthan ever before to make up for the crippling ofCONROL.

Realizing that CONROL alone shouldn’tcommand the Star*Guard and that a “human”touch was oen necessary when dealing withsentients, the earliest members of the Guardformed the Council of Overseers to direct theGuard’s activities. raditionally a Star*Guard inthe field got his routine instructions from theCouncil, with CONROL becoming involvedonly when necessary. Tese days, with CONROLunable to communicate telepathically across theGalaxy, the Council’s work is more important thanever.

Te members of the Council come fromtwo backgrounds. Te first is the ranks of theStar*Guard itself; throughout the organiza-tion’s history many Overseers have been retiredGuardsmen. Te second is the population ofOdrugar. An Odrugaran who’s selflessly served theGuard for many years and displayed wisdom andcompetence may find CONROL offering him aposition on the Council. (Te Overseers some-times make recommendations for new Overseersto the super-computer.) Overseers are identifiedsimply by number in formal session, though ofcourse they know each other’s real names.

As of 2011 there are 27 Overseers on theCouncil, though in the past the number hasrisen as high as the 200s. Some Overseers havesuggested that in light of CONROL’s currentcondition, the time has come to expand theirranks again, the better to ease the burden on all ofthem. Other Overseers are concerned that withoutCONROL’s full oversight, poor choices may bemade that will affect the Council and the Guardfor years to come, and thus urge caution. Tedebate continues.

Te leader of the Council is the Supreme Over-seer, or Overseer One, who’s elected to his positionby a majority vote of his fellows for as long as theychoose to let him keep the office. (In other words,he’s subject to a “vote of confidence” at any timefor any reason.) Te position is largely symbolicand administrative, since the Supreme Overseeronly gets one vote like every other Overseer.Nonetheless it carries a certain amount of prestigeand is oen coveted by at least a few Overseers. Asof 2011, the redoubtable Peligarth, an Odrugaranand former Guardsman, holds the position. His

persuasiveness, diplomacy, well-deserved reputa-tion as an honorable man, and talent for burea-cratic manipulation have helped keep the Councilfunctioning effectively despite the sometimes-rancorous debates that have arisen since Mordace’s2009 attack.

When an Overseer dies, his brain engramsare added to CONROL’s databanks so that hiswisdom and experience will never be lost. GivenCONROL’s current condition, it’s not clear that itwill be possible to keep doing this until significantrepairs have been made, which deeply worriessome Overseers (particularly the older ones whoseengrams might be lost in the interim).

Background/History: Hagur Phad Loba was bornon Odrugar several centuries ago. As an adult hewent to work as a member of CONROL’s supportstaff, and eventually rose through the ranks fromechnician to Director. In recognition of his skills,service, and wisdom, CONROL selected himfor the Council Of Overseers twenty years ago. AsOverseer Sixteen, he has served the Guard to thebest of his ability ever since.

Personality/Motivation: Despite the fact that hewas never a Star*Guard, Overseer Sixteen is one ofthe most hawkish members of the Council, consis-tently voting to use the Guard as a direct weaponagainst the forces of evil. He believes strongly infinding the sources of evil and striking at themdirectly rather than wasting time with minions ordistractions. A sizable contingent of Guardsmenagree with and support him, but on the Councilitself he’s in the minority (particularly sinceMordace’s attack, which has made most Overseersmore cautious than usual).

0




Val Char Cost Roll Notes10 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH damage15 DEX 10 12-13 CON 3 12-23 INT 13 14- PER Roll 14-25 EGO 15 14-





Cost Powers END

50 Odrugaran Psionic Abilities: Multipower,50-point reserve

10v 1) Mindreading: Telepathy 10d6 5

10v 2) Mental Attack: Mental Blast 5d6 5

10v 3) Thoughtcasting: Mind Scan 10d6 5

10v 4) Domination: Mind Control 10d6 5

15 Odrugaran Mental Wards: Mental Defense (15 points) 0

7 Unfazeability: +15 PRE 0

Only to Defend Against Presence Attacks (-1)

4 Odrugaran Lifespan: Life Support (Longevity: 1,600 yearlifespan) 0

Perks

10 Fringe Benefit: Membership: Overseer of Odrugar

Talents


27 Danger Sense 14- (out of combat, immediate vicinity,sense)


16 Translator Matrix: Universal Translator, 13-

IIF (module behind ear, -¼)

Skills


3 Criminology 14-

3 Deduction 14-

3 High Society 14-

4 AK: The Milky Way Galaxy 15-2 AK: Odrugar 11-

5 Oratory 14-

3 Persuasion 13-

3 PS: Overseer 14-

3 Stealth 12-

1 TF: Star*Guard Space Vehicles

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: CONTROL 14-

2 2) KS: Criminals Of The Known Galaxy 14-

3 3) KS: Galactic History 15-

2 4) KS: The Star*Guard 14-


Total Cost: 366


15 Hunted: Enemies of the Star*Guard (Frequently, As Pow,Capture/Kill)

15 Psychological Complication: Devoted To TheStar*Guard’s Ideals And Mission (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Honest To A Fault(Common, Strong)






Overseer Sixteen is renowned for his scrupu-lous honesty. He never lies or shades the truth,which can make him seem blunt, even rude. He’saware of that, but would rather be considered rudethan a liar.

Quote: “If you would kill a Kahargian daggerwing,you must strike at its head. If you waste energystriking at its limbs, it will cut you.”

Powers/Tactics: Like more than a few Odruga-

rans, Overseer Sixteen has asked and receivedCONROL’s permission to have mental powersinduced in him. Tis makes it easier for him toperform some aspects of his job, and in the eventof an attack to defend himself. His aggressivenessin Council debates mirrors his aggressiveness incrisis situations, and since he lacks other powers(particularly defenses) he could easily get in overhis head and require a Guardsman (or a PC) torescue him.

Campaign Use: Overseer Sixteen is a fairly typicalexample of an Overseer who didn’t previouslyserve as a StarGuard (though not all Overseers

have mental powers). For a retired GuardsmanOverseer, just apply the StarGuard emplate tothis character sheet.

Appearance: Overseer Sixteen is an Odrugaran,meaning he looks something like a human withivory-colored skin who’s been stretched vertically.He’s 7’6” tall and slender. He has a long forehead,pointed ears, and purple-blue hair kept fairlyshort. His arms and legs are half again as long asproportional. He wears the elegant blue and silverrobes of an Overseer.

Description: Tese two character sheets describeCONROL, the ultra-computer that’s the back-bone of the Star*Guard. Te first represents itwhen it’s fully functional and in good workingorder; the second shows it as it is in 2011. (Imme-diately aer Mordace’s attack in 2009 CONROLwas in even worse shape, but two years of repairwork have had some effect.) Star*Guard techni-cians estimate that it’s likely to take years, possiblyeven more than a decade, for CONROL to returnto its pre-2009 level of power.

CONROL’s databanks, processors, periph-erals, and related parts occupy the better part of

two entire continents on Odrugar. Most peoplewho wish to communicate with it directly visitPIM, its Primary Interaction Matrix, which occu-pies a room in the Citadel of the Guard.

Although it’s a serious machine leadinga serious organization on a serious crusade,CONROL is more than just the sum of the brainengrams that form its primary programming.It has a personality of its own. It usually relatesto people in a sort of benign, grandfatherly way,but has been known to be wry, sarcastic, andeven impish when speaking with living sentients.

Mordace’s attack inflicted some damage to itspersonality matrices, causing it to have a muchflatter affect than usual. Getting it “back tonormal” in this respect will be a sign that repairsare proceeding well and be a real boost to Odru-gar’s (and the Star*Guard’s) morale.

Te Star*Guard’s headquarters is known asthe Citadel of the Guard (or, informally, just“the Citadel”). One of the grandest (and largest)buildings in the Milky Way Galaxy, it’s a fittinghome for an organization dedicated to justice andrighteousness, and a fitting tribute to the Guard’spower. Due to its size, it’s equipped with numerousOdrugaran teleportation platforms to makegetting around quick and easy. Some of its mostprominent features include:

THE COUNCIL CHAMBERTe Council Chamber is where the Council of

Overseers meets in formal session. It’s a semi-circular chamber large enough to hold up to 200

Overseers (though it can be expanded to holdmore if necessary). Te Supreme Overseer andhis two top aides/allies among the Council sit ona raised dais at the front, along the flat wall of thechamber (the Supreme Overseer’s seat is set higherup than the other two). Behind the Supreme Over-seer’s seat there’s an alcove containing an obeliskthat’s a stylized representation of a Star-Staff. Teseats for the rest of the Overseers are arrangedin a symmetrical semi-circle around a circularopen area in front of the Supreme Overseer’sdais. Te open area contains a speaking podiumthat’s reached by stairs; it’s equal in height to the

Supreme Overseer’s seat. Te walls are hung withblue banners displaying the Guard’s silver star-and-circle symbol.

THE HALL OF VICTORY Te million-year history of the Star*Guard and

it successes in the war against evil are celebrated inthe Hall of Victory, a sort of combination museumand trophy room. Its relics of the Guard’s greatestbattles and extensive historical records of Guardactivities are not only fascinating, but of great value to scholars.

One of the most awe-inspiring parts of the Hallis the Chamber of Heroes, which is filled withpictures and statues of the most famous Star-Guards. Most Guardsmen regard being nominatedto the Chamber as the highest honor they canreceive.

THE STAR*PRISONOne entire wing of the Citadel is occupied by

the Star*Prison, the facility where the Star*Guardimprisons some of the most dangerous crimi-nals in the Galaxy. Odrugaran security devicesinstalled throughout the facility ensure that nosuperpowers function within it (though Star-Staffsstill work just fine for their Guardsmen). Disrup-tive or aggressive prisoners have to wear neural-izers, psionic devices that force the wearer to

remain calm at all times.

STAR*PRISONOCCUPANTS

As of 2011, some of

the occupants of the

Star*Prison include:

Araxon, a “hive

being” who can

split his body into

a hundred tiny but

dangerous motes of

“bio-energy”

Carcharocles, an

immensely strong

sharkoid being

Doctor Parallax, agadgeteer whose

inventions some-

times rival Malvan

technology

The God-Brother

Princes, twin former

tyrannical rulers of

several systems

Ion, a powerful

energy projector

Jarnevon, who can

disintegrate matterby touching it

Kanufractis, a

teleporter

Merrax, who can

manipulate “mental

electricity”

The Night

Philosopher , a

cruel, shadow-

manipulating

super-mage

Nucleus, a

shrinking

speedster

Talros, a sentient

robot criminal

0




Val Char Cost Roll Notes60 INT 50 21- PER Roll 21-33 EGO 23 16-30 DEX 40 15-

10 OCV 353 DCV 015 OMCV 3615 DMCV 368 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 Total Characteristics Cost: 280

Cost Powers END

240 Psionic Communication: Telepathy 40d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power(with Mind Scan and Mind Link; -¼)

240 Psionic Communication: Mind Scan 40d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power(with Telepathy and Mind Link; -¼)

30 Psionic Communication: +30 OMCV with Mind Scan 076 Psionic Communication: Mind Link (Odrugaran and

Alien classes of minds), up to 8,000 Star*Guard orOdrugaran minds at once, unlimited range in thisdimension, No LOS Needed 0Unified Power (with Mind Scan and Telepathy; -¼)

80 Network Linkage: Mind Link (Machine class of minds),up to 2,000 Machine minds at once, unlimitedrange in this dimension, No LOS Needed 0

40 Shielding: Power Defense (40 points) 040 Shielding: Radio Group Flash Defense (40 points) 030 Psychic Shielding: Mental Defense (30 points total) 025 Visual Sensor Systems: Normal Sight 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Infrared Perception

(Sight Group) 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Ultraviolet Perception

(Sight Group) 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Nightvision 020 Auditory Sensor Systems: Normal Hearing 03 Auditory Sensor Systems: Ultrasonic Perception

(Hearing Group) 020 Radar Systems: Radar (Radio Group), Increased Arc

Of Perception (360 Degrees) 022 Basic Communications: HRRP (Radio Group),

Discriminatory, Analyze 0150 Other Sensor And Communication Systems: Vari-

able Power Pool, 120 Pool + 120 Control Cost varOnly For Senses And Communications (-1)

765 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (1 light-year perActive Point; +4¼) for any Sensor Pool Sense 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

60 Long-Range Sensors: +40 versus Range forRadio Group 0

Talents

3 Chronometer: Absolute Time Sense5 Memory/Recorders: Eidetic Memory3 Calculator: Lightning Calculator12 Scanners: Speed Reading (x100,000)20 Translation Matrix: Universal Translator 21-

Skills

27 Computer Programming 33-41 Cryptography 40-17 Electronics 28-42 AK: The Milky Way Galaxy 60-3 KS: Archived Recent News 21-3 KS: Current News 21-26 KS: Galactic Crime 35-16 KS: Galactic History And Politics 25-21 KS: Galactic Law Enforcement 30-16 KS: Galactic Militaries And Military Equipment 25-26 KS: Galactic Superhumans 35-

21 KS: The Star*Guard 30-4 Voice Recognition Software: Language: Odrugaran3 Mechanics 21-3 Security Systems 21-3 SS: Astronomy 21-3 SS: Biology 21-3 SS: Chemistry 21-3 SS: Computer Science 21-3 SS: Electronic Engineering 21-3 SS: Force Field Physics 21-3 SS: Geology 21-3 SS: Gravitics 21-

3 SS: Mathematics 21-3 SS: Physics 21-3 SS: Robotics 21-3 Systems Operation 21-3 Tactics 21-500 More Skills, as appropriate

Programs

1 Diagnose Malfunctions1 Engage/Operate Computer Security1 Monitor Base Security Systems, Report Anomalies1 Operate Base Sensors, Report Anomalies1 Scan and Enter Data

1 Scramble/Unscramble Transmissions/Receptions1 Search Reference Material For Information On A Topic1 Send/Receive Data60 60 Other Programs, as appropriateTotal Abilities Cost: 2,776

Total Computer Cost: 3,056

Value Complications




Total Cost: 3,056/5 = 611




Val Char Cost Roll Notes30 INT 20 15- PER Roll 15-24 EGO 14 14-24 DEX 28 14-

7 OCV 203 DCV 010 OMCV 2110 DMCV 215 SPD 30 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 Total Characteristics Cost: 154

Cost Powers END

120 Psionic Communication: Telepathy 20d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power(with Mind Scan and Mind Link; -¼)

120 Psionic Communication: Mind Scan 20d6 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power(with Mind Scan and Mind Link; -¼)

15 Psionic Communication: +15 OMCV with Mind Scan 065 Network Linkage: Mind Link (Machine class of minds),

up to 250 Machine minds at once, unlimited rangein this dimension, No LOS Needed 0

18 Shielding: Power Defense (18 points) 021 Shielding: Radio Group Flash Defense (21 points) 020 Psychic Shielding: Mental Defense (20 points total) 025 Visual Sensor Systems: Normal Sight 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Infrared Perception

(Sight Group) 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Ultraviolet Perception

(Sight Group) 05 Visual Sensor Systems: Nightvision 020 Auditory Sensor Systems: Normal Hearing 03 Auditory Sensor Systems: Ultrasonic Perception

(Hearing Group) 020 Radar Systems: Radar (Radio Group), Increased Arc

Of Perception (360 Degrees) 022 Basic Communications: HRRP (Radio Group),

Discriminatory, Analyze 095 Other Sensor And Communication Systems: Vari-

able Power Pool, 80 Pool + 60 Control Cost varOnly For Senses And Communications (-1)

510 Long-Range Sensors: MegaScale (1 light-year perActive Point; +4¼) for any Sensor Pool Sense 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)


Talents

3 Chronometer: Absolute Time Sense5 Memory/Recorders: Eidetic Memory3 Calculator: Lightning Calculator10 Scanners: Speed Reading (x10,000)20 Translation Matrix: Universal Translator 15-

Skills

29 Computer Programming 28-33 Cryptography 30-17 Electronics 22-27 AK: The Milky Way Galaxy 39-3 KS: Archived Recent News 15-3 KS: Current News 15-19 KS: Galactic Crime 31-10 KS: Galactic History And Politics 22-6 KS: Galactic Law Enforcement 18-11 KS: Galactic Militaries And Military Equipment 23-19 KS: Galactic Superhumans 28-14 KS: The Star*Guard 26-4 Voice Recognition Software: Language: Odrugaran3 Mechanics 15-3 Security Systems 15-3 SS: Astronomy 15-3 SS: Biology 15-3 SS: Chemistry 15-

3 SS: Computer Science 15-3 SS: Electronic Engineering 15-3 SS: Force Field Physics 15-3 SS: Geology 15-3 SS: Gravitics 15-3 SS: Mathematics 15-3 SS: Physics 15-3 SS: Robotics 15-3 Systems Operation 15-3 Tactics 15-350 More Skills, as appropriate

Programs

1 Diagnose Malfunctions1 Engage/Operate Computer Security1 Monitor Base Security Systems, Report Anomalies1 Operate Base Sensors, Report Anomalies1 Scan and Enter Data1 Scramble/Unscramble Transmissions/Receptions1 Search Reference Material For Information On A Topic1 Send/Receive Data45 45 Other Programs, as appropriateTotal Abilities Cost: 1,803

Total Computer Cost: 1,957

Value Complications




Total Cost: 1,957/5 = 391

0




Te Prison was badly damaged in Mordace’s2009 attack and a number of the Star*Guard’sgreatest enemies were freed. Rebuilding it was apriority even over repairing CONROL, and as of

mid-2011 it’s nearly back to its former condition.No other escapes have occurred since Mordacefled Odrugar.

As powerful as CONROL is, and as wiseas the Overseers are, the true heart and soul ofthe Star*Guard are the Guardsmen themselves— nearly ten thousand sentients from dozens ofspecies who put their lives on the line day aerday to fight evil, protect the innocent from dangerand oppression, and make the Milky Way a better

place to live.As of 2011, the typical Guardsman tends to

be a sentient in his 20s or 30s (or the equiva-lent for his species). Te Guard has a roughlyequal split between males and females (thoughsome Guardsmen don’t come from species withgenders), and about half of them are Odrugarans.A few don’t have the necessary bodily structuresto hold and wield a Star-Staff, in which case theOverseers have the Staff’s powers built into ahelmet, suit of armor, or some other accoutermentappropriate to that Guardsman.

THE UNIFORM Te standard StarGuard uniform, recognized

throughout the Galaxy by members of the galacticcommunity, is a long-sleeved royal blue jacket/tunic that buttons down the far right side of thechest, with silver buttons, piping, and highlights.On the le breast of the jacket (above where theheart would be in a Human) is the Star*Guardsymbol, a four-pointed silver star-and-circle.Te jacket/tunic has a stiff, high collar thatprotects most of a typical humanoid’s neck. Oneor more four-pointed silver stars (sans circle)surrounding the Star*Guard symbol on his lebreast indicate the wearer’s rank (they’re placedaround the outer edge of the circle, up to two perquadrant, the more stars the higher rank). Hisgloves are silver and flared. His pants and belt are

black with a thin blue stripe down the outer sideof each leg that matches the jacket/tunic; his bootsare silver with turned-down cuffs. If a Guardsmanneeds to conceal his identity, he wears a silverdomino-like mask that covers the upper half of hisface but leaves the lower half and the top, sides,and back of his head visible. He carries the famedStar-Staff, a gold-colored staff that’s as tall as he is.It’s got a glowing golden orb on top and is shodat the bottom with a bronze-colored Odrugaranmetal.




Since so many different sentient species belongto the Guard, some variations in the standarduniform are necessary to accomodate differentbody styles or consistencies of flesh, and the Over-seers permit a few others in the cause of personalexpression. For example, some Guards’ uniformsdon’t have sleeves, or feature silver bracers insteadof gauntlets. But most Guardsmen prefer to stickto the regular issue uniform.

Te Star*Guard and those who run it are veryselective. Te want the best of the best, beings ofbravery, strength, and good judgment — so, not just anyone can join.

RECRUITMENT AND TRAININGFor most of the Star*Guard’s history, the vast

majority of Guardsmen were recruited directly byCONROL. Using its vast mental and communi-cations powers, CONROL scoured the Galaxy insearch of individuals it thought might be worthyto join the Star*Guard’s ranks. When it foundone, it would make contact and issue an invita-tion to come to Odrugar for training. If a sentientwas unable to make it to Odrugar in a reason-able amount of time, CONROL would send aGuardsman in a StarJet to pick him up.

However, even when CONROL functioned atfull capacity there was another way for a potentialGuard to be recruited: to come to the attentionof an existing StarGuard, who then “nominated”him for the Guard. Tis used to be relatively rare,but since Mordace’s 2009 attack it’s pretty muchthe only way new Guardsmen are recruited. Tisworries some of the Overseers, who fear a drop in

the overall quality of Guards, but so far their fearsseem to be unfounded. Te same wisdom andperceptiveness that got existing Guardsman intothe Guard makes them good judges of character.

A Guard candidate arrives on Odrugar, goesthrough a brief introductory course explainingthe Guard and its place in the Galaxy to him...and then enters the most grueling, difficult periodof his life. For the next two Odrugaran yearshis physical, mental, and moral capabilities aretested to their utmost, then pushed beyond whathe thought he was capable of, then tested somemore. He’s taught what the Guard stands for andhow to exercise his moral judgment properly in

furtherance of its mission. He learns how to usethe Star-Staff, not just its powers but as a simpleweapon. He discovers how to protect himself not just physically, but mentally. He learns how to flythe Guard’s starcra, how to fight, and what sortof threats he’s likely to face (and how best to dealwith them).

Te training course is so tough that roughlyhalf the candidates don’t make it through — eitherthey quit voluntarily, or one of their instructorsfails them for some reason and they’re removedfrom the program. Te ones who make it throughgraduate as the newest StarGuards, eager to jointhe battle against evil and injustice.

STARGUARD TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 +5 STR

10 +5 DEX

5 +5 CON

5 +5 INT

5 +5 EGO5 +5 PRE

10 +2 OCV

10 +2 DCV

6 +2 DMCV

10 +1 SPD

2 +2 PD

2 +2 ED

3 Combat Piloting (DEX)

3 Criminology (INT)

2 KS: Alien Species/Civilizations Of My Sector 11-

2 KS: Galactic Criminals 11-

2 KS: The Star*Guard 11-16 Odrugaran Staff-Fighting: choose 16 points’ worth of Martial

Maneuvers from the Bojutsu (Staff-fighting) style on HSMA 23)

2 Navigation (Space) (INT)

3 Systems Operation (INT)

3 Tactics (INT)


9 Choose 9 points’ worth of Skills from the following list:Acrobatics, Breakfall, Bureaucratics, Combat Driving, CombatSkill Levels, Computer Programming, Deduction, Electronics,Forgery, High Society, Lockpicking, Mechanics, Paramedics,Penalty Skill Levels, Persuasion, Riding, Security Systems, Skill

Levels, Stealth, Streetwise, Teamwork, any Background Skill,Contact

3 Fringe Benefit: Membership: Star*Guard (Guardsman Blue)

6 Environmental Movement: Zero-G Training

10 Odrugaran Mental Discipline Training: Mental Defense (10points)

5 Star Guard Unfazeability: +10 PRE; Only to Defend Against Pres-ence Attacks (-1)

229 Star-Staff (see CU 123 or Andre Almena’s character sheet fordetails)

20 Star*Guard Uniform: Resistant Protection (10 PD/10 ED); OIF (-½)

13 Star*Guard Uniform: Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing; SafeEnvironments: all); OIF (-½)

16 Translator Matrix: Universal Translator (INT Roll); IIF (modulebehind ear; -¼)


Value Complications

5 Distinctive Features: StarGuard uniform (Easily Concealed;Noticed And Recognizable)

15 Hunted: Enemies of the Star*Guard (Frequently, As Pow, Capture/ Kill)

15 Psychological Complication: Devoted To The Star*Guard’s IdealsAnd Mission (Common, Strong)

20 Social Complication: Subject To Orders (Very Frequently, Major)


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SECTOR ASSIGNMENTHowever, a new StarGuard doesn’t necessarily

get sent out into the field by himself right away.Depending on his record in the training program,the evaluations of his instructors, and the needsof the Guard, the Overseers may assign him to awide variety of duties. He might be given courier-or scout-type duties, be “apprenticed” to a veteranGuardsman to continue his training, be sent for

specialized training (see below), or any of a thou-sand other tasks.

Eventually, though, the Overseers deem mostStarGuards fit for the standard Guardsman’sassignment: being the protector of a specificsector of space. When this occurs the StarGuardis told of his new “home” and its current situa-tion, given a StarJet, and sent out to occupy hissector’s Star*Base and do his duty. In many casesthe Overseers already have one or two Marshalspicked out for him (possibly the ones who servedhis predecessor, if any). But that’s not always thecase, and in any event most Guardsmen end upacquiring some of their Marshals on their own

during the course of their assignment.ypically the Overseers try to assign a Guard

to a sector of space he’s already familiar withsomehow — either the one where his own specieslives, or one he studied intently during his trainingon the Overseers’ instructions. But that isn’talways possible; more than one Guardsman hasfound himself tens of thousands of light-yearsaway from his homeworld, totally dependent onhis translator matrix and Star*Base equipment tocommunicate with the sentients he’s serving.

RETIREMENTEventually age, injury, or personal inclination

forces a StarGuard to leave the front lines of thecrusade and find some other way to carry on thestruggle. A few become Overseers, while others join the squad of instructors who run Guardrecruits through their paces or take some other jobon Odrugar. Some accept positions of authority innative governments in their former sector or otherorganizations, or return to their homeworld toserve as consultants to law enforcement. A retiredStar*Guard keeps his Star-Staff and other equip-ment, but on his death the Star-Staff flies under itsown power to Odrugar, where it is “cleansed” andin turn given to a new Guardsman.

While the vast majority of StarGuards arethe “standard” Guard (the one described in thetext above and accompanying emplate), theGuard is a large organization and sometimes hasspecialized needs. Over the years it’s developedprograms to train Guards to fill these specificroles. Tese Guards aren’t necessarily regardedas “elite” Guardsmen, just as regular Guards withsome extra training... though in fact only the bestof the regular Guards tend to get selected for thistraining.

STARAVENGERStarAvengers are the “heavy hitters” of the

Guard — the toughest, best-equipped fighters ableto tackle opponents and situations a regular Star-Guard has trouble with. Tey wield special Star-Staffs that are significantly more powerful than theregular model... but also much more difficult tomanufacture.

A StarAvenger wears the standard StarGuarduniform, but his star-and-circle symbol is goldinstead of silver.

STARKNIGHTA StarKnight is the opposite of a StarAvenger

— he specializes in defending and protecting morethan attacking. He wields the standard Star-Staff,but wears a suit of powered armor patterned aerthe StarGuard uniform. Only the bravest of thebrave among the Guard are chosen to becomeStarKnights, for even more than other Guardsthey constantly risk their lives to protect and saveother beings from harm.

STARAVENGER TEMPLATE Character must also purchase the basic StarGuard Template, but

substitutes the StarAvenger Star-Staff in this Template for the

regular Star-Staff.

Cost Ability

2 Increase Tactics by +1

3 Teamwork (DEX)50 StarAvenger Star-Staff Energy Reserves: Endurance

Reserve (300 END); OIF (-½)

17 StarAvenger Star-Staff Energy Reserves: EnduranceReserve (51 REC); OIF (-½); Recovers Only in DirectStarlight (-½)

120 StarAvenger Star-Staff: Multipower, 180-point reserve;all OIF (-½)

16v 1) Starblast I: Energy Blast 24d6; OIF (-½)

16v 2) Starblast II: Energy Blast 20d6, Armor Piercing (+¼);OIF (-½)

16v 3) Starblast III: RKA 8d6; OIF (-½)

16v 4) Starblast IV: Energy Blast 20d6, Reduced Endurance(½ END; +¼); OIF (-½)

12v 5) Energy Field: Resistant Protection (40 PD/40 ED);OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

12v 6) Energy Wall: Barrier 20 PD/20 ED, 20 BODY (up to 20mlong, 8m tall, and ½m thick), Non-Anchored, Dismiss-able; OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -½)

17v 7) Energy Manipulation: Telekinesis (80 STR), FineManipulation; OIF (-½)

16v 8) Atmospheric Flight: Flight 100m, x32 Noncombat;OIF (-½)

6v 9) Warp Flight: FTL Travel (1 LY/3 minutes); OIF (-½)

2f 10) Staff Strike: HA +8d6; OIF (-½), Hand-To-Hand

Attack (-¼) plus Reach +2m; OIF (-½)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 321

The StarKnight temp

is on the next page.




STARGUARD ANODYNEWhile the Star*Guard is best known for fighting

villains and similar threats, it does far more than that.Protecting innocents from harm sometimes entailsmissions like disaster relief, evacuating planets thatare in the path of cosmic catastrophes, and helpingthe injured and sick. A special type of Guardsman,the Anodyne, spearheads these missions. rained toperform medical procedures on every known species,

and to provide assistance with infrastructure-relateddisasters, Anodynes are renowned for their kindness,mercy, and willingness to risk their own safety to savesentients from harm.

A StarGuard Anodyne wears the regular StarGuarduniform, except for two changes. First, all the partsof the standard uniform that are silver are green.Second, his belt is green, and attached to it on each hipare high-tech pouches/containers that hold medicalsupplies.

STARSCOUTSometimes the best way to save lives and protect

civilizations is to keep them out of danger in the first

place. Te StarScout division of the Star*Guard isdevoted to missions involving rapid travel, reconais-sance, and diplomacy. Tey can travel faster than astandard Guardsman, are trained to conduct negotia-tions, and are equipped with special communicationsand sensory devices. A StarScout wears the sameuniform as a regular StarGuard, except that the blueparts are a rich gold and the silver parts are royal blue.

Since Mordace’s 2009 attack, the StarScouts havebeen particularly busy. Because the Council can nolonger rely on CONROL’s psionic communicationsabilities, important orders and information that can’tsimply be broadcast are oen entrusted to StarScouts(or even ordinary Guardsmen flying StarJets). Te

Council also depends on the Scouts to gather informa-tion about what’s going on around the Galaxy.

STARKNIGHT TEMPLATE Character must also purchase the basic StarGuard Template,

but substitutes the Armor listed below for the regular StarGuard

protective uniform.

Cost Ability

75 StarKnight Powered Armor: Resistant Protection (25PD/25 ED), Hardened (+¼), Impenetrable (+¼);OIF (-½)

52 StarKnight Powered Armor Energy Modules:Endurance Reserve (200 END, 42 REC); OIF (-½)

80 StarKnight Powered Armor Tactical Modules:Multipower, 120-point reserve; all OIF (-½)

13v 1) Starblast: Energy Blast 20d6; OIF (-½)

16v 2) Auto-Starblast: Energy Blast 16d6, Autofire (5 shots;+½); OIF (-½)

12v 3) Energy Wall: Barrier 20 PD/20 ED, 20 BODY (up to 15mlong, 8m tall, and ½m thick), Non-Anchored, Dismiss-able; OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -½)

5v 4) Point Defense: Deflection; OIF (-½) plus +10 OCV with

Deflection; OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)14v 5) Energy Channeling: Reflection (120 Active Points’

worth), Any Target (+½); Only Works Against EnergyAttacks (-¼)


STARGUARD ANODYNETEMPLATE

Character must also purchase the basic StarGuard Template.

Cost Ability

9 Paramedics (INT +3)

2 +2 to Systems Operation; Only For Medical Devices (-1)

3 Scientist

2 SS: Anatomy (INT)

2 SS: Biology (INT)

2 SS: Civic Engineering (INT)

2 SS: Medicine (INT)

2 SS: Surgery (INT)

2 SS: Xenoanatomy (INT)

2 SS: Xenobiology (INT)

24 Advanced Odrugaran Medicines And Med-Tools: Simpli-

fied Healing 4d6, 60 Charges (+½); OAF (-1), ExtraTime (from a Full Phase to 1 Turn, depending on thesituation; -½)

15 Odrugaran Medi-Analyzer: Detect Medical Condition14- (Radio Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Micro-scopic (x100); OAF (-1), Nonpersistent (-¼), Requires ASystems Operation Roll (for fine-tuning for specific tasksonly; -0), Affected As Sight And Hearing Group As WellAs Radio Group (-½) plus HRRP (Radio Group); OAF (-1),Affected As Sight And Hearing Group As Well As RadioGroup (-½), Nonpersistent (-¼) plus Eidetic Memory;OAF (-1), Only To Remember Things Detected (-½)


STARSCOUT TEMPLATE Character must also purchase the basic StarGuard

Template.

Cost Ability

3 Persuasion (PRE)

3 Trading (PRE)

-19 Remove slots 8-9 from the Star-Staff Multipowerand buy the following new Multipower

93 Star-Staff Travel: Multipower, 140-point reserve;all OIF (-½)

19v 1) Atmospheric Flight: Flight 120m, x32Noncombat; OIF (-½)

6v 2) Warp Flight: FTL Travel (1 LY/2 minutes);OIF (-½)

31 Communications/Sensor System: HRRP (RadioGroup), MegaScale (1 light-year per ActivePoint; +4¼); OIF (-½), Affected As Sight AndHearing Group As Well As Radio Group (-½)


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Background/History: Andre Almena was bornto loving parents in Barcelona, Spain in 1965. Anadventuresome child, he oen got in trouble orgot hurt because he couldn’t resist taking a dareor satisfying his boundless curiosity. But despitethat he was a good kid, smart enough to excel inschool, and always avoided getting into any trulyserious difficulties. As he grew older, he channeledhis energies into all sorts of sports, particularlyfootball (soccer).

Aer graduating from university with a degreein history, Almena found himself at something ofa loss, unsure of what to do with his life. He didn’twant to go to work in some office, or join themilitary, or become an entrepreneur. He wantedto help people, but he wasn’t quite sure how. Whilehoping for his “true calling” to come along, hebecame a Madrid fireman and did volunteer work

in his spare time. He achieved some local fame fordaringly rushing into burning buildings againstorders to rescue people who’d been given up fordead.

When Star*Guard Brin Rei arn was killedin battle by Mordace in 1990, CONROL gaveserious thought to who should replace him.Many of his missions in recent years had involvedthe planet Earth and its intriguing inhabit-ants, Humans. At the rate they were developing,Humans would soon join the galactic commu-nity — so perhaps it was time to prepare forthat societal transition. Tere’d never been aHuman Star*Guard before, but that would be the

perfect first step to introducing Humanity to theGalaxy around them. Scanning Human recordsand minds, CONROL soon learned of AndreAlmena. Rightly judging him the perfect sortof Guard candidate — brave, intelligent, and ofstrong moral character — CONROL contactedhim mentally and offered to bring him to Odrugarfor training.

Tis was just the sort of thing Almena had beenwaiting for: a chance to truly help people and dosomething meaningful with his life. He acceptedthe offer without hesitation, and a few days laterwas living on an alien world training harder thanhe’d ever trained in his life. Te next two years

were grueling, but Almena throve under the pres-sure and completed the training program withone of the highest scores in Star*Guard history.CONROL immediately assigned him to SectorZeta-491738, and he took up residence in theStar*Base on Jupiter’s moon Europa. He’s servedEarth, and the other worlds of Zeta-491738, asStar*Guard ever since.

Personality/Motivation: Almena fits the Star-Guard ideal to a . His entire personality isoriented toward helping others, whether that’sthe simple matter of rescuing a stranded star-ship and towing it to a space station for repairs,or facing down an entire team of superpoweredcriminals to protect a single person’s life. He won’tkill, but aside from that he’s willing to do nearlyanything or make any sacrifice necessary to carryout his mission. Evil and injustice have few moreimplacable foes than the StarGuard of SectorZeta-491738.

When he’s not in mid-mission, Almena typi-cally comes across as a relaxed, self-confident manwho enjoys learning new things, the companyof good friends, and excitement. If he has noother demands on his time he can oen be foundexploring his sector, reveling in the amazing sightsand experiences the Galaxy has to offer. He alsoenjoys participating in meals and cultural eventswith sentients living in his sector.

Quote: “Tat’s far enough. In the name of theStar*Guard, surrender at once!... or I’ll do what-

ever it takes to stop you.”

Powers/Tactics: Andre Almena wields the tradi-tional Star-Staff and has been extensively trainedin Star*Guard fighting techniques and tactics. Asof 2011 he has nearly two decades’ experienceusing his powers and wits to fight all sorts of crimeand evil, so it’s difficult to surprise or trick him.

In most combats Almena prefers to start thebattle by putting up heavy defenses and thenGrabbing the enemy with elekinesis (or some-times englobe them with his Barrier). If he can’trestrain a foe that way (or there are too many forhim to hold onto them all), he’ll switch to various

Blasts in an effort to render them unconscious.Campaign Use: Almena is your best bet forintroducing your Human superheroes not only tothe Star*Guard itself, but to the greater galacticcommunity as a whole (and galactic supervil-lains!). He can request their help with missions, oreven ask them to deal with a threat he can’t handlebecause he has to cope with something else on theother side of the sector. Soon a fruitful workingpartnership has been formed, and the PCs getto have some adventures beyond the confines ofEarth.

o make Almena a tougher opponent, either

convert him to a StarAvenger or give him moredevices (there’s no Star*Guard rule that says hecan’t equip himself with other gadgets, it’s justnot a common thing for Guardsmen to do). oweaken him, remove his Martial Arts and/orreduce his SPD to 4.

Appearance: Te StarGuard responsible forguarding Earth’s sector of space is Andre Almena,a Spaniard who looks like he’s about forty yearsold. He wears the standard StarGuard uniform,with the addition of a silver half-face mask toconceal his identity (most Humans know himsimply as “StarGuard”). His hair is black and cutshort; his eyes are brown.




Val Char Cost Roll Notes20 STR 10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH damage [2]20 DEX 20 13-20 CON 10 13-






Flight: 80m

Cost Powers END

33 Star-Staff Energy Reserves: Endurance Reserve(200 END)OIF (-½)

14 Star-Staff Energy Reserves: Endurance Reserve(40 REC)OIF (-½); Recovers Only in Direct Starlight (-½)

80 Star-Staff: Multipower, 120-point reserve

All OIF (-½)13v 1) Starblast I: Blast 20d6 10OIF (-½)

13v 2) Starblast II: Blast 15d6 9Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF (-½)

12v 3) Starblast III: RKA 6d6 9OIF (-½)

12v 4) Starblast IV: Blast 14d6 3Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF (-½)

9v 5) Energy Field: Resistant Protection (30 PD/30 ED) 9OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

10v 6) Energy Wall: Barrier 15 PD/15 ED, 15 BODY (up to16m long, 8m tall, and ½m thick), Non-Anchored,

Dismissable 10OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -½)

13v 7) Energy Manipulation: Telekinesis (60 STR), FineManipulation 10OIF (-½)

13v 8) Atmospheric Flight: Flight 80m, x32 Noncombat 10OIF (-½)

6v 9) Warp Flight: FTL Travel (1 LY/3 minutes) 4OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

1f 10) Staff Strike: HA +4d6 2OIF (-½), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼)


ANDRE ALMENA’S MARSHALS

As of 2011, Andre Almena has three Marshalshelping him battle crime and injustice in SectorZeta-491738:

Kala Tah Breyel: An attractive Dendrian woman with

violet skin and an oen-sharp tongue, Breyel comesfrom a wealthy family but turned her back on a lifeof privilege and luxury to become one of her people’s“space sentinels,” a sort of police officer patrolling thespacelanes. She met Almena when he rescued her froman ambush by space pirates; the two of them teamedup and went on to defeat the pirates and capture theirleader. Wanting to experience more of that life, sheaccepted Almena’s offer to become a Marshal.

Pete Langford: A gied Human tinkerer and computerprogrammer, Langford maintains the Star*Base’sequipment and also pilots the StarJet. Working withAlmena has brought him out of his shell, transforminga once painfully shy young man into a self-confident,

even heroic individual. But he still can’t muster thecourage to confess his love for Kala....

Tor’tagla: One of the few surviving Anthari sinceValak the World-Ravager destroyed his people’shomeworld (see page 264), or’tagla is sometimesbitter and depressed, but has found a good measure ofsolace working with Almena to save others from thesort of fate his species experienced. A former soldier,he oen proposes tactics that are a little too blunt andbrutal for Almena’s taste, but his advice is still valu-able for all that. He has a burning hatred of Valak andwould probably sacrifice everything, even the entireStar*Guard, for a chance to kill him.

STARJETS When a StarGuard needs to travel quickly and bring

passengers along, flying via Star-Staff won’t get the jobdone. Instead a Guardsman will pilot his StarJet. EachStar*Base has at least one Jet, and some have several.

A StarJet is a sleek, wedge-shaped starship capableof carrying up to five passengers (plus its Guardsmanpilot) in comfort, or up to 11 passengers in crampedconditions. It can achieve a top speed of one light-year per minute and can enter atmospheres without

difficulty. It’s not heavily armed (just one forwardenergy cannon, RKA 8d6, Armor Piercing) but is welldefended (a Resistant Protection (30 PD/30 ED) force-field). Its efficient Odrugaran power plant provides allthe energy it needs to operate.

In most groups of Marshals there’s usually at leastone who can fly the StarJet. Some Guardsmen insistthat all their Marshals learn the basics of piloting theship, since in an emergency you never know who’ll bein a position to operate the vessel.

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n addition to Valak the World-Ravager (seeCV3 309), here are some of the Star*Guard’sdeadliest enemies and most persistent foes.

Background/History: Tree and a half million

years ago, during the waning of the first greatperiod of galactic civilization, there existed aplanet inhabited by the Vritani, an advanced,benevolent people of great learning and wisdom.Vritan was a lush and bountiful world... until oneday when plants and animals began dying unex-pectedly, from no cause anyone could see. Aermonths of research a gied scientist named Páleshdiscovered that the planet’s biosphere was being“poisoned” by the energies of an extradimensionalsun that had somehow become “dimensionallycoterminous” with Vritan’s sun.

Vritani science was powerful, but not powerfulenough to move a sun in another dimension, so

Pálesh and his colleagues looked for other waysto solve the problem. Eventually they developeda “vitality process” that they believed would“strengthen” Vritan’s biosphere to the point whereit could resist the dangerous effect of the extradi-mensional sun’s energies. In effect they were goingto “boost” Vritan’s “immune system.”

Te vitality machine was built to the mostexacting standards Pálesh could calculate. Withmore and more creatures and people dying everyday, he and his fellow scientists rushed to completethe work... and as soon as they were done theyswitched it on.

Unfortunately, they didn’t understand the vitality process as well as they thought theydid. It didn’t just strengthen Vritan’s biosphere,it “augmented” and “increased” it in strangeways that literally brought the planet itself tolife! Shrugging and stretching itself “awake,” theplanet shattered itself into millions of fragmentsand dispersed its atmosphere, killing every beingthat had once lived on its surface. Finding itself“hungry,” it crushed the other planets in its solarsystem and ate them, one by one. Ten it driedoff into space in search of more food....

Personality/Motivation: Astron exists... to exist.Although sentient, he’s also very much a crea-

ture of instinct and a prisoner of his particular

circumstances — essentially a force of nature thatsometimes has to be stopped. He doesn’t particu-larly care about any being who’s not powerfulenough to challenge him; it doesn’t bother him inthe slightest if a planet he consumes is inhabited.In some ways he may come across to PCs whooppose him as petty or childlike, insisting that hebe allowed to eat any world he takes a fancy to.

Quote: “I can crush worlds, and I intend to crushthat one. Stand aside lest I crush you first.”

Powers/Tactics: Astron (a name he apparentlythought up for himself early in his existence) is aliving “asteroid belt” with a mass roughly equal toEarth if he chooses to assemble all his pieces intoa sphere. He has total control over the shape of hisform. Most of the time he’s simply a gargantuan“cloud” of rocks moving through space, but whenhe wants to destroy and consume a world, or hasto fight superhumans or galactic beings, he usuallytakes a more humanoid form so he can use his“arms” as weapons. If necessary he can reach up totwo billion kilometers away from himself.

Astron has no way to attack other than bruteforce, but that’s more than enough to handle mostfoes. He can li 25 zettatons (25 x 1021 tons) andinflict 80d6 damage with a single punch. His“hands” are large enough to grasp entire planets,and thus can easily hurt an entire superteam that’snot smart enough to spread itself out over a wideenough distance, but he can also narrow down hisattacks to “poke” one target with a single “finger.”

Campaign Use: Astron is basically a naturaldisaster you can wield as a weapon against entireplanets (or PC teams). If he dris into inhab-ited space and seems hungry, it will take the

combined efforts of the Star*Guard, your PCs, andwhoever else they can muster to drive him awayor convince him to munch on some planet no onecares about.

Astron’s origin, related above, is unknown tothe Galaxy; not even CONROL or the Malvansare aware of where Astron originally came from.It might be possible to trace his travels throughthe Galaxy using hyper-science sensors (thougha lot has changed in the Milky Way in the last3.5 million years), but even then all that could bedetermined would be his “cradle,” not what causedhim to come to life.

In the hopefully unlikely event you need tomake Astron a more difficult opponent, just

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increase his SR and defenses. o weaken himgive him less control over his form, making itpossible for PCs to “disrupt” him for some periodof time by attacking the right part of his body...assuming they can figure out which part. (You canrepresent this with a Physical Complication.)

Appearance: Astron is a living asteroid field.He can rearrange the asteroids and space rocksthat form his body at will, shaping himself to be

anything from a literal asteroid belt or field to adensely-packed globe of rocks roughly the size ofEarth. When about to consume a planet or whenconfronting humanoid heroes he oen rearrangeshis component asteroids into a humanoid shapehundreds or thousands of miles tall. (Tis formmay or may not include a head, depending on hismood; if so the “eyes” and “mouth” are indicatedby gaps in the field, though they’re not “lit” in anyway so they’re hard to see unless there’s a light-colored object behind his head for contrast.) Helives in outer space; he enters a planetary atmo-sphere only when in the process of crushing andconsuming that world.

Val Char Cost Roll Notes400 STR 390 89- Lift 25 zettatons;

80d6 HTH damage [80]14 DEX 8 12-350 CON 340 79-15 INT 5 12- PER Roll 12-50 EGO 40 19-250 PRE 240 59- PRE Attack: 50d6

8 OCV 25

5 DCV 103 OMCV 05 DMCV 64 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

12 PD 10 Total: 12 PD (12 rPD)12 ED 10 Total: 12 ED (12 rED)100 REC 96500 END 961,000 BODY 990500 STUN 240 Total Characteristics Cost: 2,526



FTL: 1 LY/month

Cost Powers END

1,200 Planet-Sized Form: MegaArea (hands and feet areroughly the size of Earth; +2) for 400 STR 0Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

30 Control Over His Form: Shape Shift (Sight, Hearing,Touch, and Radio Sense Groups, any form a mass ofrocks the size of Earth could assume)Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Unified Power(with Reach; -¼)

45 Control Over His Form: Reach +20m (see 6E1 284) 0

MegaScale (1m = 100 million km; +3); Unified

Power (with Shape Shift; -¼)

6 Body Of Stone And Metal: Hardened (+¼)for 12 PD/12 ED 0

6 Body Of Stone And Metal: Impenetrable (+¼)for 12 PD/12 ED 0

12 Body Of Stone And Metal: Resistant (+½)for 12 PD/12 ED 0

40 Body Of Stone And Metal: Life Support (Total,

including Longevity: Immortality) 060 Lives In Space: Flight 20m 6

MegaScale (1m = 10,000 km; +2)

12 Lives In Space: FTL Travel (1 LY/month)


-12 Lives In Space: Running -12m (0m total)

-2 Lives In Space: Leaping -4m (0m total)

-2 Lives In Space: Swimming -4m (0m total)

5 Space Eyes: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

5 Space Eyes: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 0

12 Space Eyes: HRRP (Sight Group) 0

130 Space Eyes: MegaScale (1 solar system’s distance [500

AU] per Active Point; +3½) for Sight Group SensesReduced Endurance (0 END; +½)


Total Cost: 4,073


10 Hunted: Star*Guard (Infrequently, Less Pow, NCI, Capture/ Kill)

30 Physical Complication: Planet-Sized (+46 OCV forothers to hit, +46 to PER Rolls for others to perceive)(All The Time, Greatly Impairing)











Flight: 80m

FTL: 1 LY/3 minutes

Cost Powers END

33 Empyrean Staff Energy Reserves: EnduranceReserve (200 END) 0OIF (-½)

14 Empyrean Staff Energy Reserves: EnduranceReserve (40 REC) 0OIF (-½); Recovers Only in Direct Starlight (-½)

93 Empyrean Staff: Multipower, 140-point reserve

All OIF (-½)13v 1) Starblast I: Blast 20d6 10

OIF (-½)13v 2) Starblast II: Blast 15d6 9

Armor Piercing (+¼); OIF (-½)12v 3) Starblast III: RKA 6d6 9

OIF (-½)12v 4) Starblast IV: Blast 14d6 3

Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼); OIF (-½)13v 5) Energy Manipulation: Telekinesis (60 STR), Fine

Manipulation 10OIF (-½)

11v 6) Energy Bonds: Entangle 8d6, 8 PD/8 ED 8

OIF (-½)9v 7) Energy Field: Resistant Protection (30 PD/30 ED) 9

OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)10v 8) Energy Wall: Barrier 15 PD/15 ED, 15 BODY (up to

16m long, 8m tall, and ½m thick), Non-Anchored,Dismissable 10OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -½)

1f 9) Attack Blocking: Deflection 2OIF (-½)

13v 10) Atmospheric Flight: Flight 80m, x32 Noncombat 10OIF (-½)

6v 11) Warp Flight: FTL Travel (1 LY/3 minutes) 4OIF (-½), Costs Endurance (-½)

1f 12) Staff Strike: HA +4d6 2OIF (-½), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼)


40 Lorghil Mentatics: Multipower, 40-point Reserve8v 1) Mindreading: Telepathy 8d6 48v 2) Mental Agony: Mental Blast 4d6 48v 3) Sense Manipulation: Mental Illusions 8d6 4

Martial Arts: Ordrugaran Staff-Fighting Maneuver OCV DCV Notes

4 Choke -2 +0 2½d6 NND (2)4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm, 55 STR to roll3 Legsweep +2 -1 8d6 Strike; Target Falls4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 2½d6 NND (1)5 Parry +1 +3 Block, Abort4 Strike +0 +2 9d6 Strike8 +2 DCs (already added in)1 Use Art Barehanded

77 Assorted Alien Traps And Devices: Variable Power

Pool (Gadget Pool), 60 Pool + 60 Control CostFocus (must have at least -¼ worth of this Limitation;-¼), Can Only Be Changed In A Lab/Arsenal (-½)

20 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Resistant Protection(10 PD/10 ED) 0OIF (-½)

40 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Damage Negation (-6 DCsPhysical and Energy) 0OIF (-½)

13 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: all) 0OIF (-½)

10 Odrugaran Mental Discipline Training: Mental

Defense (10 points) 05 Unfazability: +10 PRE 0

Only To Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1)1 Lorghil Extended Lifespan: Life Support

(Longevity — 200 year lifespan) 07 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Sight Group Flash Defense

(10 points) 0OIF (-½)

7 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Hearing Group Flash Defense(10 points) 0OIF (-½)

6 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: HRRP (Radio Group) 0OIF (-½), Affected As Sight And Hearing Groups As

Well As Radio Group (-½)3 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Infrared Perception (Sight Group) 0

OIF (-½)3 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) 0

OIF (-½)7 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: Increased Arc Of Perception

(360 Degrees) for Sight Group 0OIF (-½)

6 Ghok’pa Battle Suit: +6 versus Range Modifier forSight Group 0OIF (-½)

13 Ghok’pa Battle Suit Radar Array: Radar (Radio Group),Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees) 0

OIF (-½)

0




Background/History: One of the greatestenemies in the Star*Guard’s history was bornon Lorghil, a small, mostly agricultural, planetorbiting a sun some 350 light-years from Earth.Te Lorghil are a peaceful race of farmers andartists, many of whom have telepathic powers.

Mordace’s adventurous nature made him restlessin Lorghil society, so he became an explorer tosatisfy his curiosity. He was chosen for Lorghil’sfirst manned mission to its moon, successfullycompleting two journeys to the distant satellite.

Ten, on his third trip to the moon, heencountered a Star*Guard Starjet that hadbeen damaged in battle and was inexorablybeing pulled into Lorghil’s sun. Abandoning hismission and putting his own life in severe danger,he rescued the injured pilot, a Star*Guard namedUrtins Nirm, and brought him back to Lorghilto recover. Impressed by his bravery and kind-ness, Nirm sponsored Mordace for Star*Guard

training. CONROL agreed with Nirm’s assess-ment, and aer completing training Mordacebecame a Star*Guard himself. CONROLassigned him to a sector far from his homeworld.

Talents

27 Danger Sense 14- (out of combat, immediatevicinity, sense)

6 Environmental Movement: Zero-G Training


3 Lightsleep

16 Translator: Universal Translator 14-

IIF (module behind ear; -¼)

Skills


3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Acting 14-

3 Breakfall 13-


3 Criminology 14-

3 Deduction 14-

3 Disguise 14-

3 High Society 14-

9 AK: Milky Way Galaxy 20-2 KS: Alien Species/Civilizations Of My Sector 11-

2 KS: Galactic Criminals 11-

2 KS: Galactic History 11-

2 KS: The Star*Guard 11-

1 Language: Odrugaran (basic conversation;Lorghil is Native)

3 Mechanics 14-


11 Power: Gadgeteering 18-

3 Shadowing 14-

3 Stealth 13-

3 Streetwise 14-8 Survival (Desert, Mountain, Temperate/Subtrop-

ical, Tropical) 14-


3 Tactics 13-



Total Cost: 994


20 Hunted: Star*Guard (Infrequently, Mo Pow, NCI,Capture/Kill)

20 Negative Reputation: betrayer of theStar*Guard and killer of millions, wantedin dozens of star systems (Very Frequently,Extreme)

20 Psychological Complication: Megalomaniac(Very Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Enjoys SpreadingTerror, Chaos, And Destruction (Common,Strong)

15 Psychological Complication: Obsessed WithDestroying The Star*Guard (Common, Strong)






Mordace was an excellent Guard, swi inthought and efficient in battle. Aer about twentyEarth years as a Guard, however, the stresses of hisassignments began to affect him emotionally. Hebecame frustrated that his efforts, and those of theStar*Guard as a whole, seemed to do nothing tostem the flow of evil. Each criminal he captured,each smuggler or pirate he stopped, each tyranthe defeated was quickly replaced by two more. Heoccasionally spoke to his fellow Guards about histroubles, especially his friend Glayne... but whenGlayne died battling star-pirates, Mordace seemedto withdraw into himself.

Later that same year, Mordace was exploringan unusual asteroid field. By a stroke of luck — ifone can call it that — he came upon a hiddenbase that had been built millennia before bythe Ghok’pa, a warlike species that used darkmental powers to enslave other planets until theirdefeat and destruction by the Star*Guard. Inthe base (or more accurately, temple), he foundthe psionic essences of the Ghok’pa’s religiousleaders, preserved forever in glowing disks that

lined the walls of a chamber deep within thefacility. Te disks spoke to Mordace, whisperingin his mind of their hatred for the Star*Guard. Heheld out at first, but eventually his already fragilemind snapped under the pressure. He became arepository for all of the hate and resentment of theGhok’pa priests, and his once-strong commitmentto the ideals of the Star*Guard was warped intohatred for all the Guard stood for.

At first Mordace tried to work from withinthe Guard as a saboteur, but his activies wereuncovered by Brin Rei arn, the Star*Guard whoreplaced Glayne. Mordace was dismissed from theGuard in disgrace... but he did not go gently into

retirement. Building his own version of the Star-Staff and wearing a suit of Ghok’pa battle armor,Mordace became arn’s personal nemesis, battlinghim and his Marshals on countless occasions (andoccasionally other Guards and heroes as well).His schemes spanned the gamut of villainy — heattempted to acquire and use various “doomsdayweapons” to destroy planets (particularlyOdrugar) and even the Galaxy, created lethal trapsfor arn and other Guards (killing two), servedas a super-mercenary if the job seemed likely toinvolve the Guard in some way, and occasion-ally hired space mercenary armies to do his ownbidding. At one point, he returned to Lorghil andset himself up as a religious leader, attempting touse ancient artifacts of great psychic power thathad been created by a long-dead cult to expand hisrule to the rest of the Milky Way. With the aid ofarn, the Lorghil authorities overthrew Mordace,and as of 2011 he’s never returned to the planet.

1990 saw Mordace’s greatest triumph to datewhen he slew his old enemy Brin Rei arn in abattle on Earth, but two years later triumph turnedto tragedy when arn’s successor, Andre Almena,succeeded in capturing the evil Lorghil at long last.Mordace occupied a cell in the Star*Prison until2005 when he escaped, killing three Guardsmanand one Overseer in the process. He returned fouryears later in 2009, attacking Odrugar in whatbecame the worst disaster in Star*Guard history(see page 230). He fled before the Guard couldcapture him, and as of 2011 is lurking somewherein the Galaxy, planning his next bid for power.

Personality/Motivation: Mordace at this point isthoroughly insane. If there were any rationalityto his actions in his early days of villainy, it’s longsince been driven out of his head by the pres-ence of the Ghok’pa psychic impressions. Tey’vebeen whispering in the back of his head, stirringthe flames of his hatred and megalomania, forso long that he actually enjoys his reputation asa menacing, implacable killer. Occasionally hechanges tactics, presenting himself with exagger-

ated good manners and flamboyant style — andthen suddenly attacks, thus maximizing his victims’ confusion and fear. Whenever possiblehe tries to frighten his opponents with a goodPresence Attack... but he’s learned that StarGuardsdon’t scare easily.

While he’s unquestionably a megalomaniac,Mordace isn’t the sort of over-the-top villain whoconstantly spouts bombastic speeches. He’s cray,resilient, and patient; predicting his next move isoen difficult. Once he makes up his mind aboutsomething he’s very hard to dissuade. He’s a fright-ening and implacable Hunter, and should not betaken on lightly.

Quote: “Oh, don’t run away. Do me the courtesy ofdying well.”

Powers/Tactics: Mordace wields an “EmpyreanStaff ” that’s similar to a Star-Staff but slightly morepowerful. Tat, combined with his psionic powersand the protection of his Ghok’pa armor, makehim more than a match for any single StarGuard.His gadgets and traps (his VPP) help to even upthe odds against multiple foes.

Despite his megalomania, Mordace fights withcleverness, guile, and tactical good sense, andis difficult to surprise (due to his Danger Sense

and sensory devices). He tries to maneuver thebattle into an environment he can make use of(for example, by using his elekinesis to topplebuildings onto innocent bystanders to distract hisenemies). If possible he’ll scout out the scene ofthe fight in advance and plant a few traps.

0






Quote: “We are the quintessence of the cosmicfires — the power of the Universe made manifest!”

Powers/Tactics: Xarriel is infused with “thecosmic fires,” as he calls them — pure, undi-luted cosmic power — as well as the powers ofa renegade Progenitor. Te result is one of themightier beings in the known Universe, and alsoone of the most cruel. As powerful as a Galaxar,he can do virtually anything. Only the might ofthe Star*Guard and some of the Galaxy’s greatestheroes has sufficed to stop his schemes in the

past... and never without a terrible price.Te ultimate manifestation of Xarriel’s

powers is the Xarralian Helix, a swirl of vicious,multichromatic energies. Depending on how hechooses to use it, he can li enormous objects(elekinesis), remove himself or someone fromthe time-stream in such a way as to make themalmost invulnerable (Damage Reduction), or liter-ally erase someone or something from existence(RKA).

Xarriel controls the entire world of Ashraaland every living thing on or in it. All Ashraaleansserve him unquestioningly; most of them can’teven contemplate disobeying him. Xarriel hashad to leave a few of his servants with a little bitof free will because they need intelligence andcreativity to perform their jobs properly... but ifthey (or anyone else) disobeys or offends him,punishment is swi and severe. Oen he simplykills the fool, sometimes dragging his death outfor days and broadcasting every second of theordeal to everyone on Ashraal to show the priceof disobedience. If he’s not feeling that merciful,he’s transformed errvos, one of Ashraal’s threemoons, into a prison-planet for those who defyhim and he wishes to torment. Victims live outtheir lives working in errvos’s mines in the worstpossible conditions, experiencing intense pain andanxiety almost every waking moment until death’sfinal sweet release.

Although he remembers almost nothing elseof his past life, Xarriel still possesses his scientificand technical knowledge. Now he uses them to

build vast, wondrous devices to implement his willon Ashraal or threaten the entire Galaxy with.

Campaign Use: Xarriel should be a major villainfor any campaign — one who can threaten not just entire planets, but the whole of the Milky WayGalaxy if he puts his mind and power to it. Inhis own way, Xarriel is as great a threat to Earth,and to existence, as yrannon, Istvatha V’han,or Skarn. Te difference is he’s far more likely tosimply destroy Earth (or entire galaxies), whetherfor some purpose or out of pique or whim. Unlikethose three would-be conquerors, to Xarrieldestroying something is as good as controlling it.

If you’re running a Galactic Championscampaign with PCs so powerful that Xarriel can’ttake them all on at once, you’ll need to enhancehis power until he’s enough of a threat to makethem quake in their form-fitting boots. Teeasiest ways to do this are to enlarge his VariablePower Pool or increase his SPD (perhaps all theway to 12), but if possible find ways to do it thatare personal to your group of heroes — that takeadvantage of a team weakness or a gap in theirroster. No matter how powerful, heroes shouldhave to work for a victory over Xarriel.

Appearance: Xarriel is a twenty foot-tallhumanoid whose body is jet black, except that

there are networks of “veins” of red-gold powercorruscating up and down his form. His eyes arethe same red-gold shade and become brighter ordimmer depending on his mood. No other facialfeatures are visible.

Xarriel always refers to himself in the firstperson plural — the “royal we” — as a result ofhaving Alaxar’s personality mingled with his own.He doesn’t suffer from any other problems as aresult of that merging, but he simply can’t talkabout himself as an individual.

0




Val Char Cost Roll Notes100 STR 90 29- Lift 25 ktons; 20d6 HTH damage [10]28 DEX 36 15-75 CON 65 24-40 INT 30 17- PER Roll 17-40 EGO 30 17-


12 OCV 4512 DCV 4512 OMCV 2712 DMCV 278 SPD 60 Phases: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12



Cost Powers END

1,000 The Cosmic Fires: Variable Power Pool, 400 Pool+ 400 Control Cost varCosmic (+2)

525 The Xarralian Helix: Multipower, 525-point reserve

30f 1) Perareality Maelstrom: RKA 10d6 52AVAD (defense is Power Defense; +1½),Does BODY (+1); Extra Time (Full Phase; -½),No Knockback (-¼)

11f 2) Peragravity Helix: Telekinesis (150 STR) 44

Extra Time (Full Phase; -½), Increased EnduranceCost (x2 END; -½)

318v 3) Peratime Helix: Physical and Energy DamageReduction, 75%, Resistant 54Usable As Attack (defense is not wanting to beprotected; +1¼); Costs Endurance (-½), IncreasedEndurance Cost (x2 END; -½)

80 Indestructible Form: Hardened (x2; +½)for 80 PD/80 ED 0

80 Indestructible Form: Impenetrable (x2; +½)for 80 PD/80 ED 0

160 Indestructible Form: Resistant (+½) for 80 PD/80 ED 0

Hardened (x2; +½), Impenetrable (x2; +½)

50 Indestructible Form: Power Defense (40 points) 0

Hardened (+¼)

37 Indestructible Eyes: Sight Group Flash Defense(30 points) 0

Hardened (+¼)

30 Indestructible Ears: Hearing Group Flash Defense(30 points) 0

50 Indestructible Mind: Mental Defense (40 points total) 0Hardened (+¼)

40 Indestructible Form: Life Support (total, includingLongevity: Immortality) 0

12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -12m 0

18 Long Legs: Running +18m (30m total) 2

Perks

200 Followers: four billion inhabitants of Ashraal built on up to200 Total Points each

10 Fringe Benefit: Head Of State (unquestioned overlord ofthe planet Ashraal)

Talents

42 Danger Sense (any area, any danger, sense) 17-


Skills

48 +4 Overall


3 Cryptography 17-

3 Deduction 17-

3 Electronics 17-


3 Mechanics 17-

3 Oratory 33-

3 Persuasion 33-


3 Scientist



2 3) SS: Chemistry 17-

2 4) SS: Mathematics 17-

2 5) SS: Physics 17-



Total Cost: 3,382


15 Hunted: Star*Guard (Infrequently, As Pow, NCI, Capture/ Kill)

15 Physical Complication: Enormous (+4 OCV for others tohit, +4 to PER Rolls for others to perceive) (Frequently,Slightly Impairing)

25 Psychological Complication: Must Rule All Of Creation(Very Common, Total)






EXAMPLE POWERS FORCOSMIC FIRES POO LBanishment: Sometimes instead of killing a hatedfoe, Xarriel chooses a worse punishment: hecondemns him to the prison-moon errvos (seeabove) for the rest of his life. (If the prisoner hasthe power to leave the moon on his own, Xarrielstrips him of that power first... and sometimeshe lengthens the victim’s lifespan to increase the

punishment.)Teleportation 10m, Usable As Attack (defense is

Power Defense or having teleportation powers; +1¼),MegaScale (from Ashraal to Terrvos; +2¼). Total cost:47 points.

Depowerment: So great is Xarriel’s understandingof power and all its manifestations that he canremove any power another being has.

Major Transform 20d6 (being with superhumanpowers into being without some or all of those powers),Area Of Effect (1m Accurate; +½), Line Of Sight (+½)(400 Active Points); Limited Target (beings with super-human powers; -½). Total cost: 267 points.

Enslavement: Anyone can become Xarriel’s slave,if he wills it so.

Severe Transform 12d6 (sentient being into sentientbeing with the Psychological Complication Utterly

Devoted Servant Of Xarriel ; heals back through anotherapplication of this or a similar power), ACV (uses OMCVagainst DMCV; +¼), AVAD (Mental Defense; +0), WorksAgainst EGO, Not BODY (+¼) (270 Active Points);Limited Target (sentient beings; -¼). Total cost: 216points.

OTHER ENEMIES Some of the Star*Guard’s other major

enemies include:

Queen Lyrane: Te last surviving member ofthe Naxari (see page 276), Lyrane first foughtthe Guard hundreds of thousands of years ago.Te Overseers thought she’d been destroyed

for good in the blast that ended her evilscheme. But hundreds of thousands of yearslater the Guard learned, to its sorrow, that theblast had combined with Lyrane’s powers totear a micro-hole in the timestream and thrusther forward in time. She has since battled theguard several times, and in fact was freed fromits prisons during Mordace’s 2009 attack and isnow hiding somewhere in the Milky Way, nodoubt planning yet another scheme of galacticconquest. In addition to being physicallypowerful (SR 80, CON 50, PRE 80, SUN90), she’s fast (DEX 30, SPD 10, Flight 80m),smart (IN 30, EGO 30), and possesses a vast

array of energy control and projection powers(100 Pool + 100 Control Cost Cosmic PowerPool, plus various abilities outside the VPP).Besides wanting revenge on the Star*Guardfor past defeats, she’s determined to find andslay Galaxia (CV3 124) for slaughtering “her”people.

Korggon the Butcher: An immensely powerfulmutant from an unknown planet, Korggonrevels in battle, destruction, and conquest. Hewields a strange alien weapon that looks partlylike an axe, partly like a sword, and partly likea spear.

Legion: Tis teleporting duplicator can turnhimself into entire armies in the blink of aneye — then cross dozens of light-years andambush you in another blink! Defeatinghim typically requires mustering the entireStar*Guard, every superhero they can call in tohelp, and a few dozen law enforcement agen-cies and militaries.

Thrale: Usually referred to as “the sludge-monster Trale,” this being is best described asa gigantic, intelligent swamp that can survivein outer space. It journeys from planet toplanet looking for life to consume into its vast

morass. Defeating it usually involves tricking itinto moving close enough to a sun or like heatsource to dry it up to the point where it entersa hibernation-like state.

Zractor: Composed of pure “living energy,”Zractor feeds on any major energy source —a star, the motion of a planet, an inhabitedworld’s entire energy grid. Te results are oencatastrophic (though not as bad as an attackby Astron). Unfortunately fighting him isdifficult, since he can also draw energy fromStar-Staffs, living beings, and the like. Heusually appears as a humanoid “outline” made

of energy, but he can change his form at will.

0



SECRETS OF THE GALAXY

Chapter

Eleven



256 n Secrets Of The Galaxy Hero System 6th Edition

his section contains additional and/orsecret information about the ChampionsUniverse that’s for the GM’s eyes alone.If you’re not a GM running a Champions

Universe campaign, do not read this section!!! Te information in the GM’s Vault is organized

by chapter and page number. If no players aregoing to read your copy of Champions Beyond,

you can also make notes in the appropriate partsof the main text to remind you that there’s GM’sVault information associated with a particularsection of the book.

If the GM’s Vault doesn’t comment on somepart of the main text, it’s usually safe to take what’swritten there as accurate — though each GM isfree to change anything in this book to suit hisown preferences or campaign. (Some subjects arecovered in other books, and that information isn’trepeated here.) And of course, there are questions,mysteries, and hints in the main text that thissection doesn’t address because they’re le openfor you, and possibly future Hero Games products,

to explore on your own....

PAGE 9: VANGUARD’S ORIGINTe item that gave Vanguard his powers wasn’t

mystic, it was a piece of Kuzane technology. obe precise, it was an energy weapon “focusingcrystal”/power source. Somehow, when MichaelRenton destroyed the Kuzane ship in April 1959,the explosion and strange alien energies sent thisone item back in time centuries to crashland on

Earth in ibet. Presumably it’s possible that otheritems were also propelled back in time, but sofar it’s been over fiy years and no one’s foundanother one.

PAGE 13: THE MANDAARIANSTe Mandaarians aren’t lying or misrep-

resenting themselves — they are, in fact, justscholars who are interested in learning aboutHumanity, and perhaps teaching Humans some-thing about Mandaarian civilization in return.Tey have no invasion plans or ulterior motives,though their scientific ethics forbid them toprovide Humanity with any technology moreadvanced than what Humans already have.

Te Mandaarians haven’t returned since 1999simply because their xenologists have been busywith other things. Tey do plan to visit Earthagain at least once in the next decade.

PAGE 17: THE SECOND QULARR INVASIONAs revealed on CU 137, the person who set off

the Qularr signal beacons was Shadow Destroyer(acting through remote-controlled Destroid

robots using codes obtained from the mind of Dr.Destroyer).

PAGE 19: AREA 53As noted in the main text, the United States

possesses the wreckage of the Malvan vesselsthat Ironclad and Herculan came to Earth in— the government went to extensive effort andexpense to recover everything it could, thoughin neither case does it have a complete ship. Teone significant piece that wasn’t destroyed by acrash landing or not recovered is a strange, partlycracked, spherical device from Herculan’s ship. Amember of the mob that smashed the ship took it

as a “souvenir,” and it eventually made its way intothe hands of William Richardson, a prominentmember of the Exoplanetary Society. Richardsonknows he has a piece of a Malvan ship and keepsit secret for fear of the government taking it awayfrom him (which it absolutely would if it knew hehad it). What he doesn’t know is that the device ispart of the ship’s power system and thus poten-tially quite hazardous. If nothing else, a techno-logically-skilled supervillain might want to steal itand try to tap its power if he found out what it is.

PAGE 20: THE UNITEDSTATES SPACE STATION

While it’s true that the USSS is primarilya scientific research station, it’s not devoid ofmilitary purpose. Te station’s scientists are alsotasked with keeping an eye out for possible alienactivities, and the station’s equipped with fourheavy lasers in case it’s attacked.

PAGE 21: OTHER ORBITAL FACILITIESUNIL and various national governments

aren’t the only ones with plans for outer space andaliens.

1



Champions Beyond n Chapter Eleven 25

VIPERVIPER is interested in anything that could

bring it more power or profit, and that includesspace. Since UNIL completed GAEWAY,VIPER has been working on Project High Ground, its own initiative to establish a permanent pres-ence in space. Te main obstacle has always beenconcealing the building of the station, and thenthe completed station itself, from the prying eyes

of the authorities and superheroes. At long lastVIPER believes it’s solved that problem. Using acombination of its own work, data on Qularr tech-nology stolen from the US government, and somesystems purchased from ARGEN at enormouscost, VIPER has developed an “invisibility field”that can keep its activities in space secret. Te“Glass Viper” device remains experimental, butif it continues to perform as it has so far, VIPERplans to begin building its space station, currentlycodenamed Fortress Skyviper, in late 2011 orearly 2012.

VIPER’s other space-related program is ProjectIncubator, a plan to create an army of Gadroon

soldiers (or perhaps Human-Gadroon cross-breeds). See CU 150 for more information.

CISLUNAR MECHANONTe fiendish robot Mechanon also has a

presence in near-Earth space. Its orbital “base,”Cislunar Mechanon, isn’t actually an outpost, it’sone of Mechanon’s experimental forms. Mechanon“visits” Cislunar Mechanon by downloading itsprimary programming/consciousness into the“base.” It uses Cislunar Mechanon primarily as amicro-manufacturing facility and as a potentialelectronic warfare platform.

See Te Book Of Te Machine, pages 137-40,

for more information on Cislunar Mechanon(including a map).

ZERSTORENSTERNZerstorenstern (“Destroyer-Star”) is Dr.

Destroyer’s own orbital base. Concealed fromhumanity by a sophisticated stealth field, itwas built piecemeal during the Eighties andearly Nineties and has largely sat unused (anduncrewed) since Destroyer’s “death” in 1992.Destroyer still does some manufacturing there,but the base would require significant upgradingto be brought up to par with the technology he’sdeveloped during his “hiatus” from Human affairs.

See Te Book Of Te Destroyer, pages 185-89,for more information on Zerstorenstern(including maps).

PAGE 31: THE KUZANETe main text is correct that the Kuzane are

extinct; the blast that destroyed Ajok’s ship alsodestroyed his species. Tere might be a handful ofKuzane sentience vessels hidden in secure placeselsewhere in the Galaxy, and perhaps one or two

survived the blast and are driing in Sol’s asteroidfield, but for all intents and purposes the Kuzanehave le the galactic stage for good.

PAGE 32: THE MANDAARIANSWhile the Mandaarian visitors certainly haven’t

told Humanity everything about themselves andtheir civilization, what they have told Humans isalmost always true. Tey’ve never lied to Humans,but have sometimes omitted important facts theyweren’t willing to disclose.

Nor are the known visits by Mandaariansthe only ones they’ve made to Earth. SomeMandaarian xenologists have preferred to

observe Humanity covertly, so as not to “influ-ence the experiment” through their presence.Tere’s no sinister intent here, merely a desire tobe scientifically rigorous, but some elements inHuman society would be very alarmed if theywere to learn about these secret visits. One suchMandaarian visitor suffered a ship malfunctionand crashed on Earth; it was he who gave a mannamed Harold Jackson the “control bracers” heused to manipulate his ship... which bracers wereimmediately stolen from Jackson by the man whobecame the supervillain Orion (see CV2 213-14).His ship’s self-destruct mechanism soon there-aer obliterated both the ship and his corpse,

removing all evidence of his visit (aside from thebracers themselves, whose provenance remainsunknown).

Human estimates of Mandaarian psionics arehigh. Nearly 90% of Mandaarians have a basicform of telepathy that allows them to communi-cate psionically, but only 40% of the Mandaarianpopulation possesses measurable mental powersother than that.

PAGE 37: THE SIRIANSIronclad’s report is accurate, though he only

knows some of the facts. In the Human year1977 the Sirians, desperate almost to the point

of insanity to save their world, attacked Malva inan attempt to steal terraforming technology. Tiswent about as well as any rational person couldexpect. Malva’s defensive systems reduced theSirian attack fleet to space dust, and then a singleMalvan worldship counterattacked, obliteratingmost of the population of Siria. Tat planet wasalready slowly dying from ecological collapse(though the Sirians’ explanation tends to blame“accidents” more than their own over-exploitationof their planet). As of 2011 it’s barely able tosupport any life at all. A few hundred Sirians stilllive there, eking out a sad and pathetic existence;the rest of their species leads a nomadic life on

the few large starships still available to them. It’s




likely the Sirians will become extinct within a fewdecades at most.

Human xenologists overestimate thepercentage of Greens in the Sirian population —it’s closer to 10%. Tere were more Green CasteSirians in the invasion forces sent to Earth becausean army needs more Greens to operate efficiently.

PAGE 50: SELENUSTe mystery of Selenus dates further back than

any Human is aware of.Approximately four million years ago, aer

the Sleynu destroyed the Kelvarans (see page295), they became the predominant species inthe Milky Way Galaxy... but even then they werealready in the midst of the cultural decline thatwould eventually remove them from the galacticstage. When they became aware of the existenceof the Progenitors, they decided that this remnantof their ancient “enemy” (more accurately: target

of intense envy) might hold the key to reversingtheir decline and making the Sleynu the greatestspecies the Galaxy would ever see. So they beganwatching them covertly, looking for informationthey could use and weaknesses they could exploit.

About 1.5 million years ago, when theydiscovered that the Progenitors had visited the SolSystem and tampered with the genetic code of anup-and-coming humanoid species on the thirdplanet, the Sleynu decided the experiment meritedobservation. Tey wanted to be near enough tokeep a close eye on it, but not so close that anyProgenitor monitoring devices le behind (orworse yet, returning Progenitors) would detectthem. So they decided to build an observatoryin a mountain range on Earth’s sole satellite. ohelp them run it they brought along some of theirshort, insecto-siliconoid servants — dimwittedbeings that Humans would eventually call “theSelenites.”

Aer half a million years the Sleynu concludedthat there was nothing noteworthy about theSol-3 experiment, and little chance the Progeni-tors would soon return, so they abandoned theobservatory. Tey le behind a large populationof Selenites, most of them in a hibernative statethat would last nearly to the present day. A few

Selenites remained awake to care for their fellowsand tend what few machines the Sleynu wanted tokeep operating.

Over the next million years, as Humanityevolved, the Sleynu city slowly fell into ruin.Lunar dust covered most of the buildings, andthe descendants of the awake Selenites eventuallydescended into a sort of torpor not far differentfrom their fellows’ long sleep. Te machinesthey had carefully attended for so long went onfunctioning for awhile, but one by one they brokedown. Te atmosphereless nature of the lunarenvironment meant they didn’t rust and crumbleaway.

Te “dozing” Selenites awoke with a start in theyear Humans call 1938, brought back to aware-ness by the rising tide of magic that allowed thefirst superhumans to emerge. Teir memories oftheir past lives largely lost due to their long periodof torpor, they roused their hibernating fellows(who similarly had little memory of their formerlives). Not being a species given to concerns abouthistory, the Selenites went on about their businessof tending the Sleynu machines... what few stillworked and could be reached.

Te increasing level of magic in the Galaxysoon affected the Selenites, making them moreintelligent. As the years passed they began to formtheir own culture... until Revenger arrived andknocked their societal progress off-course.

PAGE 59: THE LUNAR SPORESTe spores Revenger found and used to create

his “jungle” and his Amazons are remnants lebehind by the Sleynu that the Selenites foundamong the ruins and brought to him back whenhe ruled them. Even then he knew nothing of theirorigin... and it’s possible that more such “trea-sures” might lie under the lunar dust, just waitingfor someone to discover them.

PAGE 60: HAMAZAKAR CRATERTe Sleynu dug the Hamazakar cavern, though

their technology did the work so cleanly, and somuch time has passed, that it looks natural toHuman eyes. Tey conducted botanical experi-ments there, which is why Revenger had such aneasy time creating his fungus jungle.

PAGE 65: THE FORUM MALVANUM One aspect of the Forum that the main text

doesn’t discuss is its thriving underworld.

In a facility catering to the tastes of the richand jaded of the Galaxy, it was inevitable that adesire for entertainments considered question-able or even illegal would arise — and ateklys, nostranger to such things himself, planned for thatfrom the beginning.

Te Praetor of the Lunar Games controls theunderworld of the Forum Malvanum as muchas he controls its legitimate affairs. Beneath theglittering surface of the Forum he runs a secretempire. If a visitor at the Forum wants to gamblein the unusual ways that the legitimate casinoswon’t permit, wants drugs or similar consumables,or desires access to a brothel, ateklys can help

him out. And since these things are illegal only inthe eyes of authorities that pay little or no atten-tion to the Forum for fear of offending the Phazor,there’s not much chance that a customer will getcaught or suffer any other negative consequence.

wo aspects of the Forum underworld maybe particularly repugnant to the PCs (as well asmany people who attend the games). Te first isateklys’s underground slave trade. Slavery stillexists on Malva (though a slave on Malva typicallylives a far better life than 95% of the sentients inthe Galaxy), but ateklys doesn’t maintain an openslave trade at the Forum for fear of offending hisclients. But he doesn’t want to forego the profits

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involved in selling slaves to people who can’tordinarily own them, so he sometimes sells slavesbrought from Malva in secret.

Te other, a far worse crime in the eyes ofMalvans, is that ateklys sometimes “fixes” Arenafights. He’s always very subtle about it because hedefinitely doesn’t want to get caught, but some-times the profits (or favors) he can earn justifythe risk.

ateklys doesn’t object to other criminal enter-prises being run at the Forum, provided (a) he getshis cut (typically 40%), and (b) they’re not of thesort that would tarnish the Forum’s reputation.For example, he might permit a con man to runan elaborate swindle if it were arranged so thatsomeone took the fall for it and the victim werepartly recompensed (thus proving that ateklys is“tough on crime” and that the Forum Malvanumis still a safe place to visit). He’s also happy to letpeople use the Forum as a waypoint for smugglingoperations... as long as they make good with agenerous payoff.

Since ateklys usually has plenty to do running

the Forum’s legitimate business and oen has toappear in public, he has a trusted lieutenant tohandle his criminal enterprises: an Hzeel namedBlorsh, whose diminutive size is more thancounteracted by his plug-ugliness, temper, andwell-deserved reputation as a “tough guy.” Noone’s ever known him to back down from any typeof confrontation, even against aliens three times astall and five times as heavy as he. Nor has anyoneever known him to lose one of these confronta-tions. In fact, the only thing Blorsh seems to beafraid of is ateklys, though no one but the two ofthem knows why. He serves the Fashionable Onefaithfully and well, content to draw his (outra-

geously large) salary and not skim off the top.

PAGE 74: KOVARLKovarl isn’t a loyal employee of ateklys’s —

he’s a Roin’esh spy. As part of the Roin’esh long-term plan to break free from the Malvan sphere ofinfluence and establish their own empire (see page279), he was spying on any Malvans he could findwhen the opportunity to work for the Fashion-able One fell into his lap. It puts him in an idealposition to observe not only many Malvans, butHumans as well (a species the Roin’esh have iden-tified as a potential long-term enemy). He has thePsychological Complication Roin’esh Patriot (Very

Common, Strong; 20 points) and Social Compli-cation Dark Secret (is a Roin’esh spy; Frequently,Major; 15 points).

PAGE 87: MOONBASE SERENITY Te main text omits one other facility on the

Moon that Humanity’s unaware of: InstallationAlpha-8, one of the evil robot Mechanon’s bases.See CU 149 and pages 131-32 of Te Book Of Te Machine for more details on Alpha-8 (including acharacter sheet and maps for it).

PAGE 90: THE MARTIANSTe Chronos File is one hundred percent accu-

rate. Captain Chronos provided it to Humanitybecause his chrono-calculations tell him thatmaking the existence of the Martians known thisearly (in his original timeline the discovery wasn’t

made until nearly 2100 AD) will have beneficialeffects on the timeline going forward.

What the File didn’t reveal, because Chronoshimself doesn’t know it, is that a few Martiansare still alive! For the past 1.5 billion years or sothey’ve been in suspended animation in a facilityinside Phobos, one of Mars’s moons. Teir deviceswill awaken them when the facility’s sensors detectthe proper conditions for them to live eitheron Mars or somewhere else in the solar system.Teir biochemistry is sufficiently different fromHumans’ that living on Earth would be toxic tothem, so the rise of Human civilization hasn’t trig-gered their re-awakening.

At its height, Martian technology was suffi-ciently advanced to build high-speed FL ships,teleportation devices, disintegrator weaponry,and the like. But the Martians were an isolationistpeople with little interest in extensive explorationor being a part of the galactic community as itexisted at that time. Tey were content to remainon their homeworld in its “backwater” part of theMilky Way and pursue their own projects andgoals. Martian philosophy and art were particu-larly sophisticated; the Phobos facility containscountless works of art as well as databases withthe entire learning and literature of the Martiancivilization.

PAGE 92: THE SIRIAN BASEDiamond advised Marsbase against exploring

the Sirian base not because he thinks there’sany danger there (though there might be), butbecause he’s aware that someone’s living there:an Empyrean named Deloss, sometimes knownas Deloss the Explorer. Deloss, who has powersthat allow him to survive in space and easilycross galactic distances, loves to see strange newworlds, experience new cultures, and travel theuncharted regions of the Galaxy to see what’sthere. But he gave that up several decades ago toremain on Mars. In the Seventies he and anotherEmpyrean, Eidolon the Dreamer, detected anunusual “dream-presence” on Mars. Investigating,they unwittingly unleashed some sort of “dream-demon” from the ancient Martian civilization thathad been imprisoned for billions of years. Teyfought it, but even the power of two Empyreanswasn’t enough to defeat the monster. Rather thanlet it escape to imperil the entire Galaxy, Delosssacrificed himself. With Eidolon’s help, he trappedthe demon in his own personal Dreamland. Butthe price he had to pay was this: he can neverleave Mars, for doing so will let the dream-demongo free.




PAGE 92: THE ASTEROID BELTTe asteroid belt conceals several secrets... and

potential dangers to Humanity.

ASTEROID BELT PROBESAmong the satellites sent from Earth to explore

the asteroid belt with an eye toward mining it wasone sent by a private company called SkyProspect,based in Germany. While it seemed like anordinary satellite, it was in fact the most advancedsent on such a mission, because SkyProspect is anARGEN front. Te asteroid belt holds enormouspossibilities for ARGEN — not just profits butas a potential place it could build bases whereno Human authority has any jurisdiction at all.Te executive in charge of this program, RogerCorwin, is a major up-and-comer at ARGEN;success at this venture could lead to his eleva-tion to a position of major power within theorganization.

ZUFLUCHTTe benefits of having a secret headquarters

in the asteroid belt occurred long ago to another

super-criminal: Dr. Destroyer. Until beingcaptured by Shadow Destroyer in 2009 (CU 153),he’d lived in seclusion there at his base Zuflucht(“Haven”), awaiting the ideal time to reveal hiscontinued existence and at long last conquerHumanity. See Te Book Of Te Destroyer, page190, for more information on Zuflucht.

THE PHYTIANS AND THE PROGENITORSTe biggest secret in the asteroid belt is that

it wasn’t always a zone of small, rocky bodies. Itwas once a planet, one similar to Earth in manyrespects (allowing for the differences based ontheir respective distances from Sol). On this

planet the dominant forms of life were botanicalrather than animal, and one — later known as thePhytians — began to evolve to sentience.

wo million years ago, when the Progenitorscame to Earth to experiment with the genetics ofthe earliest Humans, they also found the world“Phytia” and its inhabitants, which were at roughlythe same stage of evolution as Humanity. Someof the Progenitors decided Phytia was also ripefor experimentation and could even serve as acounterpoint to the project on Earth. Rather thanwork slowly, as their comrades on Earth chose todo, they would advance the Phytians rapidly.

Unfortunately they proceeded too quickly.Within a mere hundred thousand years, thePhytians reached full sentience and developeda civilization roughly comparable to twentiethcentury Earth’s. Ten pressing matters elsewherecalled the Progenitors who were overseeing theproject away to distant parts of the Milky Way.

Less than two decades later, disaster struck.Te Phytian equivalent of a powerhungry gadge-teer supervillain found some of the Progenitors’technology, figured out how to use it (in a crudefashion), and threatened to destroy Phytia unlessthe Phytians agreed to become his slaves. Whenthey did not, he triggered the device, thinking itwould force them to obey him. Unfortunately heonly partially understood what he was doing. Teresulting blast obliterated the planet, instantlykilling every living thing on it and turning it intoan asteroid belt.

When the Progenitors returned several yearslater to find out why their devices had stoppedtransmitting, they found the wreckage anddeduced what had happened. Tey gathered upas many scraps of their technology as they couldfind and used their powers to alter the asteroidsenough so that Humans would think they werenaturally formed. Ten they departed, leavingtheir brethren on Earth to continue their longer...but safer... experiments.

But not even a Progenitor can find every piece

of technology scattered among millions andmillions of square miles of floating rocks. Hereand there among the asteroid belt, just waiting forsome “lucky” superhuman or future belt-minerto find, are bits of Progenitor devices — andsometimes a few nearly intact ones, for Progenitorcreations are extremely durable. Some of thesurviving systems include:

n a Progenitor device for transmuting smallsamples of biological material (75% intact; onlyfunctions on a 9- roll)

n fragments of a Progenitor device that read thewearer’s thoughts and instantly transcribed

them onto physical materials (such as paper,or even rock) (47% intact; not functional butcould provide breakthroughs to someonestudying SS: Psionic Engineering)

n parts from a Progenitor guardian “robot” (22%intact; not functional as a whole but doesinclude an extremely small, powerful energybeam weapon (RKA 6d6, 16 Charges) thatfunctions on an 11-)

n a Progenitor scanner attuned to both energyand biological matter (68% intact, but damagedsuch that when used it exposes the user (and

anyone else within 5m) to imperceivable ener-gies that slowly but surely corrupt the flesh incancer-like ways)

n a Progenitor rock-shaping device that createsa field which reduces rock to molten lava, then“sculpts” that lava in accordance with the user’sthoughts (53% intact; only functions on a 10-roll, 12 Charges)

It’s also possible that some tiny fragments ofPhytian artifacts or bio-matter remain amongthe asteroid belt. If so, they’d be even rarer thanleover Progenitor technology... but probably ofgreater interest to many Human scientists.

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PAGE 103: THE MALVAN DECLINETe Malvans’ loss of the will to achieve and

gradual descent into dissipation is not entirelynatural — though wanting to relax and enjoythemselves aer 300,000 years of unremittingwarfare was certainly a significant part of it. But

the main factor was a terrible curse cast uponthem by the Elder Worm as a final, futile blowagainst their hated enemies when it becameapparent the war was lost. Tis curse has slowlybut surely sapped the Malvans of their ambitionand drive, which as a species once equalled (if notexceeded) that of modern-day Humans. Even ifanyone were aware of this — and aside from theSlug (see CV1), no one alive today is, or is everlikely to be — the effects of the curse have gonetoo far to reverse (and even in this age of super-mages, probably no wizard of sufficient powerexists to attempt such a spell anyway). A fewMalvans, like ateklys or Ariax Tone, avoid the

curse somehow, but it affects most of them.

PAGE 124: HALBERDIERTere’s more to Halberdier than meets the eye:

he’s a Roin’esh spy. Roin’esh slaves on Malva haveover the years filched enough bits and pieces ofMalvan technology to build his armor and weapons,and Roin’esh scientists on aroindar altered itenough that the Malvans haven’t recognized it (yet).If the Roin’esh try to break free from the MalvanEmpire anytime soon (see page 279), Halberdier willbe one of the leaders of the revolution.

PAGE 130: MALVAN EXPATRIATES

Here’s one more expatriate for the PCs toencounter:Off the main spacelanes far spinward from

Malvan space there’s a G3V star. A group of heroeswho journeyed there would find five planets: twoairless, rocky worlds (one near the star, one furtherout); one small gas giant; and one large gas giant.

But the truth is, there are six planets. Te spacebetween the first and second planets is actuallyoccupied by another world — a beautiful terres-trial planet shielded from sight and sensors by apowerful cloaking device. A ship would have to bein-system and within 1 AU of the world to have achance of detecting it, and even that would require

an advanced sensor array and a successful SystemsOperation roll at -5. If the roll succeeds, the shipdetects an anomaly that clever characters willquickly deduce is a stealth system of some sort.

Hidden behind the cloak is the personal worldof Avgaran Syrr, a Malvan who’s lived there sinceapproximately 100,000 BC. Using Malvan tech-nology and his own not inconsiderable psionicpowers he’s remade the planet, which he callsRithranta (Malvan for “refuge” or “haven”), to suithimself. It now features a range of landscapes andclimates roughly the same as those of the Carib-bean and North America on Earth, with emphasison cool temperate rainforests and landscapes like

those of Earth’s Pacific Northwest.

Aer eons alone, Syrr is not entirely sane. Ifdiscovered, he’ll at first welcome the heroes withgood will and fellowship, treating them to superbfood and drink and showing off the wonders of hishome. But he’ll soon become suspicious of them,

wondering what they’re doing in his system andwhether they’ve come to hurt him and steal histechnology. From there it won’t take long for himto decide that they could provide him all sorts of“entertainment.” Using his technology and mentalpowers he’ll subject them to “tests” designed toamuse him. For example, he might transmute twoPCs’ clothes into garb reminiscent of the TreeMusketeers and then force them to duel withrapiers for the “favor” of a female PC, or a womanhe creates out of thin air (actually a sophisticatedhologram). If possible he’ll give the heroes theimpression that he has “ultimate cosmic power”and can do anything he wants, the better to

intimidate and impress them.

THE PROPHECYOF THE FIREWING

As discussed on CV 111-13, Firewing is supposedly theculmination of ancient Malvan prophecy that a man mightone day enter the Furnace of the First Ones, have his impuri-ties burned away, and emerge with great power. But there’smore to that prophecy than most Malvans know. It goes on

to say that the Firewing will lead his people to glory andpower. Tat’s why the Wisdom Stones urged Ariax Tone toundergo the trial that turned him into the Firewing: the hopethat this was the first step to revitalizing the Malvan people.

So far that part of the prophecy hasn’t come true — likemost prophecies it may simply be a lot of hot air and foolish-ness. But for the purposes of your Champions Universecampaign, it could still be true and in the process of beingfulfilled. If that’s the case you’ll have to figure out exactlywhat’s supposed to occur (though your PCs’ actions in thegame may have some effect as well). Te final decision is upto you, but there are two primary possibilities.

Te first, “passive,” possibility is that simply by existing

Firewing fulfills the second half of the prophecy. He’sbrought Malva to the attention of one of the Galaxy’s most vibrant young civilizations (Humanity), and more impor-tantly has re-awakened Malva’s interest in the rest of theMilky Way. It may take a century or two, but thanks to hisinfluence the Malvans will somehow throw off their torporand decadence and become part of the galactic communityagain.

Te second, “active,” possibility is far more dangerous formany worlds — including Earth. In this scenario, Firewingeventually returns to Malva and becomes a leader of hispeople, inspiring them to re-establish the Malvan Empire. Inpart this will involve discovering and casting off the ancientElder Worm curse, which may re-ignite a desire to eradicate

the remaining Elder Worm from the Milky Way. Tus, Earthisn’t just at risk of being conquered and absorbed into theMalvan Empire (since all of Earth’s superhumans combinedcan’t stand up to Malvan technology). Malvan sensors couldeasily perceive the microscopic fragments of Elder Wormgenetic material in Human DNA, causing the Malvans todecide that Humanity is “tainted” and has to be wiped out.




o get out of this hellish “refuge,” the heroeshave to first survive the “tests,” then find a wayto short-circuit Syrr’s powers or convince himthat they’re no threat to him. He’s still mentallybalanced enough to accept a well-reasoned,well-presented argument in their favor (though ifthe heroes are smart they’ll take advantage of histemporary lucidity to get far away from him). Andwoe unto the heroes if they ever suggest to Syrrthat other people might want to exploit him orsteal his technology — if he realizes there’s even achance the PCs might deliberately or accidentallylet people know about him and his whereabouts,he’ll never let them leave.

PAGE 162: THE SECONDINVASION OF EARTH

As discussed below (see “Te Gadroon InCanada,”) the Qularr have been at war with theGadroon since 2008. Tis conflict is the reason

they returned to Earth in 2009 — Humanity’ssuperpowered defenders are among the toughestopponents the Qularr have ever fought, so they’restudying them, manimals, and the giant monstersin hope of breeding the mightiest “bio-weapons”they’ve ever created to defeat the Gadroon.

Te Qularr wrongly believe (as the main textstates) that a Qularr le behind during the 1965invasion triggered the beacon in 2009. In fact, asrevealed on CU 137, it was set off by a Destroidsent by Shadow Destroyer. He detected the Qularrfleet and decided to use it to test Earth’s defenses(and perhaps weaken them by getting a superheroor two killed during the fighting).

PAGE 184: THE GADROON IN CANADA Te Gadroon’s unusual behavior in Canada

is due to a dangerous outside influence:Istvatha V’han, self-styled Empress of a BillionDimensions.

Aer her 2007 attempt to conquer Earth’sdimension was thwarted by superhumans, V’handecided to try a more subtle approach to “soenup” the target before her next attack (which will

take some years to plan and execute). Intriguedby the fact that both the Qularr and the Gadroonhad in years past fought sustained actions againstEarth, she decided they’d make perfect cat’s-paws.

Te first stage of her plan was to approachthe Gadroon exodus fleet through one of herheralds. She made them a simple offer: “Join myempire and I will protect you, ensuring that noenemy destroys the great Gadroon.” Faced withthe unspoken alternative — that she’d have a fleetof her D-Soldiers render the Gadroon extinctonce and for all — the five admirals agreed to herdemands. Not every Gadroon is happy with this(in fact, some are almost openly rebellious). But

the majority have seen their lives become bettersince they became V’hanian subjects, and areproud of the news of victory aer victory over theQularr, so they aren’t complaining.

With the Gadroon under her control, V’hanproceeded to the next step of her scheme: sheordered the Gadroon to attack the Qularr. Caughtoff-guard, the Qularr suffered some serious lossesat first. Ten several Qularr senators, each secretlya pawn of V’han’s, suggested that the Qularrneeded newer, better weapons to fight the Gadroon— and they pointed to Earth, whose superhumanshad defeated the Qularr and their “monsters” inthe past, as the best possible source of those newweapons. Furthermore, the fact that the Gadroonwere interested in the planet meant the Qularrshould acquire it first. Persuaded by this argu-ment, the Qularr military outfitted an expeditionand headed for the Human homeworld. Te factthat an old Qularr beacon was triggered just asthe expedition approached the planet (see above)seemed merely a fortuitous coincidence.

With the Qularr now occupying part of Earth

and distracting Humanity’s superpowered guard-ians, Istvatha V’han initiated the third and finalstage of her plan, which was to have the Gadroonestablish a foothold on Earth and create an even greater distraction. With the help of her weaponsand advisors, a Gadroon strike force was ableto succeed where earlier Gadroon attacks onEarth had failed. However, much to the Gadroonsoldiers’ annoyance, the Empress has orderedthem simply to hold their ground. Tere is tobe no clear-crushing of Human cities, no flash-burning of any part of Earth, no use of graviticcavitators to reduce Human structures to rubble,and no “gadro-forming” beyond what little they’ve

done at their beachhead. V’han wants as littledamage done to Earth as possible, and this chafesat more than a few of her Gadroon subjects.

V’han now has two alien aces in the hole.When the time comes to attack Earth again, shecan use them as a sort of disguised strategic probein advance to test Humanity’s strength, sow confu-sion in her enemies’ ranks, and perhaps removea few superheroes from the picture. If necessarythe Gadroon outpost can even serve as a “landingzone” for her D-Soldiers. In the meantime, infor-mation about Humanity gained by the Gadroongoes into her planning databanks for analysis byher military staff.

Humanity remains unaware that the Gadroonand Qularr are at war. Based on analysis of gath-ered data Human scholars know the two speciesaren’t friendly and attack one another given theopportunity, but they don’t comprehend the scope(or origin) of the conflict.

Commander (page 190) is one of the Gadroonmost disturbed about becoming “subjects” ofIstvatha V’han. He wants his people to stand ontheir own and achieve their goals by themselves,not trade freedom for a master (mistress) out offear. If necessary he might even ally with otherspecies (such as Humans) to remove V’han from

the picture.

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PAGE 185: GADROON ESPIONAGETe holo-disguised infiltrators spying on

Earth’s major cities are just the first level of poten-tial Gadroon subterfuge regarding Earth. If andwhen the infiltrators are discovered and/or thesituation in Canada becomes militarily untenable,the Gadroon leaders who’ve remained with themain Gadroon fleet (which hasn’t come anywherenear Earth) plan to show up and feign innocence.Tey’ll claim the attackers were renegade Gadroon

acting against Gadroon commands and law, andthat the Gadroon people want nothing morethan peaceful relations with Humanity and otherspecies. If this succeeds, it’s likely to spark seriousscholarly and popular interest in the Gadroon,perhaps even creating pop-culture fads in placeswhere there’s a high interest in aliens (such asJapan). Once the Gadroon have established signifi-cant ties to Earth and been accepted as “galacticneighbors,” they’ll strike from surprise and layHumanity low... assuming Istvatha V’han permitsthis (see below).

PAGE 204: WORMWORLDTe Elder Worm homeworld is not quite as

dead as it seems. In crypts hidden deep belowthe surface of some of the larger fragments of theformer planet a few surviving members of theElder Worm sleep in stasis fields created by theirown lesser Worm-Orbs. Now that the Malvanshave retreated and magic has returned to theUniverse, the Worms are stirring, answering thesiren call sent out by the true Worm Orb the Slugpossesses. He knows nothing of this, but will bedelighted if a small army of his followers and rela-tives make their way to Earth.

In HERO System terms, anyone coming within50 light-years of the Elder Worm homeworldloses ½d6 points of PRE to the feelings of dreadhe experiences. For every 10 light-years closer(40, 30, and so on), increase this by an additional+½d6 PRE loss. Characters who lose half theirPRE this way begin to exhibit disturbing behaviors

that may harm themselves or others; characterswho reach 0 PRE due to this loss become insane(and can only be cured with psychic surgery or thelike).

PAGE 236: THE HALL OF VICTORY Unfortunately the Star*Guard hasn’t always

been as good at “demilitarizing” captured weaponsand similar trophies as it thinks. A few of theobjects on display in the Hall retain some of theirformer power and could easily wreak great harm ifthey fell into the hands of the wrong people.




he alien species covered in Chapter womay be the only ones known to Humanity,but they’re far from the only ones thatinhabit the Milky Way Galaxy. Tis section

describes some of the other major alien civiliza-tions Humanity doesn’t know about... yet.

ANTHARITis species of light blue-skinned humanoids

was nearly destroyed by Valak the World-Ravagerduring his first rampage through the Galaxy. Atthat time the Anthari were a minor starfaring racewith low FL ships. Only a few members of thespecies survived, and exist today as space nomads.Within no more than a century the Anthari will beextinct.

BELAXIANSBelaxia is a large, high-gravity planet orbiting

a yellow sun several hundred light-years from Sol.A typical Belaxian is three to four feet tall, withwhite, leathery skin that a Human might compareto an iguana’s. His blocky head sits almost directly

on his shoulders with no neck to speak of. Tesquare-ish organs where most humanoids haveeyes are radar emitters/receivers; they also havestubby noses and lack ears. Belaxians can havesuperpowers; most of their superhumans tend tobe “bricks.”

Due to their lack of sight, Belaxians havecreated a society that seems odd, or at leastrestricted, to most other sentients. Tey can’t writeon paper or the like; their written records areincised into a thick, flexible, wood-like materialthat can be “read” via their precise radar. Teir visual entertainments involve solid objects, holo-grams, and the like; they have no equivalent to

Human paintings or video screens, which appearto them as blank flat spaces.

CATAVALANSTe Catavalans are a curious blend of modern

advancements and ancient customs. Highlyregarded for their quick wit, even tempers, andhonest dealing, they have few enemies amongother species. Tey’re a starfaring species thatbelongs to the Velarian Confederation and tradesextensively with its members.

CATAVALAN BIOLOGY Te inhabitants of Cataval are four-armed

humanoids who stand about seven feet tall. Teir

skin tones range from a stony gray to a sandybrown. Although almost completely hairless, theyare true mammals. Catavalans have naturally longlives and are patient, thoughtful beings. Tey canhave superpowers, though superhumans are farrarer on Cataval than on Earth.

CATAVAL, THE CATAVALAN HOMEWORLDCataval is a large, dry world, with relatively

small oceans, numerous deserts, and severalextensive mountain ranges. Since their planet hasproportionately less arable land than other worldsits size, the Catavalans used to impose strictpopulation controls so they didn’t outgrow their

ability to feed themselves. Centuries ago, whentechnological advancements overcame their foodshortage problem, they lied these restrictions. Asa result, the Catavalan population has increaseddramatically.

Te Catavalans have colonized a few planets intheir home system, but so far most of their inhab-itants are scientists, miners, and the like.

BELAXIAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 +5 STR

5 +5 CON

3 +3 PD

4 Belaxian Density: Knockback Resistance -4m

22 Belaxian Radar-Sight: Radar (Radio Group),Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception(240 Degrees)


Value Complications

15 Physical Complication: lacks Sight Sense Group(“sees” by radar, meaning he cannot perceivecolors, watch video, and so forth) (Frequently,Slightly Impairing [increase to GreatlyImpairing for Belaxians not living on Belaxia])


1




Coriphans can have superpowers, thoughsuperhumans are only about half as commonon Coriphus as on Earth. Te average Coriphansuperhuman is about two-thirds as powerful as theaverage superpowered Human.

CRISTOBALITESOn the planet ridymite Beta there exists one

of the most unusual sentient life-forms in theMilky Way: the Cristobalites, a species of nigh-immortal, boulder-like beings who spend muchof their lives sitting on mountaintops or in cavesphilosophizing. Discourses between their various“schools” of thought have been going on forhundreds of thousands of years and show no signsof slowing down.

Te Cristobalites have one of the best-keptsecrets in the Galaxy: they’re artificially-createdbeings constructed by Malvans hundreds ofthousands of years ago for the specific purpose of

mining mineral-rich ridymite Beta. Teir entirehistory is a deliberate fabrication. Te Malvansplaced them atop the mountains deliberately tomake their job of remotely controlling massivemining machines easier, then abandoned theentire project before any serious mining couldtake place. Once the Malvans departed, the Cristo-balites used this equipment to cover up any tracesof their former masters’ presence, then drove allthe equipment into an active volcano in an imma-ture snit. Although they soon came to regret thisaction, it couldn’t be undone. With nothing else todo or any way to do it, they became obsessed withphilosophical discourse, developing the unique

culture they have today.

CATAVALAN SOCIETY AND CULTURESociety on Cataval has followed the same

pattern for a very long time, since Catavalanlongevity gives them a strong streak of conserva-tism and reliance on tradition. A divine emperorknown simply as the Monarch rules the entireplanet and all Catavalans. Because the Catavalansconsider the Monarch a god, his priests run thegovernment. Orders of priests act as soldiers,

tax collectors, teachers, judges, and bankers. Tenewest order of clergy, the science priests, performall research on Cataval. As one might expect,progress is slow.

Te Catavalans have technology that’s moreadvanced than Humanity’s (such as slow FLships), but but with many curious survivals ofearlier technology; Catavalans don’t adopt newtech if an older method serves them well. Tey usesteam power where most other civilizations useinternal combustion or gas turbines, their soldiersfight with swords as well as energy guns, and theykeep records on paper as much as on electronicstorage media. Other species oen find it frus-

trating to deal with them because of this; “Catav-alan paperwork” has become a galactic slang termfor “pointless procedures caused by backwardthinking or practices.”

Te Catavalans are currently allied with theVelarians and the Quagi in a civil war againstthe Fassai and Renghadi for political controlof the Velarian Confederation. None of thespecies involved has fast FL ships, so it’s a long,protracted affair with no end in sight as of 2011.

CATAVALAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability 6 Catavalan Arms: Extra Limbs (two more

arms), Inherent (+¼)

1 Catavalan Longevity: Life Support(Longevity: 200-year lifespan)


Value Complications

None


CORIPHANS

Native of the planet Coriphus, a world orbitingits sun at the very outer edge of its life zone, thedark-skinned Coriphans are accustomed to life indim, cold conditions (in HERO System terms, theyall have Nightvision and a 1-point version of LifeSupport (Safe Environment: Intense Cold)). Teyevolved from a dog-like pack creature, and to thisday tend to prefer the company of others, particu-larly other Coriphans; a Coriphan forced to liveby himself for long periods of time oen developsmental problems.




Although ridymite Beta has 1.26 G andis blessed with incredible amounts of easily-reached precious metals and gems, it’s unlikelythat humanoids will have much success miningit if and when it’s discovered. ridymite Beta isinhospitable to most forms of organic life. It hasan unbreathable troposphere, deadly surfacetemperatures, and a very low atmospheric pres-sure of about 900 millibars. It rotates extremelyslowly; a single “day” on ridymite B is some 240Earth days long, Tere are only 220 Earth days ineach ridymite year, making each one 0.917 localdays long. On ridymite Beta a day is longer thana year... so to speak.

For more on the Cristobalites, please seeWorlds Of Empire.

DENEBIANSInhabitants of a world they call Harkarth,

known in Human parlance as Deneb IV, theDenebians are humanoids descended from acreature most closely analogous to a Earth turtle,though by erran biological standards it’s as muchan insect as a reptile. Teir skins tend to have alight undertone — tan, ochre, even yellowish —with regularly-spaced squarish-shaped “spots” thatare actually thicker plates and offer some protec-tion against injury. Denebians’ backs have an eventhicker overall plate, but it’s flexible enough that itdoesn’t impede their ability to move. Te averageDenebian is perhaps seven to ten centimetersshorter than the average Human, but not particu-larly stocky despite his thick skin; indeed, in theeyes of many species, Denebians seem slender.

Denebians’ heads are slightly prognathous;they have large, flat nasal structures and small earsthat barely project beyond the skull. Teir eyes are

small and beady, which oen makes Denebianslook suspicious or dangerous to Humans.Denebian marriages are oen, but not always,

arranged. Tey marry for life, bonding with theirspouses through a complex social and biochemicalprocess that makes divorce both unthinkableand undesireable (Denebians would find theHuman predilection for “breaking,” as they referto divorce, utterly confusing and dismaying).Te women bear live young aer a seven-monthgestation; aer having two or three children mostwomen become infertile.

Denebians can have superpowers, but they’reextremely rare and usually not very powerful (amaximum of 30-40 Active Points in most cases).

HARKARTH, THE DENEBIAN HOMEWORLDHarkarth (Deneb IV) is a terrestrial world a

few degrees warmer, on the average, than Earthwith 1.1 G. It has two moons of roughly equal size,neither of which the Denebians have exploredyet. It has three large continents, several subconti-

nents, and a sprinkling of large islands. Extensivebelts of jungle once covered much of the planet,and though industrialization has shrunk themconsiderably, millions of acres remain intact.Similarly, swamps and marshes were much morecommon hundreds of years ago, but the Denebiansdrained many of them and turned them into roadsor farms.

Te Deneb system has twelve other planets— three too close to Deneb (a hot white super-giant) to be habitable, the rest untenable for otherreasons. Five of the planets are gas giants.

DENEBIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Tousands of years ago, Harkarth was a worldtorn by war and divisiveness. Political conflictoen led to wars, and the major religions of theDenebians — Kolebism, akurism, and Gerradism— oen struggled with one another as well. Addi-tionally, Kolebism and Gerradism both groupedthe Denebians into an elaborate social structureof klascé s, similar to the castes of ancient India onEarth, and this caused strife from time to time.

As the centuries passed, social, technological,and religious progress all acted, slowly but surely,to diminish these problems — but not to elimi-nate them. Tat took a major nuclear exchangebetween two powerful nations in the Human year

2005. Te “Fiy-Minute War” nearly destroyedDenebian civilization and killed over a billionpeople. Te Denebians are still struggling withrebuilding their societies, and in some cases justsurviving, in the aermath of the war; no doubtit will be decades before all the problems areresolved. One effect that’s already been noticed byDenebian sociologists is that the average Denebianhas become far more accepting of differences andopen to the peaceful exchange of ideas; no one onthe planet wants another conflict to erupt.

DONBURILTe Donburil are tall humanoids with shiny

gold skin and an odd metabolism. Teir tissue andbone contains a high proportion of metals, and thefood they eat is lethal to most other beings.

Society on Donbur, a large, rocky world nearVelarian space, is matriarchal. Te governmentconsists of a council of the female leaders of theapproximately 800 clans. (Te total Donburilpopulation is only 500 million.) Politics onDonbur is a constantly-shiing tapestry ofcoalition-building, negotiation, and dealmakingthat confuses anyone but a Donburil.

DENEBIAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

-2 -1 DEX

1 +1 CON

3 Denebian Skin: Resistant Protection (1 PD/1 ED)

4 Denebian Backplate: Resistant Protection (+2 PD/+2ED); Activation Roll 11- (only protects the back; -½)


Value Complications

None


1




Te Donburil have not yet achieved spacetravel, but are close to being able to launchmanned vessels exploring their moons andsolar system. Given their location, the odds areonce they’re capable of starflight they’ll join theVelarian Confederation, or at least become one ofits trading partners.

DONBURIL TEMPLATE Cost Ability

5 +5 STR

1 +1 PD

1 +1 ED

1 Donburil Toughness: Resistant (+½) for1 PD/1 ED

2 Donburil Mass: Knockback Resistance -2m

2 Donburil Metabolism: Life Support(Immunity to most metal-based poisons)


Value Complications

5 Physical Complication: Hefty (averageweight 300 kg) (Infrequently, BarelyImpairing)


DORUGANDANSNative to a humid, oen swampy terrestrial

world, the Dorugandans are fungoid beings wholook, to Human eyes, like giant walking mush-rooms. Tey can live for up to 800 years andreproduce through a sort of “budding” processwhere a Dorugandan couple “plants” offshoots of

themselves into a special “gestation garden,” wherethey grow together and form an infant Doru-gandan in about a year.

By Human standards, all Dorugandans are“superpowered.” Tey have psionic powers (typi-cally elepathy 8d6, Mental Blast 4d6, and some-times a few other abilities such as Mind Link)and recover from injuries with incredible speed(Regeneration, 1 BODY per urn). Teir fungoidforms and metabolism also make them muchmore resistant to harm than a Human body, andthey can survive indefinitely without oxygen.

Te Dorugandans have had space travel forcenturies and have even sent a few members oftheir species to join the Star*Guard. But for themost part they prefer to keep to themselves. By theslow-paced standards of their society, most otherspecies are far too “busy” and frenetic, alwaysrushing around trying to get things done rightnow. Dorugandans prefer the more sedate pace oflife on their world.

EAUHIAOMEAAEIUTis nearly-extinct species of beings, whose

name is virtually unpronounceable by mostsentients (it sounds sort of like an electric hum),consists of hive beings composed of motes ofmental energy. Malevolent and exploitative, each“cloud” dris through space in search of inhabitedplanets whose sentients it can take over. When itfinds one, it dris down, uses its mental powers

to possess someone, then begins “breeding” byspawning off motes to take over other people. Intime the entire planet falls under the Eauhiao-meaaeiu’s sway and is then stripped bare of energyand every resource it has. When there’s nothingle, the Eauhiaomeaaeiu leaves, abandoning itsformer hosts to starvation and death.

Unfortunately this style of life isn’t condu-cive to long-term survival and advancement,and over hundreds of thousands of years mostEauhiaomeaaeiu have died in cosmic accidents,succumbed to psionic diseases, or the like. Noris the possession process free from danger.For example, an Eauhiaomeaaeiu who tried to

take over Earth succeeded only in creating thesupervillainess Esper (see CV3 102), effectivelyextinguishing its own life. Te odds are that withina few thousand years these galactic parasiteswill plague the civilizations of the Milky Way nolonger.

ERENINatives of alendin, a beautiful terrestrial

world not far from Ecra-shen (the Se’ecra home-world), the Ereni are a highly advanced speciesand a prominent member of the galactic commu-nity. all humanoids mostly covered in short furwith the same range of colors as Human hair,

they’re well-known as scholars, explorers, math-ematicians, engineers, traders, and artists. Erenihunters are also renowned throughout the Galaxy,since their acute senses (+2 to PER Rolls with allSense Groups) make them skilled trackers.

ERGONS AND THORGONSOn the planet Ergath, rimward and antispin-

ward from Earth, two sentient species exist. Tedominant race is the Ergons, short humanoidswith pale, red-striped skin, eyes that are trans-lucent red orbs with no visible pupils, and acutehearing (they can perceive ultrasonic sounds).Highly skilled at the biological sciences, about fiy

years ago the Ergons created the Torgons to servethem. Torgons are much like Ergons, except thatthey’re taller, their base skin tone and stripes areboth darker, their ears are smaller, and they’re farbetter, on average, at all sorts of physical tasks.(Te Ergons also use their biological sciencesto breed by artificially impregnating embryosin gestation pods; Torgons cannot breed,though they can, and oen do, form romanticattachments.)




Both Ergons and Torgons are capable ofhaving superpowers bred or imbued into themwith super-science. Tey do not seem to developsuperpowers in any other ways, though. TeErgons have experimented with creating brick andspeedster Torgons, but are a little scared of theresults and haven’t pursued those lines of research very far.

ERGATH

Ergath, the homeworld of both the Ergons andthe Torgons, is slightly larger than Earth, witha gravity of 1.1 standard G and a generally warmclimate. It has large oceans and 11 small conti-nents with a great variety of ecosystems.

SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Ergons are an advanced civilization with

equally advanced technology. Using their bio-engineering, they’ve bred clone-races from theirbasic genetic stock to handle jobs they founddistasteful: heavy labor; fighting; deep spaceexploration. Te most prominent and numerousof these races are the Torgons. Te Ergon author-

ities keep careful control over their “servants,”thus creating a significant underclass that has few(if any) legal rights and plenty of grievances. TeErgons breed loyalty into their clone-races, but it’sunclear how solid that loyalty is... or will remain.

Te Torgons, who are bred for a number oftasks including warfare, are humorless, pitiless,

and cruel. Compared to them even Ackáliansseem cultured, sophisticated, and reasonable.Tey deal with others on a “friendly” basis onlywhen they have no means to enforce their willor can’t get what they want any other way. Teytake a hard-nosed, militaristic approach to almosteverything they do.

ESAGITESTe Esagites, a species of green-skinned

humanoids with some ichthyoid features, comefrom a terrestrial planet named Lregh that’s nearEcra-shen (the Se’ecra homeworld). A world oncewracked by clandestine warfare in which city-states sent squads of ta’hrevk assassin-saboteurs toinflict casualties upon enemy cities, Lregh centu-ries ago rejected warfare in favor of peaceful pros-perity. Lord Esagai, the reformer who persuadedhis people to renounce killing and destruction, istoday a divine figure so revered that the planet’sinhabitants refer to themselves by his name.

Although they scorn conflict, the Esagitesaren’t pacifists. Tey realize not everyone sharestheir ideals, so they prepare for war while avoidingit if at all possible. Rather than maintain a largestanding planetary military, they kept the traditionof the ta’hrevk alive, relying upon a small group ofassassin-saboteurs to protect their society. Othersoldiers look on their skill and discipline with awe.

FEXFex (the term is singular and plural) resemble

humanoid terrestrial cats, with swi, gracefulbodies, keen senses, and sharp claws. Tey have ashort, downy coating of fur all over their bodies,ranging in color from a grey so dark it’s nearlyblack to a light, tawny shade. Te hair on theirheads (oen called a “mane”) is thick and luxu-

rious; the fur on their backs and lower legs alsotends to be thicker.

FEX BIOLOGY Bipedal like Humans, Fex have bodies opti-

mized for fast sprinting rather than endurancerunning (they evolved from a hunting cat roughlysimilar to the cheetah of Earth, though they neverhave spotted fur). Teir feet and four-fingeredhands have large retractable claws, good for usenot only as weapons, but to help with tasks likeclimbing. Tey have large, sharp teeth comparedto Humans, but not large enough to qualify as“fangs.” Teir large, sensitive eyes work well in low

light.Fex subsist on a primarily carnivorous diet

— they can even eat raw meat without diffi-culty, though almost all Fex prefer cooked food.Various types of fish and the orsec, a type of smalldomestic animal similar to a pig, are their favoritefoods.

Fex come in the standard two genders andbear live young aer a three-month gestation. Tekittens remain in a pouch on the mother’s stomachfor a year aer birth. When large enough, theyleave the pouch and switch from a diet of milk toone of meat. Te law considers them adults whenthey reach age 15.

1




Fex can have superpowers. Enhanced physicalabilities (such as super-strength or super-speed)are the most common; mystics and mentalistsare rare.

FEXAO, THE FEX HOMEWORLDTe Fex come from Fexao, a terrestrial world

with 0.9 G lying antispinward from Earth. Overall,it has a dry climate — oceans cover only halfthe surface, and much of the land is desert. Te

northern hemisphere has the most fertile land,with several small continents and large islandgroups suitable for agriculture.

FEX SOCIETY AND CULTUREFex society is surprisingly peaceful, given

their predatory ancestry. Scrupulously polite andhonest, Fex try to remain calm and unruffled atall times. Xenosociologists would attribute thisrestraint to the fact that angry Fex can inflictserious damage on each other with their claws;if they were prone to anger or fighting, the resultwould be a society of maimed, scarred individuals.Te government of Fexao combines democracy

and meritocracy — the Fex vote on candidates tofill all the important government posts, but candi-dates must meet a very strict set of requirementsand pass examinations to become eligible to run.

Intellectually, the Fex have made importantcontributions to philosophy and law, but seldomhave much interest in the sciences. Teir sculptureand textiles are particularly fine (and will become valuable trade items if and when they join thegalactic community), and Fex dancers are famedfor their grace.

As of 2011, Fex technology is at a pre-industriallevel. Te arrival of beings from outer space wouldcause significant social disruption within their

society.

FEX TEMPLATE Cost Ability

4 +2 DEX

-2 -2 CON

12 Claws: HKA 1d6 (plus STR); ReducedPenetration (-¼)

4 Fex Legs: Running +4m

5 Fex Eyes: Nightvision

3 Descended From A Nocturnal Species:

Lightsleep4 +2 to Climbing


Value Complications

None


GHOK’PA Te Ghok’pa were an ancient species that

once attempted to enslave other worlds usingthe vast, dark mental powers of their priests. TeStar*Guard fought, defeated, and destroyed them,eradicating their evil from the Galaxy. Te onlyremnant of the species are a few well-hiddentemples were the psionic essences of some of thepriests are preserved for eternity in special disks.

Te discovery of once such temple turned formerGuardsman Mordace to evil (see page 250).

GOLOInhabitants of Goloba, a planet near Varanyi

space with only 15% of its surface covered byland, the Golo are a race of humanoids similarto Humans in many respects (though their facialfeatures, particularly the nose which merges into asort of flat crest along the top of the head, differ).Tey have only an early medieval level of tech-nology, and their world is heavily balkanized, withdozens of petty kingdoms squabbling for resourcesand power.

A high percentage of the Golo are naturallypsionic, some of them quite powerful. However,their main religions and superstitions classifypsionic powers as “witchcra,” and anyone exhib-iting such abilities is pursued by “witchhunters”both professional and amateur, and killed whencaptured. Any superhumans who visit the planetand exhibit any sort of superpower may likewisebe considered witches, or demons.

HRAC’DARESEInhabiting a terrestrial planet far to spinward

and coreward of Earth, the Hrac’darese descendfrom a fish-like being, though they long ago le

the waters behind for life on land. Tey havemetallic-colored skins — brassy, bronze, orcopperish — in which one can see faint traces of vertically rectangular scales if one gets close. Teirlarge, dark, round eyes appear pupilless; they haveno external ears or nasal structure, and thin lips.Teir five-fingered hands are not webbed, andtheir bodies lack hair.

While the average male Hrac’darese is only afew centimeters shorter than the average Human,Hrac’darese females are markedly smaller andweaker. Most males have multiple wives, with theexact number dictated largely by their religioussect but partly by their personal resources.

Women rarely work outside the home, thoughthey oen help support the family throughgardening, fishing, farming, crawork, or similaroccupations.

Hrac’darese women are only fertile for a five-year period in their twenties, so the generations ofHrac’darese tend to be highly distinct, and the ageof a Hrac’darese easy to guess. Children are highly valued and much beloved; they usually don’tleave home until they marry. Marriage involveselaborate courtship rituals and the payment of anoen-hey bride-price to the woman’s family.

Te Hrac’darese do not seem to be able topossess superpowers.




HRAC’DAR, THE HRAC’DARESE HOMEWORLDHrac’dar III, the Hrac’darese homeworld, is

the third of seven planets orbiting the G4III starHrac’dar. It’s an archipelagic world with no conti-nents at all but thousands of islands ranging insize from about 1.8 times the size of Greenland toso small that they virtually disappear at high tide.In many places large, well-braced bridges link twoor more islands together so the Hrac’darese can

travel by ground vehicle as well as watercra.Hrac’dar has two moons, both of which arenear and large enough to significantly affectthe planet’s tides. Te need to predict the tidesprecisely led the Hrac’darese to develop elaborate,sophisticated timekeeping methods and calendarsearly in their civilization; Hrac’darese timepiecesare extraordinarily accurate.

HRAC’DARESE SOCIETY AND CULTUREHrac’darese society is much like Human society

in many ways. Tere are many races, religions,economic sectors, and the like, but it all meldstogether to form an intriguing whole.

Religion plays a particularly important partin the lives of many Hrac’darese. Although thereare thousands of sects and creeds, most worship acreator-god named Nevha in some form. Origi-nally the sea-god of a powerful northern tribe,Nevha became, through a series of religious warsand philosophical reinterpretations, the object ofworship for over 80% of the Hrac’darese. ManyNevhan sects go so far as to dictate an adherent’s job, social status, number of wives, or where hecan live; others interpret religious doctrine muchmore loosely.

As of 2011, the Hrac’darese have technologyroughly equivalent to that of mid-twentieth

century Humans. It won’t be long before they visittheir moons, and then perhaps travel further....

HRAC’DARESETEMPLATE

Cost Ability

-1 -1 STR

1 +1 CON

1 Hrac’darese Skin: Resistant (+½) for 1PD/1 ED)

2 Hrac’darese Lungs: Life Support (Extended

Breathing: 1 END per Minute)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 3

Value Complications

None


JARUMA Unusual, powerfully-built fluorosilicone beings

from the Venusian world Umara (which is nearEcra-shen, the Se’ecra homeworld), the Jarumabreathe a mix of carbon dioxide and fluorine that’sdeadly to most other species. Tey stand morethan two meters tall on three stumpy legs andhave three arms, each of which ends in a mouth/hand surrounded by three eyes. Tey frequently

colonize worlds other species cannot live on.Jaruma society evolved from several tribal

cultures, and family and clan influence remainsa major part of almost every Jaruma’s life. Tishas led to a robust educational system, as wellas strong trading ties between Uruma and hercolonies that keeps them united even over greatdistances. Te Jaruma are well-known for theirskills in the fields of prospecting, mining, andgenetic engineering.

JARUMA TEMPLATE

Cost Ability 3 +3 STR

3 +3 CON

1 Jaruma Form: Resistant (+½) for 1 PD/1 ED

3 Jaruma Form: Life Support (Safe Environ-ments: High Pressure, Intense Heat)

10 Jaruma Eyes: Increased Arc Of Perception(360 Degrees) for Sight Group

5 Jaruma Form: Extra Limbs (2 — one extraarm and leg)


Value Complications


JHINUTe Jhinu (singular Jhinta) closely resemble

Humans, and come from a very Earth-like world.Masters of the biological sciences, the Jhinu longago eliminated genetically undesireable traitsfrom their species. As a result, these mammalianhumanoids are uniformly fit, healthy, and by theirown standards attractive (most other mammalianspecies, including Humans, would agree with thisopinion). Tere are seven major insaru, or geneticlines, among the Jhinu, and about three timesthat many minor insaru, so every Jhinta bears astrong resemblance to thousands or millions of hisfellows. Jhinu individualize themselves throughhairstyles, dress, and hobbies; matters of fashionhold great importance for them.

While the Jhinu marry for love, only abouthalf their children are biologically born. Oena couple wishing to have children uses in vitro fertilization and artificial birthing-chambers. ByJhinu law, only couples who prove that they haveproper genetic compatability can have offspring.Jhinu law outlaws the direct cloning of sentients,

although the technology is available and violationsof that law periodically occur.

1




Te process of improving the Jhinu genomelong ago weeded out the genetic abnormali-ties that make mutant superpowers possible.Other than this one restriction, they can havesuperpowers — but those powers have to comefrom deliberate mutation, “radiation accidents,”training, or the like. Te rate of superpower devel-opment on Jhin is approximately ten percent thatof Earth, and the average superhuman is roughlyas powerful as a Human with superpowers.

JHIN, THE JHINU HOMEWORLDJhin is remarkably Earthlike in most respects.

It has 1.0 G, roughly the same average temperatureas Earth, seven continents, and a wide variety ofecological zones and types of terrain. Its oceanstend to be smaller than those of Earth, but it hasmore large inland seas.

Te Jhinu have a unified world government,the Assembliad. Tis body of legislators — onethousand of them, chosen in a planetwide electionevery ten local years — convenes in an enormousmeeting-hall in the capital city of Lanendra. TeAssembliad Hall is gargantuan, but the Jhinu havea gi for architecture, so it’s not the only marvelon display in Lanendra. Beautifully sculptedskyscrapers, impressive monuments, and well-maintained boulevards suitable for both vehiclesand walking fill the capital, and most other Jhinucities as well.

Four moons fill Jhin’s night sky — two largeand two small, but only the largest has been visitedso far. Te Jhinu calendar depends on the move-ment of the largest moon, Nishar. Te early Jhinuthought the four moons were each the home of agod, and even today the number four has a greatdeal of cultural significance.

Jhin is the third of eight planets orbitingRhukhla, a G4V star. wo of those planets,Rhukhla II and IV, are Mars-like.

JHINU SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Jhinu are a remarkably peaceful people.

Teir eugenics program required a civilizationin substantial agreement about most issues (notthe least of which was the intention to start theprogram in the first place), so the pressures toconform socially are strong. Tough they havepolitical parties and factions, the disputes betweenthem never become severe, and it’s been nearly acentury since the Jhinu warred among themselves.

Crime is largely non-existent and rarely serious;the violent and criminal tendencies of Humansand other species would shock many Jhinu.

Te logical-minded Jhinu long ago aban-doned religion in favor of a philosophy known asScientific Determinism, which lauds the “DivineScientific Spirit” for creating the universe and thelaws of science. Although a sterile philosophy bymany species’s standards, it seems to serve theJhinu well; it tells them that most things happenfor a reason, and that learning and the properapplication of one’s knowledge are the best meansto deal with adversity.

Te Jhinu have technology that’s roughlyequivalent to Earth’s in most respects. However,their work in the biological sciences is signifi-cantly more advanced; if and when they join thegalactic community, genetic products will likely beone of their major trade items.

JHINU TEMPLATE Cost Ability 2 +2 INT

3 Jhinu Attractiveness: Striking Appearance+1/+1d6

4 Jhinu Improved Genetics: Life Support(Immunity to most Jhinu diseases)


Value Complications

None


KADATHARITe Kadathari are a humanoid species

descended from pack felines; they live on Kdathar,a terrestrial world not far from Mon’da. Teirtechnology is still relatively primitive — roughlyequivalent to that of fourteenth century Europeon Earth — but advancing quickly due to theKadathari propensity for working in teams,sharing information, and taking risks in the nameof progress or discovery.

KADILIANSKadilians are ochre-skinned humanoids similar

to Humans in most ways, though their average

height is 6’8” for males and 6’2” for females andthey’re equally tough and durable — a Kadiliancan suffer injuries that would kill a Humanoutright and live to tell the tale if he gets propermedical care. (In HERO System terms, they have+5 SR, +5 CON, +3 PD, +2 ED, and Regen-eration (1 BODY per Day).) Kadilians can havesuperhumans, but nearly all of them are bricks,speedsters, or metamorphs; they cannot havemental powers.

Te Kadilians have technology equivalent tolate eighteenth century Europe on Earth, thoughthey fight far less than Humans back then did.Most Kadilians follow a religion that preachesnear-total pacifism in the face of aggression orhatred.Tis has led to a peaceful society butretarded the development of technology.

Kadilia is a huge desert planet with 1.4 Ggravity; it’s located near Varanyi space. Oceanscover less than 20 percent of the surface, and life isoen harsh and short.




KALISHARIAttractive, slender humanoids with tails, the

Kalishari have skin that changes color from deeppurple to luminous yellow-green in shiingpatterns determined by the individual’s mood.Glowing green indicates pleasure or attraction, redanger or frustration, blue for “neutral” feelings,and dark purple for dangerous situations. Techange is subconscious; an individual can’t control

it. As a result, the Kalishari tend toward scrupu-lous honesty, since they can’t hide their feelingsfrom each other. Tey have learned not to takeoffense at many uncontrollable reactions; a good-looking Kalishari doesn’t consider it demeaning orinsulting if the person speaking with him displayscolors of romantic attraction, for example.

One of the few nocturnal sentient speciesknown, the Kalishari have sensitive vision andcannot tolerate bright sunlight. Naturally verystealthy, they move quickly and gracefully. Teylive in enormous, well-defended cave complexeson Kalisha. Some of the Kalishari’s undergroundcities qualify as wonders of the Galaxy... though

no one knows about them yet since they haven’tyet achieved starflight.

KALISHA, THE KALISHARI HOMEWORLDKalisha orbits its star (which is relatively near

Ergath, the Ergon-Torgon homeworld) a littlecloser than most humanoid-inhabitable planets,giving it hot surface temperatures (especially inthe summer) and driving most of the animal life

(including the Kalishari) underground into vastnatural cave complexes. Te Kalishari long agoexpanded many of these complexes, becomingmaster delvers and engineers in the process, andcontinue to do so as the needs of the populationrequire. Te Kalishari allow caves unsuitablefor themselves to remain natural, and a thrivingunderground ecosystem has developed in them,featuring life ranging from tiny spores and fungito packs of fierce wild cave-dogs. Some of theGalaxy’s most spectacular cave-formations existthere.

KALISHARI SOCIETY AND CULTUREKalishari society evolved amid the under-

ground cave complexes, where one powerful orclever individual assumed a leadership positionand bound the others in his cavern complex tohim with oaths both secular and religious. Tiscreated a sort of feudalistic, hierarchical societywhere one’s ability to get things done dependspartly on one’s social position, and partly on one’spersonal connections with important people.echnological and social advances amelioratedthis system somewhat, but the basic structureremains.

Te Kalishari are ruled by a planetary over-lord, the Ingaladi (“Emperor”), to whom all otherleaders swear oaths. Te Ingaladi’s strength varies;some do in fact rule the entire planet, while othersare dependent on the support of their “vassals” tosuch an extent that they’re mere figureheads.

Kalashari technology lags a little behindHuman; what they possess now is about the sameas what Earth had a hundred years ago. Teirgeology and subterranean engineering knowledgeexceeds that of Humans, however.

KALISHARI TEMPLATE Cost Ability

4 +2 DEX

10 +1 SPD

5 Kalishari Eyes: Nightvision

5 Kalishari Tail: Extra Limb (1), Inherent (+¼);Limited Manipulation (-¼)


Value Complications

15 Physical Complication: Light-SensitiveEyes (-2 Sight PER Rolls in bright light)(Frequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Social Complication: Color-Changing Skin(gives away current mood and attitude)(Frequently, Minor)


1




THE KOLAJIK PACKTe Kolajik Pack evolved from a reptile

superficially similar to ancient erran velocirap-tors. Individual Kolajik are 1.5 meters tall, withlong tails, lean runners’ bodies, and long, pointedfaces. Highly intelligent, they use telepathy as wellas voice to communicate among themselves.

Kolajik lay eggs in large communal hatcheriesand care for the young as a group. Tey love the

company of other people (especially their ownkind) and cannot stand long periods of solitude.Teir gregariousness appears somehow instinc-tive/biological; no known “loner” Kolajik exist.(A Kolajik isolated for longer than a day quicklybecomes agitated, and as more time passes heeventually starts hurting himself in frantic effortsto rejoin the Pack.) Carnivores, they long agoabandoned hunting in favor of ranching.

KOLAJ, THE KOLAJIK HOMEWORLDKnown to most other species as a rainy,

swampy world (since the Kolajik favor suchareas and have built their most prominent cities

in them), Kolaj actually features a wide range ofclimatic and ecological zones. However, its polarregions are smaller than normal for an Earth-like planet. Summers tend to be hot and muggy,winters chilly (but not freezing) and foggy.

KOLAJIK SOCIETY AND CULTUREIn person Kolajik are friendly, boisterous,

and hyperactive. Tey seem to lack any senseof shyness (oen seeming a tad short on tact aswell), and don’t hesitate to introduce themselvesto complete strangers if they sense an opportu-nity to add to their circle of friends. Tey makegood salesmen, traders, and diplomats; a few

Kolajik spies have scored major intelligencecoups by getting close to sensitive targets throughdisarming friendliness.

It’s rare to see a Kolajik anywhere without thecompany of at least one other Kolajik, or at the very least one or two close friends from otherspecies. All Kolajik entertainments are groupactivities — playing or watching team sports,

attending or playing in symphonies, communalcreation of artwork, and so on. Tey even go ingroups to vote!

Kolajik technology is roughly equivalent tonineteenth century Human technology: steam-powered vehicles, percussion firearms, no aircra,and so on.

KORUNDAROne of the strangest species in the Galaxy, the

silicoid Korundar live in conditions which wouldkill most humanoids quickly, and so have escapedconquest and exploitation. Tey’re admired fortheir skills as prospectors, miners, metallurgists,

and engineers.One of the few known silicoid species, theKorundar evolved from gathering herbivores.o Humans, their bodies/flesh resemble a rocklike smoky quartz, but not faceted or crystalline.Vaguely centauroid, with four legs and two arms,they’re huge (6-8 m tall), powerful beings by thestandards of most carbon-based life. Tey liveon radioactive crystalline “plants.” Hermaphro-ditic, they lay eggs that look like silver-paintedbowling balls.

KOLAJIK TEMPLATE Cost Ability

6 +3 DEX

2 +2 CON

10 +1 SPD

-2 -2 BODY

10 Teeth: HKA ½d6 (plus STR)

5 Talons: HKA 1 pip (plus STR)12 Kolajik Mind: Telepathy 2d6, Reduced

Endurance (0 END; +½); CommunicationOnly (-¼)

6 Kolajik Legs: Running +6m

5 Tail: Extra Limb (1), Inherent (+¼); LimitedManipulation (-¼)


Value Complications

10 Psychological Complication: Hates BeingAlone (Common, Moderate)





KORUN, THE KORUNDAR HOMEWORLDTe Korundar live deeper in the Galactic

core than any other solid species. Korun is adense, massive world wrapped in a superheatedatmosphere and constantly churned by volcanicactivity. A thriving silicon-based ecology evolvedthere, using volcanic vents as the chief energysource. Complex crystalline “plants” grow aroundthe vents, sending metallic tendrils into the

molten rock in search of heavy metals.KORUNDAR SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Most other species find Korundar society andculture maddeningly slow. Te Korundar take aday to do what most sentient beings can do in anhour. Teir religious ceremonies, which last fordays and involve worship of their homeworld viarituals performed near lava vents, are perhapsthe best example of the Korundar tendency toperform tasks cautiously and with an eye towardperfection.

Unlike most starfaring species, the Korundarlack a unified world government. Korun remains

balkanized into nearly one hundred nations,mostly democratic republics or constitutionalmonarchies. Tese nations generally enjoypeaceful relations; despite their size and strength,Korundar are calm, deliberate, and difficult toanger. Disputes sometimes arise over food sourcesor other limited resources, however.

Korundar don’t colonize, simply because fewworlds exist that can support their type of life,but they oen travel to other planets to work as

miners, engineers, or even mercenaries. Since theydon’t have to breathe, Korundar can get by onmost planets with nothing but cold-weather gear,usually incorporating a layer of lead foil to protectfragile organic beings from their mildly radioac-tive bodies.

Te Korundar have advanced technology,though most devices are unusual crystalline sortsof things almost completely incompatible withother species’ technology. Tey are particularlyadept at metallurgy and the construction of fissionpower plants based on biological models.

KRSSTTe Krsst are a hive-mind species that evolved

from creatures somewhat similar to army ants orbee swarms. Each hive effectively constitutes asingle organism, usually covering roughly a 2-4meter radius area when assembled. Unlike theShiseki (see below), Krsst hives communicate bydirect transmission of nerve impulses from individual to individual, along with a battery of scentcues. Tey are sensitive to poisons and drugs,and a good dose of soapy water can disrupt theswarm’s scent communication.

Te Krsst inhabit the planet Elcara VII, locatedfar spinward and a bit coreward of Earth. Teirculture could best be described in Human termsas “militantly libertarian”; each swarm seems tothink it and it alone knows what’s best for it andthat other swarms should leave it alone as muchas possible. Krsst technology is about the same asHuman technology, though the two are virtu-ally incompatible due to their creators’ radicallydifferent body types and perceptions.

LORGHILTe Lorghil live on the planet of the same

name — a small, mostly agricultural, world about350 light-years from Earth, with one distantmoon. Tey’re an inch or two taller than Humanson the average. Lorghil skin comes in variousshades of brown, and their eyes are much largerthan Humans’ and solid black.

Lorghil can have superpowers. In fact, the rateof psionic development on the planet is signifi-cantly higher than on Earth — approximately30% of Lorghil have mental powers of some type,usually in the 40-50 Active Point range.

Since their telepathic powers allow them to“link” large number of people and negotiate most

problems to a mutually acceptable conclusion,Lorghil is a peaceful place — a world of farmersand artists where intense competition and evenstrong emotions are frowned upon. Large citiesare relatively rare; the Lorghil seem to prefertowns and small cities. Compared to most worldswith a similar level of technological development,large stretches of the planet are rural areas orwilderness.

Lorghil technology is more advanced thanHuman tech. Tey have spacecra capable ofcarrying a Lorghil to nearly any part of their solarsystem. However, few Lorghil are adventurousenough to want to travel into space.

KORUNDAR TEMPLATE

Cost Ability 20 +20 STR

-10 -1 SPD

8 +8 BODY

6 Radioactive Form: Drain CON ½d6, NND(defense is Life Support [Safe Environment:High Radiation] or lead shielding; +0), AreaOf Effect (personal Surface — DamageShield; +¼), Constant (+½), ReducedEndurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+¼);Always On (-½), No Range (-½)

21 Silicoid Body: Resistant Protection (6 PD/8 ED)

15 Silicoid Body: Life Support (Self-Contained

Breathing; Safe Environments: High Pres-sure, High Radiation, Intense Heat)

12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -12m

24 Long Legs: Running +24m

3 Reach: Reach +3m

5 Lots Of Legs: Extra Limbs (two more legs),Inherent (+¼); Limited Manipulation (-¼)


Value Complications

15 Physical Complication: Enormous (Frequently,Slightly Impairing)


1




MOSTREENTe Mostreen (singular, Mostree) come from a

planet not far removed from Ecra-shen (the Se’ecrahomeworld). Tey’re tall, agile beings descendedfrom avian ancestors. Covered with feathers, theyhave an elaborate and colorful crest of plumes ontheir heads. Instead of wings, they have long armsand long-fingered hands optimized for catchingfish and small animals (and today useful for many

tasks requiring deness). Teir beaks, which haveserrated edges, can inflict serious biting damage.Mostreens lay eggs and care for their young withgreat affection and attention.

TAN’RAA, THE MOSTREEN HOMEWORLDan’raa was once a world of lush jungle

lowlands, large forested plateaus, and sweepingdeserts reminiscent, to Humans, of Arizona.Unfortunately, during their lengthy industrial-ization period, the Mostreen exploited an’raa’snatural resources too heavily, causing significantecological damage. Unless something radicaloccurs, it’s likely they’ll starve to death in the next

two centuries because they’ve crippled their foodproduction capabilities.

MOSTREEN SOCIETY AND CULTUREMostreen tend to a strong streak of curiosity

and adventurousness. Tis led them to explorean’raa thoroughly at a fairly early stage of societaldevelopment, and enhances their interest in purescientific research. But it also makes them proneto social and political fads, and in some cases todecadence and dissipation.

Te Mostreen may have some evolutionaryremnant of an avian’s penchant for flight,since they seem drawn to careers as pilots and

spacemen. Tey’re avid explorers.Mostreen technology is roughly the same asmid-twentieth century Human technology.

MOSTREEN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

4 +2 DEX

10 Mostreen Beak: HKA ½d6 (up to 1d6+1with STR)

5 Talons: HKA 1 pip (up to ½d6 with STR)

2 Mostreen Legs: Running +2m


Value Complications

None


NALOTHResembling large, tentacled slugs, the Naloth

live in coastal swamps on the planet Lothan nearAckál. Air-breathers, they can survive in theoxygen-poor swamp water thanks to their efficient

lungs. All Naloth have mild psionic powers, whichthey evolved to communicate and to lure prey;today they use them almost solely to “speak” toeach other (and eventually to aliens, when theyfinally encounter some). Teir technology lags acouple centuries behind Humans’ and is mostlybiologically-based.

(In HERO System terms, a Naloth has Swim-ming +6m, Life Support (Extended Breathing: 1END per Minute), elepathy 4d6, Reduced Endur-ance (0 END; +½), Running -8m, and -2 DEX.)

NANA humanoid species from the planet Nao near

Dorvala, the Nan have a distinctive arrowhead-shaped head and no visible eyes or ears. A Nancan use the sharp front and edges of his skull todeliver a deadly slashing attack. Powerful psionics,the Nan use psi to sense the world and commu-nicate. As predators, Nan relish the terror of afleeing prey animal... or even better, sentient.When they finally meet aliens, they’ll regard themas excellent “targets” for hunts.

(In HERO System terms, a Nan has an HKA½d6 headbutt, Spatial Awareness, and approxi-mately 70 Character Points’ worth psionic powers[including elepathy 6d6, bought to 0 END cost].Tey have no senses of Sight, Hearing, or Smell.)




NAXARITe ancient Naxari civilization was once one

of the most advanced in the Galaxy. Its superpow-ered ruler, Queen Lyrane, attempted to conquerthe Milky Way but was stopped by the Star*Guardand disappeared aer her defeat (see page 227). Asthe millennia progressed, the Naxari civilizationrose and fell, nearly obliterating itself several timesin conflicts between the various nation-states that

controlled the planet.Te Naxari civilization came to an end in the

Human year 1996 when the supervillainess knownas Galaxia (see CV3 124) attacked the planet,eventually killing over four billion Naxari. (Tereasons for this attack remain unclear.) Te planetis now a lifeless wasteland pockmarked by ruinedcities and towns that give mute testimony to thegreatness that once resided there.

ORTHUTe Orthu are an avian humanoid species

native to a planet they call Orth which is farto antispinward of Earth. Teir ancestors were

actually more of a dinosaur-like creature than abird, as shown by their green, leathery skins, butthe colorful ruff of feathers they have on theirheads in place of hair would make most speciesthink “avian.” Te color of the ruff denotes racewithin the species, and the primitive Orthu (whocurrently have Bronze Age technology) frequentlyengage in inter-clan, -tribe, or -kingdom wars overracial hatreds.

OSATHRITe Osathri (singular Osath) are an ocean-

dwelling species resembling catfish, with special-ized fins for manipulating objects. Tey have six

eyes — two on the sides of the head, two on topforward, and two downward-looking just in frontof the mouth. Teir homeworld, Soolasha, hasno bodies of land worth mentioning, making itinhospitable to visitors (or invaders). Te Osathrihave medieval-level technology and a heavilybalkanized world; competition among kingdomsand empires for the choicest resources is fierce.

PELGONITESLike the Anthari, the Pelgonites were the

victims of Valak the World-Ravager. A fewdecades ago they had a thriving civilization just taking its first steps toward a unified worldgovernment and FL space travel. oday Pelgonis little more than an airless cinder littered withcorpses aer its primitive spacefleet was utterlyunable to stop Valak’s attack.

POGRACKIANSo Human eyes, the Pograckians — natives of

Pograck, a world far antispinward of Earth — looklike humanoid dogs. Even the color of their shortfur tends to mimic canine patterns; a Human visiting Pograck might see Pograckians thatsuperficially looked like golden retrievers, cockerspaniels, or dalmatians.

Pograckian technology in 2011 lags just slightlybehind Humans’, though unlike Humans they havea unified world government. Pograckian societyis characterized by intense degrees of competi-tion on the individual level, but easy coopera-

tion and loyalty among and between groups. APograckian will do his utmost to, for example,win a job or athletic competition... but then meetthe other candidates/competitors later for a drinkin an event that turns into a big party in honorof the winner. It’s a combination of meritoc-racy and team effort that’s likely to strike otherspecies as rather odd when they finally meet thePograckians.

POGRACKIAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR2 +2 CON

10 Pograckian Bite: HKA ½d6 (plus STR)

6 Pograckian Nose: +3 to PER Rolls forSmell/Taste Group

10 Pograckian Nose: Targeting for NormalSmell

5 Pograckian Nose: Tracking for NormalSmell


Value Complications

None


PRYLENISHTe Prylenish are an example of one of the

rarest types of sentient life in the Milky Way,botanoids. Tey’re intelligent plants with twosuperhuman abilities. One is the power to controltheir shape by “growing” into a desired form. Tistakes several days, but allows them to assume ahumanoid frame and mingle easily with otherhumanoids. Te other is an empathic link withplant life that makes them superb farmers and

gardeners.

1




Te Prylenish homeworld, Sha-Prylen, wasconquered by the Hzeel in 1995 and absorbedinto the Hzeel Empire. Te royal family, theGiel-Berusa-Eqar-Stenlaniens, escaped just aheadof the Hzeel assault on the planetary capital.Unfortunately their ship was damaged duringthe escape and soon was flying out of control. Iteventually crash-landed on Earth, where it wasfound by some of the superpowered studentsattending Ravenswood Academy. With their helpthe Prylenish refugees obtained permission fromthe United Nations to remain on Earth (thoughtheir existence is a carefully-kept secret). Teynow work as gardeners at Ravenswood.

QUAGITe Quagi look rather like a humanoid frogs,

with bulging eyes set atop flat heads, wide mouths,webbed feet, and slick skins. Unlike frogs they’rewarm-blooded and bear live young. Tey havegill-like breathing organs that function equallywell in air and water. Tey frequently travel fromtheir homeworld Quagaro (which is a member ofthe Velarian Confederation) to other worlds andout into the greater Galaxy to work as biologists,artists, underwater laborers, traders, diplomats,and assassins (they have a well-developed scienceof poisons).

Te Quagi are currently allied with the Velar-ians and the Catavalans in a civil war againstthe Fassai and Renghadi for political controlof the Velarian Confederation. None of thespecies involved has fast FL ships, so it’s a long,protracted affair with no end in sight as of 2011.

(In HERO System terms, a Quagi has Swim-ming +5m and Life Support (Expanded Breathing:breathe underwater).)

QEDUSTIERSA relatively primitive species slowly working

their way up the technological ladder, the Qedust-iers (kay-DOO-stee-ay) are native to Qedusti,an Earthlike world between Mon’da and Ackál.It’s a planet of small cities and gorgeous vistas,with many broad, beautiful plains and forests oftowering chelbara trees.

Te humanoid Qedustiers average about1.6-1.8 m tall, with skin tones ranging from lightochre to dark brown. Teir heads are long andnarrow, with furrowed ridges and sparse hair ontop; males have a pair of horns projecting down-

ward from the top of the skull to frame the head.(Tese horns, while fairly sharp at the tip, aren’tpositioned for use as weapons; they’re a secondarysexual characteristic.) Teir noses are flat andbroad, and they have four fingers on each hand.As omnivores, they have a diet that includes fruit,eggs, sea creatures, and small birds.

QEDUSTIER SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Qedustiers evolved on the plains and

prairies of Qedusti from a mammalian creaturemixing features of antelopes and bears. Naturallysomewhat aggressive, they experienced numerouswars in their early history. Gradually the incessant

conflicts weeded out the most aggressive membersof the species, leaving less warlike, more schol-arly Qedustiers to evolve large city-states fromwhat were once isolated urban communities. TeQedustiers remain at this level of sociopoliticaldevelopment, with an early medieval level oftechnology.

QEDUSTIER TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR

2 +2 CONTotal Cost Of Template Abilities: 4

Value Complications

None







RIGELLIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURERigellian society is heavily balkanized, with

hundreds of nations whose political systemsspan the gamut from virtually pure democracy todespotism. But thanks to Rigel V’s size and rich-ness, disputes over resources and territory haverarely occurred in Rigellian society. Troughoutmost of Rigellian history it’s been easier for a tribeto simply move on to new, unsettled lands rather

than fight a stronger tribe. In the past two centu-ries a few small-scale (by Human standards) warshave occurred, mostly over political or religiousdifferences, but they’ve ended quickly.

Despite the lack of wars to spur technologicaladvancement, the Rigellians are only slightlybehind Humanity technologically. Many Rigellianspossess a strong streak of curiosity; they’re eagerto learn and oen can’t resist sticking their nosesin where they don’t belong. When they finally jointhe galactic community, this trait will undoubtedlylead many of them into careers as explorers anddiplomats.

Given their vocal gis, it’s not surprising

that the Rigellians love music, poetic readings,plays, and other forms of art involving singing orspeaking. Among the Rigellians, skill in oratoryand rhetoric are highly valued, and making musicis a favorite pastime.

THE R’KAILI HIVEInhabitants of a large terrestrial world relatively

close to Ecra-shen (the Se’ecra homeworld), theR’kaili are an unusual example of a hive mindspecies that’s not insectoid or energy-based.Tey’re purple-skinned mammalian humanoidswho are constantly linked species-wide by amental bond. Tis has allowed them to advance

rapidly as a civilization, since there’s little conflictand extensive mental resources to draw upon forproblem-solving. As of 2011 they have medium-to-fast FL starships, powerful energy weapons,limited matter replication, and other advancedtechnologies, and are an important player in thegalactopolitical community.

ROIN’ESHTe Roin’esh are one of the few remaining

client species in the Malvan “Empire.” Tey’re ahumanoid species with brownish-grey skin, smalleyes, short, fine hair on their heads and backs,and a series of distinctive vertical furrows on

their foreheads. But appearances can be deceiving— the Roin’esh are natural shapeshiers andcan look like virtually any sort of humanoid youcan imagine (some can even flawlessly imitateanother individual, though not down to thecellular level). A few are even more powerful, withcomplete mastery over their forms. Tey can turninto animals, objects, and sometimes even rawsubstances (like water or fire), not just humanoids.Tis is why the Malvans keep them enslaved; theyconsider the Roin’esh’s powers endlessly enter-taining in many ways.

Te Roin’esh, for their part, bitterly resenthaving to serve the Malvans; they want to chart

their own course in the Galaxy and found their

own empire (something they’re convinced theycould easily do). For decades they’ve been spyingon the Malvans as best they can, hoping for achance to strike a decisive blow and earn theirfreedom. Whether the Malvans are aware of thisand are simply toying with their slaves for the sake

of amusement, or genuinely aren’t paying atten-tion, remains to be seen.

Te Roin’esh homeworld is called aroindar. It’sa borderline terrestrial world with harsh climaticconditions that make life difficult (which may bewhy the Roin’esh evolved shapeshiing abilities).Many Roin’esh cultures were once characterized bya nomadic lifestyle so they didn’t overuse scarceresources, which oen led to fierce competitionfor valuable territory. oday most Roin’esh live incities, the harshness of their environment amelio-rated by their own and Malvan technology.

SALGANDANS

Tis green-skinned, humanoid species is ruledby the Malvan elxaxares, who conquered themtwo decades ago (see page 135). Teir medieval-to-Renaissance level technology and cultureswere unable to stand against his “magic” (Malvantechnology), and as a result they’ve become hissubjects. elxaxares has done little to changeconditions on the planet, though, aside frombuilding roads (which will soon begin providinga significant boost to the world economy). TeSalgandans, who like Humans have a dizzyingarray of cultures, languages, religions, and philos-ophies, continue to live life as they always have— aside from having to answer to the Ang’tang’lq

(“Sorcerer-God-King”).

ROIN’ESH TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR

4 +2 DEX

3 +3 CON

21 Basic Roin’esh Shapeshifting: Shape Shift (Sight, Hearing, and Touch

Groups, up to four predefined humanoid shapes)3 Roin’esh Senses: +1 to PER Rolls with all Sense Groups


Value Complications

None


Options

Cost Option

+12 True Roin’esh Shapeshifting: expand Basic Roin’esh Shapeshifting to:Shape Shift (Sight, Hearing, and Touch Groups, any humanoid shape,Imitation)

Superior Roin’esh Shapeshifting:

(-21) Remove Basic Roin’esh Shapeshifting

160 Superior Roin’esh Shapeshifting Pool: Variable Power Pool, 80 Pool +80 Control Cost; Cosmic (+2); Only For Multiform, Shape Shift, AndRelated Abilities (-½)




SE’ECRA Te Se’ecra strongly resemble large, humanoid,

sentient beetles, though with just two legs andarms. Tey evolved from gathering herbivoreancestors, but occasionally eat meat products asexotic flavorings. Tey cannot fly, though theyhave vestigial wings that they use for heat regula-tion and signaling. Teir tough shells protect themfrom harm, and they have a keen sense of smell.

Se’ecra cannot speak; they communicate bywing flutters, gestures, and scent combinations.Te name “Se’ecra” (singular, Ecra), bestowed onthem by the Se-lag, means approximately “wing-speakers.” Most Se’ecra use Se-lag names whendealing with beings who speak. Among aliens,Se’ecra carry portable computers that translatetheir methods of communication to speech.

Se’ecra are hermaphrodites and lay eggs in largeclusters. Doting parents, they tend their youngcarefully through a ten-year larval stage in whichthey are nothing but mindless eating machines.Despite their best efforts, only a few larva surviveto maturity.

Adult Se’ecra have a relatively short lifespan —originally only 30 years aer the change to adult-hood, though advanced medicine has extendedthat to 50 years. Tis tends to make them reluctantto waste time, so they maintain an exhaustingpace of activity. Tey’re extremely curious; theylove to learn new things, encounter new species,and explore space. Teir technology is highlyadvanced, with medium-speed FL starships andsimilar devices.

ECRA-SHEN, THE SE’ECRA HOMEWORLDTe Se’ecra come from the planet Ecra-shen, a

warm, Earthlike world with extensive forests and

an impressive ring system (early Se’ecra believedthe rings were the homes of the gods; today, theysimply admire them for their beauty). As ambi-tious explorers, they have plans to settle othersuitable planets someday, but those are just spacerdreams so far.

SE’ECRA SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Se’ecra are the dominant species in their

region of the Galaxy, which may eventually leadthem to found an interstellar empire or union ofsome sort. Tey have a not-undeserved reputa-tion as meddlers in the affairs of others. Teyconsider other species as so many helpless grubs

they must protect and guide to “adulthood.”Tey have no doubt their own ways are the bestand most enlightened, and believe it would behighly immoral to deny others the benefit of theirknowledge and help. Some of their “projects” willundoubtedly benefit many worlds and speciessomeday... others might cause all sorts of trouble.

Tanks to their advanced technology andsophisticated society, most Se’ecra enjoy a life ofease. Tey work at creative or scientific pursuits,leaving the manufacturing and heavy labor torobots, automated facilities, or other species.Because they have such highly-developed sensesof taste and smell, they’ve developed a varied and

elaborate cuisine.

SE’ECRA TEMPLATE Cost Ability

3 Se’ecra Shell: Resistant Protection (1 PD/1 ED)

-2 Se’ecra Legs: Running -2m

5 Se’ecra Senses: Discriminatory for Normal Smell/

Taste5 Se’ecra Senses: Tracking for Normal Smell

3 Se’ecra Senses: +3 PER with Normal Smell/Taste


Value Complications

10 Physical Complication: Se’ecra Eyes (color blindand nearsighted; -1 Sight PER in appropriatesituations when corrective lenses/medicationsnot used) (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Physical Complication: Mute (Infrequently,Slightly Impairing)


1




SE-LAGTe quasi-amphibious Se-lag are 1.4-meter

tall water-dwelling mammals with six limbs (fourarms, two legs), in some ways similar in appear-ance to erran otters or beavers. Te first alienspecies encountered by the Se’ecra, they comefrom the planet Losai, only a few light-years“north” of Ecra-shen. Losai, almost a water-world,has oceans, inland seas, and lakes covering 84%

of its surface, and more of its land mass in islandsand subcontinents than true continents. TeSe-lag live in canal-cities and even incorporateartificial streams and ponds into their architecture.

Se-lag sometimes accompany Se’ecra ontheir voyages of exploration, though they’re notinterested in it enough to build their own fleet ofstarships. Known for their playful, good-humoredattitudes and their remarkable skill at languagesand communication, they may be encounteredoutside of their space as merchants, diplomats,and interpreters. Playful and gregarious, they oenhave a fondness for jokes and trickery that makesthem devilishly effective computer hackers, spies,

and covert operatives.

SE-LAG TEMPLATE Cost Ability

-2 -2 STR

4 Environmental Movement: AquaticMovement

3 Accustomed To The Water: Life Support(Extended Breathing: 1 END per Turn;Safe Environment: Intense Cold)

3 Aquatic Form: Swimming +6m

6 Six Limbs: Extra Limbs (2 — two morearms), Inherent (+¼)


Value Complications

None


SHAR’EENShort (1.6 m tall), ochre-skinned humanoids

native to the planet Shartaru not far from Dorvala,the Shar’een actively participate in galactic society

as traders, explorers, mercenaries, and more.Although more advanced technologically thanthe Perseids, they’re not particularly warlike andare mostly content to be a part of the nascent“Perseid Empire.” Some of them would prefer tohave nothing to do with the Perseids, but closerelations with the ambitious species has increasedthe Shar’een’s prosperity enough to keep themcontent... for now.

SHISEKIA crab-like species with a society based on

“castes” biologically specialized for different tasks(such as warriors with large fighting pincers),the Shiseki have a hive mind that allows them tocommunicate instantly over vast distances andincrease their collective intelligence. A singleShiseki has almost no IN, but a large groupof them usually has a prodigious gestalt intel-

lect. Teir homeworld, Sekra, is an archipelagicworld of small, detached continents and countlessislands of every size and variety.

SHOLARRONSholarron are strange and somewhat disturbing

creatures — psionic parasites who’ve learnedto control host animals so they can manipulateobjects.

SHOLARRON BIOLOGY Te parasitic Sholarron feed on the blood of

host animals and incubate their young in livinghost bodies. Tey use their ability to controlminds to ensure an ongoing supply of docile hosts.

o many members of other species, they seem likehorrifying psychic vampire creatures, and theirappearance doesn’t help: a Sholarron resemblesa giant caterpillar or centipede, with dozens oftiny legs supporting a long, segmented body.Te body is mostly brain tissue, and a Sholarronspends most of its time clinging to the spine of ahost animal, controlling its movements, using itssenses, and siphoning off blood.

SHOLARRON TEMPLATE

Cost Ability -8 -8 STR

2 +2 EGO

-5 -5 PRE

10 +2 DCV

19 Host Body: Follower (use the Gorilla from HSB468; character may select another host ofequal value if desired, or buy multiple hosts)

47 Sholarron Control: Mind Control 8d6, Telepathic(+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); NoRange (-½)

30 Sholarron Communication: Telepathy 4d6,Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½)

4 Hard To Perceive: +2 to Stealth

5 Sholarron Legs: Extra Limbs (thousands of legs),Inherent (+¼); Limited Manipulation (-¼)


Value Complications

10 Physical Complication: Small (Infrequently,Slightly Impairing)

15 Physical Complication: Limited Manipulation(Frequently, Slightly Impairing)





SHOLA, THE SHOLARRON HOMEWORLDOther species know very little about Shola, the

home planet of the Sholarron. Something aboutthe place, or perhaps just the presence of billionsof Sholarron, causes outsiders to experiencepsychic disturbances, headaches, nightmares, andin some cases even prolonged bouts of insanity.As a result, visitors are few and far between, andusually bring psychic shielding technology with

them for temporary protection.What is known is that the Sholarron tend tospread out. Tey rarely build large cities, prefer-ring small towns or even to live by themselves.Shola is much less developed than most compara-tive worlds, partly due to Sholarron preferencesand partly so the Sholarron can harvest biologicalresources.

SHOLARRON SOCIETY AND CULTUREDespite their creepy biology, the Sholarron

have developed an advanced civilization and arepeaceful allies of the Se’ecra. Tey don’t prey onsentient beings (and never have, for that matter)

— they carefully raise and tend host animals.Many simply have one host (almost always alarge creature like a erran gorilla with tool-usingpaws); others have multiple hosts they can use:large flyers, fast-running organisms similar toantelopes, and so forth.

SUSETHRINTe Susethrin are a serpentine species with two

arms and no lower limbs, just a snake-like lowerbody that allows them to slither along the groundat speed and climb easily. Tey’re native to Susata,a terrestrial planet not far from Ecra-shen (theSe’ecra homeworld).

Te Susethrin have only medieval level tech-nology because they’re naturally psychokinetic.Tey don’t need elaborate machines to move heavyobjects, hurl missiles, or travel quickly — theycan do all of that with the power of their minds!(Tey’re also biologically capable of having super-powers, though if any have yet appeared on Susatathey’ve been mistaken for gods or demons andgone down as such in folklore and legend.)

TARMINTe armin are slightly smaller than Humans

and look very much like tailless, bipedal rats.Tey come from the planet armo, which has 1.2G gravity; as a result they’re slightly stronger, onaverage, than Humans. Tey prefer to live nearwater, and their cities are Venice-like mazes ofcanals.

Although to Human eyes they’re likely toappear sly and malevolent, in truth the arminare usually honorable to a fault and avenge allinsults — especially any derogatory referencesinvolving rats.

(In HERO System terms, armin have +1 SR,+2 PER with Normal Hearing, Swimming +3m,and -4m Running.)

TA’SHAR-NTe a’shar-n, humanoids with greyish skin

and three eyes, are yet another victim of Valak theWorld-Ravager’s destructive rampages. Teir oncethriving civilization has been cast down in ruins,with only a few pitiful survivors hunting amongthe wreckage to satisfy their day-to-day needs. It’sunlikely the species can survive more than a fewdecades.

THRÍNÚDescended from creatures resembling erran

birds, the Trínú (HREE-noo) come from thelow-gravity world Tar. Tey are one of the fewflying sentient species.

THRÍNÚ BIOLOGY Impressive and beautiful people, Trínú have

broad wings, colorful feathers, and claws forperching. Unlike erran birds Trínú have teethrather than beaks, and six limbs (two legs, twoarms, and two wings). Tey can fly in low gravity,making them ideal space explorers.

Trínú reproduce by laying eggs. Teir ances-

tors constructed great nest-towns on cliffs andlarge trees. Modern Trín architecture runs todizzyingly tall towers. Gregarious and talkative,they gather daily to gossip and discuss events.While Trínú can tolerate being alone, they don’tenjoy it.

THAR, THE THRÍNÚ HOMEWORLDTe Trínú homeworld, Tar, is located near

the Velarian Confederation, though the Trínúhave not yet established contact with any otherspecies. It’s got only 0.75 G, so it would be a littleuncomfortable for most species. Te planet hasmany spectacular natural sites, including the

Gínari Cliffs, Malla Falls, and the Shrínas Forests.

THRÍNÚ SOCIETY AND CULTURETe government of Tar is a universal democ-

racy. Every Trín can vote, without limit of ageor even capacity. Tey discuss issues in a seriesof virtual forums, and these discussions can lasta very long time indeed. In practice, the Trínúsystem means most citizens accept the recom-mendations of professional civil servants or afew “politics geeks” whose opinions they respect.During times of crisis, popular enthusiasm leadsto rapid and sometimes unwise decisions.

Easily bored, Trínú prefer to skip from one

thing to another rather than working on a singletask for a long time. Tis makes them seemscatter-brained and silly to most other species.A Trín really can fly a plane, play a game on hispocket computer, chat with his co-pilot, and eatlunch at the same time. He may not complete anyone task as quickly as a Human or Perseid would,but he gets them all done soon enough.

Te Trínú have a permissive, hedonisticculture. Trín philosophers determined centuriesago that the capacity for enjoyment distinguishesliving beings from machines, so there’s no higherpurpose than simply having fun.

SOLEMNIDS

The Solemnids are

a humanoid species

that recently fought,

and lost, a war with

the Hzeel and are

now subjects of the

Hzeel Empire (see

page 141). A typicalSolemnid is about

the same height and

build as an average

Human, though their

skins are purple or

blue shades and

their eyes yellow

and pupilless. They

possess low-speed

FTL drives and

similar advanced

technology, though

access to and use of

such devices is now

strictly controlled by

the Hzeel. Solemnids

can have super-

powers, but they

only have about 15%

as many as Earth,

and the average

superhuman is only

half as powerful as

one on Earth.

1




Trínú technology is roughly equivalent toHuman tech as of 2011, though they alreadyhave several permanently-manned orbital spacestations around their planet.

THRÍNÚ TEMPLATE

Cost Ability

-2 -2 STR-2 -2 BODY

5 Talons: HKA 1 pip (plus STR)

12 Wings: Flight 24m, Not in Gravity above0.75 G (-½), Restrainable (-½)

-2 Thrínú Legs: Running -2m


Value Complications

None


TKAKIRoughly Human-sized, kaki look like a night-marish combination of praying mantis, scorpion,and grasshopper. Tey have a long segmentedbody with a prehensile tail tipped with a sting.Six long multijointed legs support the body, andfour arms (two with heavy fighting claws, twowith small manipulators) allow a kak to performmany tasks efficiently. Te head is small (a kak’sbrain is in its body), with complicated mouthpartsand large faceted eyes. kaki are native to !ral, aworld near Mon’da.

TORACTANS

Standing a bit more than 1 meter tall, orac-tans are heavily muscled, virtually hairless human-oids who weigh more than 50 kilograms as adults.Teir tough skin has armor plates on the back,forearms, and shins. Although at first appear-ance they may seem ponderous and slow, in truththey’re every bit as agile as Humans. Tey havetwo fingers and a thumb on each hand.

Tough warm-blooded, oractans lay eggs inclutches of four. Troughout their history, mostoractans died in childhood or adolescence, victims of the many vicious predators on oracta.Tat’s still a problem even today, but modernoractan technology has ameliorated the problem

enough that the population is rising steadily.

TORACTA, THE TORACTAN HOMEWORLDMuch larger than Earth, the planet oracta

has a gravity of 1.4 standard G. Oceans and largeinland seas cover eighty percent of the surface;the landmasses are mostly in the tropics, andhave several large rainforest basins and cloudforest regions. Te oractans evolved in one of thebasins.

oracta’s animal life tends to be big, compa-rable to Earth’s dinosaurs, and includes severalhuge and terrifying species of predator. Te largestsuch creature, the rostanac (“Eater of Forests”)

has a mass of 70 tons and stands 12 meters tall.

Even today, fear of these predators remains high;the oractans build their cities underground, orheavily fortify them against marauding animals.Hunting is a popular sport among daringoractans.

TORACTAN SOCIETY AND CULTUREoractans primarily live underground, and

most of their modern communities consist ofimmense tunnel complexes. Tey discovered

agriculture early by growing fungi and raisinglarge grubs in piles of waste and compost. Soundis their primary sense; oractans are color-blindand extremely nearsighted. Tey have elaborate,complex music and poetry that appeals to manyother species.

Te oractans currently have technologyroughly equivalent to late nineteenth centuryEurope or America, though their weapons are20-30 years more advanced due to the constantneed to fight monstrous wildlife. Tey’re alsohighly skilled at mining and construction.

TORACTAN TEMPLATE Cost Ability

2 +2 STR

2 +2 CON

-2 -2 PRE

2 +2 PD

2 Tough Skin: Resistant (+½) for 2 PD/2 ED

4 Armored Plates: Resistant Protection (3PD/1 ED); Activation Roll 11- (covers HitLocations 6-9 and 15-18, plus 10-12 onthe back; -½)

-2 Toractan Legs: Running -2m6 Acute Hearing: +3 PER with Hearing Group

3 Acute Hearing: Ultrasonic Perception(Hearing Group)


Value Complications

10 Physical Complication: Toractan Eyes (colorblind and extremely nearsighted; -2Sight PER in appropriate situations whencorrective lenses/medications not used)(Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)


THE VARANYIPhysically, the Varanyi are a brown-skinned

race who tend to be tall: 2.0 meters is the averageheight, and Varanyi up to 2.5 meters tall are notunknown. Most Varanyi are thin, with similarlyslender limbs and digits.

Te Varanyi have minimal facial features: theirears are barely noticeable, their noses equallysmall, and they have no feature correspondingto the lips on a Human. Tey have no hair (theVaranyi evolved from a warm-blooded reptiliansort of creature, not a mammal). However, each

THRULL

The Thrull — a

dicephalic humano

people with

brownish skins and

three fingers on ea

hand — are one of

the few remaining

client species ofthe Malvan Empire,

though as much ou

of cultural ennui as

any other reason.

Thrull civilization

dates back tens of

thousands of years

and for most of tha

time they regarded

themselves as the

pre-eminent beings

in the Universe.

Learning there

were other sentient

species was a

terrible shock...

and the devasta-

tion created by the

Malvan conquest

only worsened

things. Today there

are only a few

million Thrull left

alive, and the odds

are the species wil

become extinct

within a few centu-ries at most.




Varanyi has from zero to five symmetrically-placed bony ridges, known as “crests,” running thelength of his scalp from front to back. Te crestsmeet at a point between the eyes, immediatelyabove the nose. Te number of crests a Varanyihas determines not only his psionic powers,but his position in Varanyi society: the morecrests, the more powers and the higher rank (seeemplate).

VARANYI DEMOGRAPHICSNumber Of Crests % Of Population

0 ( Ks’lch ) 50%

1 ( Chpereth ) 20%

2 ( Chvorsq ) 12%

3 ( Ch’ggeb ) 10%

4 ( Ch’yuuk ) 7%

5 ( Al’gari ) 1%

VARAN, THE VARANYI HOMEWORLDTe Varanyi homeworld, Varan, is a lush

planet slightly smaller than Earth. It orbits a typeF star and has a generally warm climate. Oceancovers 80 percent of the planet’s surface, and all14 continents are quite small by erran standards.Tis creates a warm climate due to the preponder-ance of coastal land. Belts of swamps, anchoredand supported by a native species resemblingthe erran mangrove tree, surround most of thecontinents.

VARANYI SOCIETY AND CULTUREVaran, and the small space empire the Varanyi

have established thus far, are ruled by the mostpowerful Varanyi psionics, who form a single

dynasty that’s held power for ten thousand years.Te Sh’garothayn, or Emperor, and his relativesare the unquestioned masters of Varanyi society,with authority descending from them hierarchi-cally. Tere’s a place for every Varanyi, and everyVaranyi has his place... and each of them knows it.

Te main division in Varanyi society relatesto their head-crests. Te more crests one has,the better one’s t’illk. ’illk combines some of themeaning of the Human terms “mental serenity,”“class,” “status,” and “face”; it’s a hard concept fornon-psionics to grasp fully, particularly since it’spossible for a Varanyi to lose (or more rarely, gain)t’illk and thus effect some change in his status.

ies of ey’vidra, or “clan,” hold great impor-tance in Varanyi society; a Varanyi writes hisclan name before his personal name. As a result,nepotism runs rampant, and large clans or alli-ances of clans wield significant social and politicalpower. Te Varanyi have a total of 357 Varanyiclans — one for the entirety of the Ks’lch, and 356for the crested Varanyi. Crested males may marrycrested females with fewer crests, but crestedfemales never marry male who don’t have as manyor more crests as they do.

As befits a civilization with many millennia ofhistory, the Varanyi have well-developed, highlysophisticated art forms. Varanyi literature runs to

1




multi-volume epics and similar grand stories. Te ancientVaranyi playwright lanith is as skilled and beloved asShakespeare of Earth or Jakara Daan of Dorvala.

Because all crested Varanyi can communicate mentallyand have a largely telepathic language, they rarely use

audible speech. Te important places of Varan — thepalaces, courts, and so forth — are as quiet as an Earthlibrary. Only the Ks’lch must communicate with voices, sothe Varanyi regard the use of the voice as crude, unrefined,and oen insulting. A Varanyi who wishes to express thedeepest sort of scorn, sarcasm, or insult toward someoneuses his voice instead of his telepathic abilities.

Some scientists believe the Varanyi’s psionic powershave slowly weakened over the past millennia. If so,this may hint at a chink in the Varanyi’s armor, and anyconcrete data on the subject is probably kept as secret andsecure as possible.

echnologically the Varanyi are highly advanced, withfast FL ships that they’ve used to establish a small empire

in near-Varan space. Most of the imperial worlds arecolonies settled by a few Varanyi, but they have conquereda few lesser species.

VARANYI TEMPLATE All Varanyi have the following abilities:

Cost Ability

1 +1 INT

3 +3 EGO

3 +1 OMCV

3 +1 DMCV


Value Complications

None


Additionally, many Varanyi have psionic abilities. A Varanyi

without crests, a Ks’lch, has no mental powers at all. The

lowest of the low, Ks’lch perform menial and degrading tasks.

They have no additional abilities, but do have the Social

Complication Ks’lch (Frequently, Minor; 10 points).

A Varanyi with one crest (a Chpereth ) has the following addi-

tional abilities:

Cost Chpereth Ability 1 Fringe Benefit: Chpereth

5 Mental Defense (5 points)10 Mind Link (any Varanyi, up to four minds at once); Only

With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1)6 Telekinesis (4 STR)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 22

A Varanyi with two crests (a Chvorsq ) has the following addi-

tional abilities:

Cost Chvorsq Ability

2 Fringe Benefit: Chvorsq

8 Mental Defense (8 points)12 Mind Link (any Varanyi, up to eight minds at once); Only

With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1)20 Chvorsq Psionics: Multipower, 20-point reserve

2f 1) Telepathy 4d61f 2) Telekinesis (10 STR)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 45

A Varanyi with three crests (a Ch’ggeb ) has the following

additional abilities:

Cost Ch’ggeb Ability

3 Fringe Benefit: Ch’ggeb

12 Mental Defense (12 points)15 Mind Link (any Varanyi, up to 16 minds at once); Only

With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1)30 Mind Scan 6d630 Ch’ggeb Psionics: Multipower, 30-point reserve3f 1) Telepathy 6d6

3f 2) Telekinesis (20 STR)3f 3) Mental Blast 3d6Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 99

A Varanyi with four crests (a Ch’yuuk ) has the following addi-

tional abilities:

Cost Ch’yuuk Ability

4 Fringe Benefit: Ch’yuuk


With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1)40 Mind Scan 8d640 Ch’yuuk Psionics: Multipower, 40-point reserve

4f 1) Telepathy 8d64f 2) Telekinesis (24 STR)4f 3) Mental Blast 4d64f 4) Mental Illusions 8d64f 5) Mind Control 8d6Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 139

A Varanyi with five crests (an Al’gari, which is to say, a

member of the Imperial Household) has the following addi-

tional abilities:

Cost Al’gari Ability

5 Fringe Benefit: Al’gari


With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1)30 30 points’ worth of other mental powers50 Mind Scan 10d650 Al’gari Psionics: Multipower, 50-point reserve5f 1) Telepathy 10d65f 2) Telekinesis (32 STR)5f 3) Mental Blast 5d65f 4) Mental Illusions 10d65f 5) Mind Control 10d6Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 202

All of these represent the standard abilities possessed by the

average Varanyi. Some Varanyi have additional abilities, more

powerful abilities, or slightly different abilities.




VELARIANSFounders and leaders of the Velarian Confed-

eration, the Velarians are a humanoid species ofmany accomplishments. Although they comefrom a slightly more restrictive environmentthan Humans, they adapt easily to many diversesettings and situations.

VELARIAN BIOLOGY Te Velarians come from a world tidally locked

to its giant moon, giving it a day so long that mostanimal life on Velarius evolved the need to gowithout sleep for long periods. Velarius VII alsohas a somewhat thinner than normal atmosphere,so its creatures have more efficient lungs. Otherthan that, Velarians physically resemble Humansin many ways. Te chief visible differences includetheir skin (which is a bluish-green color) and theirwide, ribbed ears (which allow them to hear in thethin air of their planet). Velarians tend to be deep-chested and short-legged by Human standards.

Reproduction among the Velarians is alsosimilar to the Human norm. Velarian mothers

bear twins much more oen than Human mothers— more than half of all Velarians are born astwins. Tese are usually fraternal twins, one maleand one female; identical twins are as rare onVelarius as on Earth.

VELARIUS VII, THE VELARIAN HOMEWORLDVelarius VII is the single richest and most

advanced world in the Confederation, and alsoits capital. It’s almost a double planet, with a giantmoon nearly half the size of the planet itself. Tetwo are tidally locked; Velarius has a day almost 10Earth days long.

Velarius is densely populated, with nearly 7

billion people. A space elevator provides easyaccess to shuttles linking Velarius with its moonAndarion, which is itself home to another tenmillion Velarians.

VELARIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURETe Scomaru Shaan religion strongly influ-

ences Velarian society. Te teachings anddoctrines of the faith hold as much importancefor most Velarians as any government edict, andin fact secular laws oen derive from or relate toreligious laws. Te unifying effect of the faith ledto the rise of a world government on Velarius VIItwo centuries ago.

Velarian government is an aristocratic republic:members of the hereditary nobility vote formembers of the Legislative College. Te College inturn selects two of its members as the Regents, orchief executives, who serve until one of them dies,at which point the College appoints another pair.raditionally, one Regent is male and the otherfemale.

While hereditary aristocrats totally dominatedthe original republic, some liberalization hasoccurred since the development of interstellartravel. Te Regents have adopted a policy ofgranting noble status to a large number of talentedcommoners each year. Military leaders, scien-tists, artists, and scholars routinely get added tothe class of Electors. Business leaders who amasslarge fortunes usually get into the Electorate bymarrying nobility.

Despite the unity brought about by ScomaruShaan, the Velarians are as culturally and artisti-cally diverse as Humans. Tey take great pride inpreserving as many of their cultural practices andartistic forms as possible.

Te Velarians are more technologicallyadvanced than Humans at present, with slow FLships, energy weapons, and similar systems.

Te Velarians are currently involved in a civilwar pitting them, the Catavalans, and the Quagiagainst the Fassai and Renghadi for politicalcontrol of the Confederation. Several attackshave inflicted serious damage on several cities on

Velarius VII, but so far the war remains a long,slow stalemate.

VELARIAN TEMPLATE

Cost Ability

1 +1 CON

2 Velarian Ears: +1 PER with Hearing Group

2 Velarian Wakefulness: Life Support (Dimin-ished Sleep: sleeps 8 hours per Month)

1 Velarian Lungs: Life Support (ExpandedBreathing: can breathe normally in thin

atmospheres)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 6

Value Complications

None


THE X’ENDRON NETWORKTe Ixendar (see Chapter wo) have one of

the most technologically advanced societies inthe Milky Way as of 2011... but that doesn’t meanthey’re perfect. Several decades ago an Ixendar

technician accidentally allowed an artificiallyintelligent computer to develop too muchsentience and free will. Disgusted with the thoughtof working for flawed biological beings, this AIcommandeered one of the most advanced ships inthe Ixendar fleet and fled to chart its own destinyamong the stars. Tat one AI went on to establishthe modern Galaxy’s first all-machine civilization,the X’endron Network. Consisting entirely of AIs,robots, and the like, it has no homeworld, butexists instead as a vast fleet that can congregate orseparate as needed.

1




Te X’endron believes that biological enti-ties are weak and stupid, and that it is ultimatelydestined to rule the Galaxy. o this end it’s beguna twofold campaign of conquest. Its more subtleapproach is to send robotic spies to ferret out thesecrets of the biologicals. Sometimes these robotsare disguised as biologicals, but where it won’tcause problems they’re obviously machine beings.Tey even sent one such robot, designated inHuman terms Unit ΣZ1-G, to Earth. But the robotwas damaged in transit and suffered program-ming alterations; it’s now known to Humanity asthe supervillain Syzygy and has no memory of itsX’endron masters (see CV3 278).

On the other hand, sometimes subtlety isn’tnecessary, in which case the X’endron simplyattack vulnerable biological targets. Te Networkincludes a wide variety of attack “ships,” rangingfrom small fighter-like cra to enormous vesselskilometers long capable of inflicting seriousdamage on most planets.

At present the Ixendar are trying to stop theX’endron Network, but it may already have grown

too strong and widespread for any one civilizationto stop. Soon the Star*Guard, and perhaps othersuperheroes, may have to get involved.

XENOVORESTe Xenovores are a terrifying quasi-reptilian

species that seems to have descended fromchasing hunters, but many sentients speculate thatthey might be the product of genetic engineeringbecause of their ability to digest almost any kindof protein and their extremely tough physiology.Scholars have suggested both the Mandaariansand the Malvans as possible creators, but nothingin the history of either civilization supports this

idea, and no one has ever satisfactorily explainedwhy either species would want to breed such“pets.” Xenovores have both a chitinous shell andan internal skeleton, two hearts, and a deadly tailsting.

For extensive information about the Xenov-ores, including the secrets of their civilization, see Alien Wars.

THRONEWORLD PRIME,THE XENOVORE HOMEWORLD

Te Xenovores refer to their homeworld, whichis located several thousand light-years antispin-ward of Earth, as Troneworld Prime. Origi-

nally it was just “Troneworld,” but since theyachieved FL space travel and established a smallinterstellar empire, other key worlds are lesser“Troneworlds” and the homeworld was renamed.No non-Xenovore has seen Troneworld Prime,so little is known about it. Given the nature of theXenovores most people suspect it’s a harsh, evendesolate, world.

XENOVORE SOCIETY AND CULTUREraditional Xenovore society is based on a pack

structure — small groups with intense personalloyalty to a leader. On a large scale this functionsas a kind of feudal system, giving tremendous

XENOVORE TEMPLATE

Cost Ability

3 +3 STR6 +3 DEX

5 +5 CON

3 +3 BODY

10 Xenovore Claws: HKA ½d6 (plus STR)

13 Xenovore Sting: HKA 1d6, Armor Piercing(+¼); No STR Bonus (-½)

6 Xenovore Skin: Resistant Protection(3 PD/1 ED)

1 Xenovore Digestion: Life Support (Dimin-ished Eating: can digest any type ofprotein)

5 Tail: Extra Limb (1), Inherent (+¼); LimitedManipulation (-¼)Total Cost Of Template Abilities: 52

Value Complications

None


unity and direction to their crusade to conquerother sentient species.

Te Xenovores currently have a small inter-stellar empire. Tey’re willing to attack anyonenear Troneworld Prime due both to simple




force-fields, some psionic devices, and evenlimited teleportation systems. However, there’s agrowing movement in Z’rel society to reject mostforms of technology and return to a simpler wayof life. People espousing this view continue to usesome devices to make their lives easier, but theyavoid most Z’rel technology, and what they douse tends to be disguised so that it’s not obviouslytechnological until used.

ZURITESall, slender, nearly immortal blue-skinnedhumanoids, Zurites have large, grey, pupil-lesseyes and no hair. All Zurites possess limitedpsionic abilities; some have stronger powers, ormore powers. Tey aren’t known to ever manifestother types of superpowers, however.

Zurite reproduction, which rarely occurs,involves a two-stage process. Young Zurites arelive-born and spend several years as burrowinggrub-like creatures attached to the roots of certaintrees. When the young Zurite has finally grown toabout 30 kilograms in mass, it undergoes a meta-morphosis into a preadult Zurite and emerges.Its parents then take it in and educate it. Zuritesliving away from Zur have developed special“gestation chambers” to take the place of the trees.

ZUR, THE ZURITE HOMEWORLDAn old and dying world, Zur is a small planet,

once Earthlike but now becoming increasinglycold and dry. Compared to Earth, it has largelandmasses and small oceans; land covers nearlyhalf of Zur’s surface. Unfortunately the Zurites,having abandoned high technology (see below),have no way to halt the degradation of their worldor make it a more comfortable place to live.

ZURITE SOCIETY AND CULTUREAn ancient species with a history going backover a hundred thousand years, the Zurites at onetime they were a galactic power on about the samescale as the Mandaarians. But approximately ten

thousand years ago, as a species theydecided to return to a simpler way oflife. Aer scouring their planet of alladvanced technology, they began alife of contemplation, creativity, andphilosophy at a roughly medievallevel of technology. Tey follow acreed of total pacifism.

Not all Zurites accepted this

change. Tey chose to abandon nottheir technological way of life, buttheir homeworld. Known as “nomadZurites,” they now travel throughoutthe Galaxy as traders, mercenaries,explorers, scientists, and diplomats.Tey enjoy working with otherspecies and learning new things.

predator aggression and a violently xenophobicphilosophy. Because Xenovores can digestanything, they developed the notion that they’rethe highest form of existence in the Universe andeverything else is merely food for them. Whenthey encounterealien intelligence, the Xenovoresreact with fury and revulsion — fury at the alienswho dare consider themselves equal to Xenovoresand revulsion at food which dares to think. Teirempire exists in part to provide them with sentientfood; they’ve already killed millions, if not billions,of other sentients to fill their larders.

Xenovore technology is more advanced thanHuman as of 2011, with slow-to-medium speedFL starships and energy weapons. Teir devicesare at least partly biological, making them largelyincompatible with Human tech.

ZMM One of the smallest sentient species known,

the Zmm come from a low-gravity world withan atmosphere somewhat thicker than Earth’s.Winged flyers rather like giant wasps, they’reabout one meter tall and have sharp mandibles.Pack hunters by nature, the Zmm developed acivilization based on herding and trade. Teirworld, Zmma, lies near Ergath (the Ergon-Torgon homeworld). Teir technology is roughlyequivalent to Earth’s, though many of their devicesare too small for Human-sized persons to use.

Z’RELTe Z’rel are a species native to a terrestrial

world, Rel’harda, that’s spinward of Dorvala.Tey’re humanoid, with skins in varying shades ofred and hair typically in the yellow-orange spec-trum. Tey can have superpowers; superhumansare rare on Rel’harda, but when they do appear

are oen significantly more powerful than theirHuman equivalents.

Z’rel civilization and technology are highlyadvanced. Te Z’rel can build fast FL starships,space stations and starbases, energy weapons,

ZURITE TEMPLATE

Cost Ability

5 +5 INT

5 +5 EGO

5 Zurite Longevity: Life Support (Longevity: Immortality)2 Mental Defense (2 points)

20 20 points’ worth of psionic powers (typically Telepathy 4d6)


Value Complications

None


Cultural Additions

Cost Homeworld Zurite

-2 -2 STR

(20) Psychological Complication: Zurite Pacifism (Common, Total)

1




he Milky Way Galaxy contains all sortsof perils... but it’s not the only galaxy inthe Universe. Tere’s a lot more space,a lot more alien species, and a lot more

dangerous people and things out there. Mostof them will never affect the Milky Way due tothe distances involved, but some could presenta serious threat, in the short or long term. Tey

include:

In 1996 two superhumans — a criminal with vibratory powers named (in Human terms)Vibron, and an alleged galactic police officerequipped with highly advanced technology namedNebula — arrived on Earth via a one-way telepor-tation gate from the Andromeda Galaxy. Tis wasthe first time Humanity became aware that life(not to mention superhumans) existed in another

galaxy.While there’s been no further contact with

any Andromedan civilization, much less new“arrivals,” the possibility exists that other villainscould find a way to re-create the device that sentVibron to Earth. With that in mind, some Humanheroes have spoken with Nebula to learn moreabout potential Andromedan threats. Here aresome of the villains she’s described, some of whichare major galactic threats, while others are simplycriminals she frequently encountered during hertour of duty on a planet she calls Debrel IV. Tenames are approximate translations of their names

in their native Andromedan tongues into English. Armada: A fleet of powerful starships linked by asingle, ultra-intelligent electronic sentience.

Backtrack: A chronomanipulator with the abilityto “replay” up to the past ten seconds of time.

CheetahMan: A running speedster with certainfeline powers.

The Darkwalker: An enigmatic being who mightbest be described as a “mad Galaxar” (or entity ofsimilar power).

Empyreus: An immensely-powerful superhumanwho rules an interstellar empire and intends to

conquer the entire Andromeda Galaxy... and thenbeyond.

Grimoire: A supermage, the sole remaining masterof a bizarre but powerful form of magic practicedby a now-extinct Andromedan civilization.

The Hyperbeast: An asteroid-sized monstrositythat supposedly comes from Andromedan hyper-space and “extrudes” itself into normal reality to

destroy and consume.

Mandala: A mentalist with perception manipula-tion and distortion powers. Sultry and seductive,she oen manipulates males as much with herbeauty as her powers.

Parsec: A teleporter with interstellar range(Nebula is unaware of the upper limit on his abili-ties and whether he might be able to reach theMilky Way).

Skylark: A flying speedster, able to move andsurvive both in atmospheres and in outer space.

Tagteam: A duplicating character with low-level

super-strength and some martial arts abilities.Fast and skilled, agteam is/are tough to defeat inhand-to-hand combat.

Zogoth: A bizarre merging of some Andromedanelder horror and a humanoid being. Tirty feettall, enormously strong, and terrifying to look at,Zogoth is one of the most feared villains in theAndromeda Galaxy.

Te Nibu Gemani are a voracious species ofpsionic, fungoid aliens that may have originatedin one of the far-off Magellanic Cloud galaxies.It’s possible they originally evolved even fartheraway and then spread like a disease throughoutthis part of the Universe. Whatever their truehistory, no one doubts that they’re one of the mostdestructive and dangerous forms of life known.Individually and in small groups they pose littlethreat, but they reproduce with enormous speedand devour anything organic in their path likeerran locusts. Furthermore, when large enoughnumbers of them gather in a single area, theyform a gestalt hive-mind with considerably greaterintelligence and power than the massed individ-

uals; this “collective mind” can detect the presence




of organic life across intergalactic distances andtelekinetically move the swarm at many times thespeed of light.

Using these abilities, the Nibu Gemani haveapparently scoured countless solar systems of allorganic life and matter. Tey descend in theirbillions and overwhelm the defenses of a world,destroy everything in their path, breed count-less billions more, and then move on to the nextstar system. When a swarm becomes too large, itsimply divides, traveling on in opposite directionsto continue its devastation.

Te Nibu Gemani are currently heading forthe Milky Way, though fortunately for Humanitythey’re coming from the opposite side of theGalaxy (which means they’ll attack the Velariansor Varanyi first, most likely). When they get heredepends on many factors. It probably won’t be forcenturies, but if there’s one thing every superheroeventually learns, it’s not to depend on predictionsthat bad things won’t happen for a long time.

Group Relations: Individual Nibu Gemani havelimited personalities and work together passably

well. However, once approximately a hundredof them gather in one place (which usuallymeans within 100 feet of each other, thoughthis distance increases as their numbers do), acollective mind forms. It controls the actions ofall Nibu Gemani present, and at that point theybegin to act as a well-oiled machine. Te collec-tive mind exists only on the psychic plane, and itspsionic powers immediately become stronger...and the more Nibu Gemani there are, the morepsychically powerful they become. Given enoughof the fungoid beings, the collective mind canhave enough elepathy, elekinesis, and relatedpowers to psionically dwarf the most powerfulMandaarian, Varanyi, or Human superhero.

Te Nibu Gemani have no relations with otherspecies. Tey regard all other organic life as food.

Tactics: Te Nibu Gemani have no tactics to speakof. Tey simply swarm toward a target and beginattacking it with their psionic abilities, moving inan eerie tandem that signals the presence of a hivemind.

Campaign Use: Te Nibu Gemani are a totallyalien threat, one so far removed from the normal villains the PCs fight that it won’t even triggermost Codes Versus Killing. Te Gemani are more

like insects or robots than truly sentient beings,and even the most kind-hearted person willrealize, sooner or later, that the only way to dealwith them is to exterminate them. If you use themproperly, you can not only raise moral issues aboutthe nature and meaning of Life, but can also havethe Gemani symbolically represent qualities suchas unthinking conformity or the mob mentality.

Since they look on all organic life as a bigHappy Meal, the Nibu Gemani might makeinteresting pawns for Mechanon. Working withany sort of organic life is utterly repugnant to theevil robot, but if it realizes that the Nibu Gemanicould be a potent weapon for destroying all other

organics it just might overcome its scruples this






Cost Powers END

35 Gemani Mental Powers: Multipower, 35-point reserve

3f 1) Gemani Mind Reading: Telepathy 6d6 (Humanand Alien classes of minds) 4

3f 2) Mental Shock: Mental Blast 3d6 (Human and Alienclasses of minds) 4

3f 3) Thought-Pictures: Mental Illusions 6d6 (Humanand Alien classes of minds) 4

22 Gemani Mental Speech: Mind Link, specific group

of up to any 32 Nibu Gemani minds, Any Distance,No LOS Needed 3

Only With Others Who Have Mind Link (-1), CostsEndurance (to activate; -¼)

4 Fungoid Body Structure: Resistant (+¼) for 4 PD/4 ED 0

10 Fungoid Body Structure:Physical Damage Reduction, 25% 0

19 Gemani Physiology: Life Support (Self-ContainedBreathing; Safe Environments: High Radiation,Intense Cold, Low Pressure/Vacuum; DiminishedEating: can digest anything organic) 0

6 Three Arms, Three Legs: Extra Limbs (2) 0

Inherent (+¼)Total Powers & Skills Cost: 105

Total Cost: 193


10 Negative Reputation: Horrific, Ravaging Monster (Infre-quently, Extreme)

15 Social Complication: Subject To Orders From The Collec-tive Mind (Frequently, Major)



1






Andromeda isn’t the only other galaxy thatHumans know has superhumans. Te infamousValak the World-Ravager comes from the Sextansdwarf galaxy, so logically it must have othersuperhumans. Unfortunately Humanity only

knows of one other — a being named Ironbreakwhom Valak has mentioned on several occasions,describing him as one of his arch-enemies whomhe at long last defeated and killed. It’s unclearwhether Ironbreak was a hero opposing Valak,or simply a rival in his crusade of conquest anddestruction.

Given Valak’s rampage through significantportions of the Sextans galaxy, it’s likely that hekilled many other superhumans, leaving Sextanswith a far smaller population of superpoweredindividuals than the Milky Way or Andromeda,even aer allowing for its smaller size. How manyexist, and whether they pose any threat to the

Milky Way (or need its help), remains to be seen.But a possible population of supervillains isn’t

the only danger Sextans holds....

THE SURVIVORS’ LEGIONIn the wake of Valak’s wars, handfuls of

survivors from a dozen different Sextans civiliza-tions were brought together by a single, burningdesire: revenge. An alliance had nearly defeatedthe World-Ravager once before, so maybe a newalliance could finally put an end to his rampages...and to him. Tey called themselves the Survivors’Legion.

Te Legion began tracking Valak, picking up

support as it found new victims of his rage, andeventually discovered that he’d le Sextans for anearby galaxy: the Milky Way. Unable to matchhis speed, the Legion salvaged some technologiesfrom several of their civilizations and constructeda crude, one-way warpgate. Using it meant leavingbehind all that they knew and loved... but Valakhad destroyed most of that anyway, and the fires of

vengeance burned harder and hotter in them thanany feelings of nostalgia.

Te warpgate deposited them just inside theMilky Way Galaxy. Tey journeyed inward andsoon picked up traces of Valak’s trail. Tey’ve beenfollowing it ever since, proceeding as fast as theycan. When they’ve come across another of Valak’s victims, they’ve added its survivors to their ranks.

What the Legion hasn’t learned yet is that theStar*Guard defeated and imprisoned Valak... andthen allowed him to escape. Aer that a primi-tive species called Humanity also managed todefeat and imprison the World-Ravager... and thenallowed him to escape. When they finally discoverthese facts, it’s possible that their anger will turnagainst the Guard and Humans for their stupidityin not killing Valak when they had the chance.On the other hand, they may want to study howthe Guard and Humanity were able to defeat thepreviously-undefeated Valak and learn from theirmethods — or even request their help.

As of 2011 the Survivors’ Legion consists ofapproximately 120 starships ranging in size from

planetary destroyers capable of anchoring enor-mous fleets to small fighter-type cra with crewsof two to four. Over two dozen alien species/civi-lizations are represented within the Legion’s ranks.Tis oen creates logistical difficulties since notall their technologies, parts, or even methods ofkeeping track of time are compatible.

Te fleet has no formal command structure;it’s ruled by a council of commanders from theoriginal founders, who decide issues by majority vote. Ships that aren’t happy with the way thingsare done can leave whenever they please. Tede facto leader of the Legion is a stern, brilliantspace admiral named Da!tnor, a member of a

Sextans species called the Jroon. He lost his entirefamily, including two young children, when Valakattacked Jro, and while he seems calm, composed,and professional on the outside, inside he’s aseething mass of survivor’s guilt and implacablehatred. He’ll do anything — anything — he mustto find and destroy Valak, which in the end maymake him as great a danger to the Galaxy as thebeing he hunts.

1




upervillains, renegade machine intel-ligences, and living asteroid fields aren’tthe only dangers lurking in the MilkyWay Galaxy. Tere are also a number of

strange, powerful artifacts that could be used todestroy or remake entire worlds — or all of Reality— if they fell into the wrong hands. Some of theminclude:

Tis artifact, which mercifully has been lostfor hundreds of thousands of years, is a large,golden scepter decorated with the finest filagreeand surrounded by an aura of crackling power. Forthose who have the will to grasp and commandit, the Scepter offers the ultimate in destructivepower: the ability to collapse the Universe andcreate another Big Bang to start a new Reality. It’sa form of suicide, since the user of the Scepter isdestroyed by the invoked “Big Crunch” along witheverything else in existence, but to some people

that doesn’t matter.Te Scepter was last seen in the hands of a

renegade Elder Worm sorcerer during the Malva-Elder Worm War. Only the valiant heroics of adozen Golden Hunters and a like number of Star-Guards stopped him from using it. Aer he wasslain the Scepter disappeared and hasn’t been seensince. Wise men hope it’s never seen again.

The Annihilation Scepter: Severe Transform 100d6(remake all of Reality via a Big Crunch/Big Bang; healsback through another use of the Scepter), Area Of Effect(1m Radius; +¼), MegaScale (Area is large, broad,and deep enough to affect all of Reality at once; +10),

Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (17,625 Active Points);OAF (-1), Extra Time (takes 1 Turn to use, then Realityhas to evolve according to natural and magical laws overbillions of years; -1¼), No Range (-½), Requires An EGORoll (no Active Point penalty; -0). Total cost: 4,700 points.

One of the most enduring mysteries in theMilky Way Galaxy is the existence, nature, andpurpose of the infamous artifacts known as theCosmic Gems.

No one — not the Malvans, not the ElderWorm, not CONROL — knows where or when

the Gems came from. If the Galaxars or the

Corelords know, they’re not telling; three Galaxars(Geon, the Lawbringer, and the Recorder) havestated outright that they have no knowledge of theGems’ origin (or origins). For that matter, thereisn’t even a consensus as to how many CosmicGems there are. Some beings claim there are onlythree. Others have indicated fieen, which is thehighest number claimed so far. Others choose

some number in between. For example, theGeometer insists there are only nine, and says hecan prove it mathematically.

A typical Cosmic Gem is a round or ovalfacetless multicolored crystal that looks to Humaneyes like a vivid fire opal. However, not all of themmatch this description; some have distinctiveshades or shapes.

KNOWN GEMSTree Cosmic Gems are definitely known to

exist. Te first is possessed by the supervillainessGalaxia (see CV3 124). Hers is a typical oval Gem,though it usually shis to an all-red color based onher emotional state.

Te second is a jet-black oval stone in thepossession of the Recorder, who describes it as“a malignancy on Reality.” Unlike other knownGems, this one seems to have a certain cruel intel-ligence of its own. Te Recorder keeps it locked ina (supposedly) impenetrable vault buried near thecenter of a gas giant in an uninhabited system. He(rightly) fears what would happen if someone gottheir hands on it (or perhaps more accurately, ifthe Gem got its “hands” on someone).

Te third is a round stone that tends to huesof golden and orange. It was briefly owned by anElder Worm sorcerer-priest during the Malva-

Elder Worm War, who used it to devastate severalMalvan planets. He was slain by a squad of GoldenHunters, but somehow in the confusion theGem was lost. A hundred thousand years ago itcame into the possession of a StarGuard namedathregar, who used it in the performance ofhis duties for several decades. But gradually thepower of the Gem corrupted him, and eventu-ally he decided he knew better how to run theGalaxy than CONROL or anyone else. When hetried to take over several worlds, the Star*Guardfought a running battle with him through severalstar-systems. When the fight finally turned againsthim, he committed suicide by diving into a nearby

star. Te Guard believed the Gem had been




destroyed, but several centuries ago a Corelordrevealed to it that the Gem still exists.

THE GEMS’ POWERSTe power of a Cosmic Gem depends largely

on the personal strength and willpower of theindividual wielding it. In theory its power is virtu-ally limitless, but it would probably take the likesof Xarriel to reach that level of potential. But evenin the hands of a relatively ordinary mortal a Gem

is still extremely powerful. Galaxia’s Gem (see CV125 for specifics) is an example of a Gem’s powerwhen wielded by a being of average will; if Galaxiaever learns to master herself and her passionsbetter, the Gem’s power will rise in proportion.

Powers commonly displayed by Cosmic Gemsinclude:

n emitting powerful blasts of energy in variousconfigurations (usually this is pure cosmicpower, but sometimes a Gem manifests otherenergy types, or can be made to manifest what-ever type the wearer wants)

n emitting powerful blasts of mental force

n the ability to imprison a target with bands ofpower

n the power to protect the user with a strongforce-field, and to preserve the user’s formwithout food, sleep, oxygen, or other commonnecessities

n the power to fly at tremendous speeds inatmospheres, and to travel through space atthousands of times the speed of light

Other abilities reported for at least some Gemsinclude: n the power to transform people and objects to

stone n the ability to teleport over interplanetary

distances, and sometimes the ability to opensmall warpgates that allow others to teleportwith the user

n the ability to reverse or “replay” short periodsof time (approximately 10 seconds)

n telekinesis n telepathy

Some beings speculate that the Gems are intel-ligent and choose/find their users, rather thanthe other way around. Te Recorder definitelybelieves the black Gem he has is sentient, at leaston some level. Te fact remains that people eager

for power have sought one or another of the Gemsfor centuries... but few who actively seek them outhave ever found one.

Four million years ago, during the firstgreat wave of galactic civilizations, one of themost powerful species, a four-armed mamma-lian humanoid species called the Holorm,used their advanced technology and powerfulmystic sciences to make a wonder-weapon.Named the Kdothri Mirror aer its chief creator, itresembled a Human-sized looking glass, though

in fact it could reduce itself in size until it could fitin a pocket. When activated by a mind of suffi-cient power, the Mirror would change anythingreflected in its surface into whatever the userwanted!

Te Holorm used the Mirror against theirenemies, turning the tide of several wars. But astheir civilization slowly but inevitably slid intodecline, the Mirror became a weapon for oneHolorm tyrant or warlord to use against otherHolorm rather than outside enemies. Entire citiesand even regions were transformed into whateverthe user wanted, with socially and ecologicallydevastating results. At last Kdothri himself, stillthe greatest scientist-wizard of Holor, cast a spellthat propelled the Mirror away from his world,through space and time at random, in the hopethat no one would ever find or use it again.

Since then there have been several reports ofthe Mirror surfacing in various places and timesfor brief periods. (Its origin is unknown to anyonein the modern Galaxy, except for cosmic entitieslike the Galaxars.) A user who finds it and figures

out what it can do enjoys tremendous power for aslong as the Mirror remains with him... and then it vanishes, careening through space and time againto some other place where it will remain hiddenfor eons. As long as no one locates it, it remainstemporally and spatially “locked,” but once it’sdiscovered it’s bound to continue its “journey”within a short time (typically no more than a fewmonths at most).

o affect something, the Kdothri Mirror mustbe able to reflect it closely and accurately enoughfor a Human with average eyesight and knowl-edge to realize what it is. Tus, while it’s possibleto affect an entire planet (if the Mirror’s set up in

space to reflect the whole globe), or even a star,affecting multiple planets at once is difficult atbest.

Te Kdothri Mirror typically looks like amirror about six feet tall and three feet wide. Itseems to be made of a black glass vaguely likeobsidian, but it displays reflections as clearly as ifit were a normal silvered glass mirror (though ifone looks closely, there’s always a faint starscapebehind whatever’s reflected). It’s mounted in aweird-looking, golden alien frame. Te user canalter its size at will from the maximum describedabove to just a few inches on each side.

The Kdothri Mirror: Severe Transform 100d6 (remakeanything reflected in the Mirror into whatever the userwants; heals back through another use of the Mirror),Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼), Improved Results Group(can Transform the target into anything; +1), MegaScale(Area is large, broad, and deep enough to affect anythingthat can be reflected in the Mirror; +3), Reduced Endur-ance (0 END; +½) (8,625 Active Points); IAF (can bereduced in size and thus easily hidden; -½), Extra Time(1 Minute; -1½), Requires An EGO Roll (no Active Pointpenalty; -0). Total cost: 2,875 points.

1




lthough the Milky Way is currently inhab-ited by numerous civilizations, this isn’tthe first time the Galaxy was settled — it’sthe second. Te first great wave of galactic

civilization began about five million years ago.Virtually no remnants of any of the species whoinhabited the Galaxy back then, not even theirnames, survives (except possibly in the minds of

entities like the Galaxars and Corelords). Perhapsthe only survivors from that first golden age arethe mysterious beings known to modern sentientsas the Progenitors.

Approximately four million years ago, thereexisted a planet whose name in English wouldbe Kelvar. Te Kelvarans — tall humanoid alienswith mauve skin, slender builds, and three fingersand a thumb on each hand — were the first greatcivilization of that time, and perhaps the greatestthe Galaxy has ever seen. Teir technology was atleast as good as the Malvans’, and perhaps better inmany ways, and all other aspects of their societywere similarly advanced. Tey could easily have

ruled the Milky Way, but they were a peaceful,contemplative people who preferred science,learning, art, and philosophy to war.

Unfortunately not all the species of that timeshared this attitude. One, the reptilian Sleynu,were almost as powerful as the Kelvarans in afew ways, but lagged well behind them in others.Tey were bitterly envious of the Kelvarans, whomthey regarded as their greatest enemies and thechief obstacle to their ambitions despite the factthat there’d never been an actual conflict betweenthem. Tey wanted Kelvaran technology, andKelvaran prominence, and absolute control of theGalaxy... regardless of what it would take to get

them.Driven by their lust for power, the Sleynu

conceived of a weapon so powerful not even theKelvarans could resist it. Tey called it the SolarSeed, an innocuous name for one of the mostdestructive devices the Galaxy has ever seen.Briefly put, the Seed could cause any star to emita beam of energy so large and so powerful that itcould shatter planets. Te energy discharge was sopowerful that it could even shi a star’s positionslightly, which might play havoc even with worldsthat weren’t directly targeted.

When all was in readiness, a Sleynu militaryforce disguised as traders entered the Kelvarsystem and deployed the Solar Seed. Caughttotally unprepared, the Kelvarans were unableto raise their secondary and tertiary planetarydefenses in time (though even those might nothave saved them). Te energy bolt cut throughthe primary defenses without difficulty and

blew Kelvar into smithereens, killing billions ofKelvarans and rendering the species extinct in thespace of seconds.

Or so the Sleynu believed. As fortune wouldhave it, a small scientific expedition of just a fewdozen Kelvarans was in another star system atthe time. Realizing something was wrong whensignals from the homeworld ceased, they returnedto find Kelvar an ever-expanding cloud of rockfragments and every other Kelvaran dead.

It didn’t take long for their sensors to gatherenough information to tell them what hadhappened. Some of them immediately demanded vengeance, for even a few Kelvaran ships could

inflict serious harm on the less-advanced Sleynu.But cooler heads prevailed. “We have alwaysbeen a peaceful people, devoted to knowledgeand understanding,” said the expedition’s leader,Lorgann. “Will we abandon the ideals of ten thou-sand years now, even in the face of this tragedy?”In the end he swayed the remaining Kelvarans tohis way of thinking, though a few continued togrumble in secret.

THE GREAT MISSIONLorgann and his followers had a better idea for

what the survivors should do. “We must see to itthat such tragedies as this never happen again,”

they said. “We must study all life, to learn allthere is to know about it. And we must guide itsdevelopment, improving upon it so that ultimatelywisdom and compassion will prevail over hatred, violence, and fear.” Lorgann christened this theGreat Mission, and the Kelvarans set to work.

Already by this time Kelvarans were so long-lived as to be nearly immortal if they wishedit, and their first step was to improve upon thelongevity processes even further so that thespecter of death would not interrupt the GreatMission. Tere were few enough Kelvarans le,aer all, and so they must preserve themselves andtheir knowledge for the benefit of the Galaxy.




While the Sleynu and other civilizations roseand fell, the Kelvarans continued to study andwork with life in all its myriad forms. Tey werescientists first and foremost, so each of themdesigned experiments and projects to advance theMission under Lorgann’s careful guidance. In timethey learned enough to gain complete physicalmastery over their own forms. Tey could changetheir bodies as they saw fit with but a thought.From one moment to the next a Kelvaran’s skintone might change to reflect his emotions, or hemight grow a third arm to make it easier to use hisequipment, or even become an animal or bird tobetter observe some planet’s wildlife.

One of the most important aspects of the GreatMission was understanding how animals evolvedinto sentient life-forms — which animals weremost likely to do this under what conditions,what factors triggered what the Kelvarans calledthe “sentience cascade,” how the process couldbe altered or advanced to suit Kelvaran purposes(including breeding superhuman abilities intosubjects). One of their earliest experiments

was the Gotro, a species they quickly raised tosentience from a reptilian life-form on a Venus-like planet. Te Gotro conceived of them asmythical beings and divine creators, and namedthem a name that best translates into English as“the Progenitors.” Te Kelvarans liked the nameand proudly adopted it as their own.

But even though they were nigh unto gods,the Progenitors were not without mortal failings.Tey soon realized they’d advanced the Gotro tooquickly, and that deep biological and social flawswere arising as a result. Rather than try to correctthe problem, they rejected the entire experimentas compromised... and wiped the Gotro out of

existence.

ASCENSIONBy approximately three million years ago, the

Progenitors had become so knowledgeable andpowerful that they transcended the Reality ofthis plane of existence. Tey learned to transformtheir bodies into energy as well as other physicalforms, and to rise through the dimensions to otherplaces. A few of them became fascinated by thisprocess and le Earth’s plane never to return, butmost were still absorbed in the Great Mission andremained here to continue it.

THE PROGENITORS IN HUMAN SPACEwo million years ago, the Great Mission

brought a group of Progenitors to what would oneday be called the Sol System. Tere they began twoexperiments. One took place on the fourth planet,Phytia, and eventually ended in disaster (seepage 260). Te more important one was estab-lished on the third planet, Earth.

Te Progenitors examined Earth from spaceand determined that the most likely candidatesfor sentience were ape-like beings living in thecentral region of a large continent that was mostlyin the southern hemisphere. Tey landed andbegan a detailed analysis of these creatures, whowere covered in fur-like hair and used only themost primitive of stone and bone tools. When

they were done they decided that the best courseof action was to simply nudge the proto-Humansin the direction of sentience and return in thefuture for more advanced work. Te Progenitorsenhanced the size of the proto-Humans’ braincases, improved their neurological functions, andput in place genetic markers that would one dayallow for the evolution of mutant powers, psionics,and similar superhuman abilities.

Five hundred thousand years ago the Progeni-tors returned to see how their experiment wasprogressing. Te creatures they had experimentedon had developed into Homo erectus and spreadto many parts of Earth. Tey’d mastered fireand expanded their toolchest to include carvedwooden tools; some groups could even build smallshelters to protect themselves from the elements.Satisfied that the experiment was proceeding well,the Progenitors decided it was time for the nextstep. Tey established a laboratory on a hill over-looking an erectus settlement. Aer taking geneticsamples from all the proto-Humans to determinewhich were most suitable for what they had in

mind, they selected the twelve best candidates (sixmales, six females).

Using their ultra-science, the Progenitorsrapidly evolved the twelve proto-Humans. Tegoal of the experiment was to see what Humanity’s“end state” of evolution might be. Te Progeni-tors saw great potential in Humanity and hoped itmight some day help them with the Great Mission.Te result were the first twelve of the beingsknown today as the Empyreans. Aer educatingtheir “children” for several thousand years, theProgenitors pronounced the experiment a successand departed, leaving the Empyreans to chart theirown destiny on Earth. (See Hidden Lands for more

information on the Empyreans.)

THE PROGENITORS TODAY Since the beginning of the second great wave of

galactic civilization in the Milky Way a little overa million years ago, the Progenitors have becomefar more cautious about their activities. Despitethe fact that they have nothing to fear from anyof the galactic species currently in existence, theyare curiously reluctant to have anyone know whatthey’re doing (or have done). Perhaps they fearthat knowledge of the Great Mission will disrupttheir experiments and invalidate the results ofmillions of years’ worth of work.

Whatever the reason, the Progenitors remain,but finding them, much less interacting withthem, is virtually impossible unless they want itto happen. Any one of them is far more powerfulthan nearly any superhuman, and any who chooseto ascend into higher Realities likely become morepowerful still. Only the likes of Xarriel, a Galaxar,or a Corelord could stand against a Progenitor,and even they likely wouldn’t be able to defeat agroup of Progenitors (or at least not easily). Fortu-nately for the Galaxy the Progenitors’ intentionsseem peaceful... though the cold, rational applica-tion of their science and their devotion to theirGreat Mission may lead them to do things that arefar from merciful or benign.

OTHER SPECIES AND THE

PROGENITORS

While not every

aspect of the Great

Mission involves

studying (or manipu-

lating) the rise to

sentience, that’s animportant aspect of

it and the Progeni-

tors have been busy

with it in many parts

of the Galaxy over

the past four million

years. Besides

Humans, some of

the species whose

prehistory they’ve

studied (or altered)

include:

n Ackálians n Catavalans n Kadathari

n Mon’dabi n Pelgonites n Rigellians n Tkaki

The Progenitors

involved in the

Pelgonite experi-

ment may not have

been finished with

it, and if so may

become upset whenthey discover that

Valak the World-

Ravager destroyed

them. Not even

Valak can match the

power of an angry

Progenitor....

1




Since the Sleynu destroyed Kelvar, fragmentsand pieces of the planet have been flying throughspace, propelled by the awesome force of anexplosion powerful enough to destroy an entireworld in a split-second. Running through parts ofKelvar were veins of a greenish mineral that theKelvarans had long before learned they could tapto draw power from, or when powdered became

a vital ingredient in various medicines and othersubstances.

Some of the chunks of Kelvar still flyingthrough space consist primarily or entirely ofthat mineral. Sometimes they land on a planet asmeteorites, or hit starships, or otherwise comeinto contact with, or become available to, sentientorganic beings. Some of them have arrived onEarth this way beginning in 1996. Humans namedthe strange alien mineral kelvarite.

As Humanity has discovered, kelvarite oeninteracts with living organisms in strange ways.It’s highly unstable and prone to exploding; whenit explodes, individuals are oen bombarded with

fragments of it, or exposed to the strange, intenseradiation the blasts give off. As a result they oendevelop superpowers (usually, but not always, onesinvolving enhancement of the subject’s strength,speed, or other physical abilities). Presumably thesame holds true for other sentient species. (SeeCU 34 for further information on superhumanswho’ve gotten their powers from kelvarite.)

GRADES OF KELVARITEAll kelvarite looks more or less the same, but

its properties vary based on purity. Exceptionallypure samples of kelvarite are extraordinarily rare;to date, the only one encountered by Humans(though no Human actually knows this) are thepieces that the original MeteorMen carved intothe rings that gave them superpowers (see CU 11,though no one then or now is aware that the ringsare kelvarite because pure kelvarite doesn’t have

quite the same appearance as impure kelvarite).As that example indicates, pure kelvarite is quitestable and possesses so much inherent power thatit can project and control energy based on thethoughts of a sentient being in contact with it.

Unfortunately, most samples of kelvaritecontain impurities, either as a result of theirgeological creation, the explosion that shatteredKelvar, or their travels across the Milky Way.Impurities reduce the stability of kelvarite. Ifenough of them exist, the energy inherent in themineral causes a piece of it to explode if it suffersa violent impact or exposure to energy (such aselectricity, or even intense flame).

A piece of kelvarite that’s 10% or less impurehas an 8- chance to explode in these circum-stances. For each additional 10% (or fractionthereof) of impurities, increase that roll by 1 (thus,a 50% impure piece would explode on a 12-).

A fist-sized piece of impure kelvarite doesroughly 1d6 Killing Damage in an 8m radius whenit explodes. Smaller pieces’ explosions cover asmaller radius, but don’t drop below 1d6 KillingDamage until about the size of a marble (whichdoes ½d6). On the other hand, larger pieces (oraggregations of smaller pieces) do more damageand cover a larger radius, making it a dangerous

proposition to stockpile the stuff.

THE ANCIENTS

As discussed in

Hidden Lands, ten

thousand years ago

after a devas-

tating civil war, the

Empyreans were lef

wondering why the

Progenitors createdthem and what thei

purpose really was.

In search of answer

to those questions,

nine of the ten

surviving Ancients

(the original twelve

Empyreans created

and taught by the

Progenitors) set out

into space to find th

Progenitors.

That was the lastanyone ever heard

of them. From that

day to this, not

a single word of

what happened to

the Ancients has

reached Arcadia, the

Empyreans’ home o

Earth. No other alien

species has ever

reported encoun-

tering them, or

described meeting

anyone remotely likthem.

Did the Ancients

somehow find the

Progenitors — and

if so, how did the

Progenitors react?

Did they fall prey

to some disaster or

cosmic menace? Di

they abandon their

quest as fruitless

and find a way to

ascend to a higherreality the way their

creators did? No on

may ever know.



298 n Index Hero System 6th Edition !ral: 283 Docro

!ral: 283

58 Eridani: 27

Abbreviations: 5

Ackál: 25, 275, 277

Ackálians: 24, 296ADIS: 22

Administrative systems: 105

Ajok: 9, 31

Al’gari: 284-85

Alaxar: 251

Alien Affairs Bureau: 18

Aliens

Humanity’s history with:

7-22

Known to Humanity:24-39

Not known to Humanity:

264-88

Almena, StarGuard Andre:15, 17, 92, 229, 243

Amazing Man: 9-10, 12,41, 51

Ancients, the: 297

Andromeda Galaxy Superhu-mans: 289

Ang’tang’lq: 135, 279Annihilation Scepter, the:

293

Anthari: 17, 244, 264

Araxon: 236

Archer, Col. Stuart: 20

Architect, the (Galaxar): 47

Area 51: 19

Area 52: 19

Area 53: 19, 256

Arena, Malvan: 112-29

Arena of Death and Glory:112

Arena Theater: 97

Ares I: 21, 90

ARGENT: 260

Armada: 289Arth the Scar: 151

ASGARD: 15, 21

Ashraal: 251

Assembliad, the: 271

Asteroid Belt: 92, 260

Astral Burrowers: 206

Astron: 246

Athulos Starheart: 132

Attakon: 130

AVALON: 15, 21Az’arc’a: 10, 26

Az’arc’a “Panther”: 117

Backtrack: 289

Barnes, Dr. Robert Peterson:55

Battle of Solemnis: 141

Battle of the CorewardFields: 103, 206

Battle of Thrikune: 160

Battle-Robot, Malvan: 116

Belaxia: 264

Belaxians: 264

Bell of the Chosen: 9

Belladan LVII: 101

Bio-Wars, the: 160-61

Biologist: 161

Bioweapon Control Helmet(Qularr gadget): 165

Bisary: 39

Black Hole Collapse(Gadroon weapon): 191

Blorsh: 259

Blueboys: 139

Bordegism: 186

Breyel, Kala Tah: 244

Briggs, Patty: 9Briggs, Ray: 9

Bvekro: 143

Captain Chronos: 40, 91

Carcharocles: 236

Cataval: 264

Catavalans: 264, 277-78,296

Cazulon: 10-11

Ch’ggeb: 284-85Ch’yuuk: 284-85

CheetahMan: 289

Chelbara trees: 277

China: 21

Chpereth: 284-85

Chronicles of Jrodarbo : 145

Chrono: 40

Chvorsq: 284-85

Citadel of the Guard: 2, 236

Class 3 Metamorph: 172

Class 7 Mentalist: 170

Clemens, Sean: 18

Code of the Malvan gladi-ator: 115

Code of the Star*Guard: 233

Comet X: 9

Commander: 189, 262

Conamara Chaos: 92

CONTROL: 226-30, 236-38

Corelords, the: 40

Coriphans: 265

Coriphus: 265

Cosmic artifacts: 293

Cosmic entities: 40

Cosmic Gems, the: 41, 293

Council Chamber: 236

Council of Overseers: 234Cowboy: 8

Cristobalites: 265

Crystalline Starshatter: 10

Currie, Commander Rodney:21

Curse cast on Malvans bythe Elder Worm: 103, 207,261

Curselords: 206

Da!tnor: 292

Dagger of the Worm: 209

Darkwalker, the: 289

Dawnbird: 120

Dazeur, Tren Tarrec: 16

Dazeur, TT: 120

Debrel IV: 289

Defenders Of Justice: 9

Dekkar, Dr. Miles: 11

Deloss the Explorer: 259

Dendrian Congress: 27

Dendrians: 27

Dendris: 27

Deneb IV: 266

Denebians: 266

Dhrenism: 165

Dimensioneer: 102

Diplomatic relations withaliens: 18

Docro: 97



Champions Beyond n Index 29 Doctor Parallax Hssqa-class Light Warshi

Doctor Parallax: 236

Doku: 10-11

Donbur: 266

Donburil: 266

Dorigan: 228

Dorugandans: 267

Dorvala: 36m 275, 281Dowathalonan culture: 100

Dr. Destroyer: 14, 40, 257,260

Dr. Twilight: 8

Dr. Vox: 139

Drifter, the: 12, 14

Drugs, gladiator-enhancing:115

Druqo -class Invader: 186

Eauhiaomeaaeiu: 267

Echinocos Shore: 202

Economic relations withaliens: 18

Ecra-shen: 267, 270,279-82

Egregor: 230

Eidolon the Dreamer: 259

Elcara VII: 274

Elder Worm, the: 201-24

Elder Worm Acolyte: 217Elder Worm Aspirant: 217

Elder Worm Initiate: 217

Elder Worm-Malva War:101-03, 206-07, 228,293

Elder Worm Megadrile: 218

Elder Worm Sorcerer: 218

Elder Worm Warrior: 218

Electron: 16

Elgrm: 54Emlek: 183

Empire of Hsash-Tlethor:205

Empire of the Pearl Archi-pelago: 159

Empyrean Staff: 250

Empyreans: 207, 259,296-97

Empyreus: 289

Endahl V: 103

Entropus: 40

Ereni: 267

Ergath: 267-68, 272, 288

Ergons: 267

Esagites: 268

Esper: 267

Europa: 92European Space Agency: 21

Examiner, the: 41

Exoplanetary Society, the:18, 256

Expatriates, Malvan: 130

Ey’vidra: 284

Fabulous Five: 9-11, 38,162

Far-Strider: 16

Fashionable One, the: See“Tateklys”

Fassai: 28, 265, 277-78,286

Fee, Lt. Col. Arron: 90

Fesharan culture: 100

Fex: 268

Fexao: 268-69

Fifty-Minute War, the: 266

Fighting Grounds: 112

Firelands, the: 97Firewing: 16-17, 78, 98,

120, 261

Force Shackle Cannon(Qularr gadget): 165

Forceknight: 15

Fortress Skyviper: 257

Forum Malvanum, the: 65,258

Frostbite: 77

Furnace of the First Ones:98

Gadro: 182-83

Gadroon, the: 14-15, 17, 63,142, 181-200, 262-63

Gadroon Adjudicator: 193

Gadroon Gravitic Initiate: 196

Gadroon Gravitic Shaper:193

Gadroon Lancer: 196

Gadroon Observer: 196

Gadroon Pacifier: 196

Galactic society, Star*Guardand: 233

Galactic Zoo: 48

Galaxars: 41-48

Galaxia: 41, 254, 293-94

Gallery of Empire: 97

Gallery of the Universe: 47

Ganika: 10-11

GATEWAY: 15, 21

Geldaro: 164

Gen-Hwa: 139

Gendru: 96

Generic Hzeel: 152

Geometer, the (Galaxar): 47

Geon (Galaxar): 47

Gerradism: 266

Ghok’pa: 230, 250, 269

Giel-Berusa-Eqar-Stenla-nians: 277

Gímle, the: 22

Gkezar: 139-40

Gladiatorial games, Malvan:112-29

Gladiators, superhuman,examples: 120-29

Glayne: 250Glimor, Brean: 105

Gloran: 35, 226

GM’s Vault: 256

God-Brother Princes, the:236

Gods Celestial, the: 48

Golden Hunters of Malva:102, 206, 293

Golektrah: 228

Golo: 269Goloba: 269

Goodman Institute, the: 17

Gor’japp Scarmaker: 122

Gork: 120

Gotro: 296

Grand Concert Hall: 97

Grand Temple, the: 98

Great Hall of Selenus: 50

Great Mission, the: 295-96

Green Caste Sirians: 37

Green Ship People: 141

Grenlak Ulta-Falcon: 117

Grey Caste Sirians: 37

Grimoire: 289

Grlshl: 15, 51-52

Grlthk: 52

Grover’s Mill, NJ: 8

Ha’gelw: 208

Hakurian culture: 100

Halberdier: 124

Hall of Victory: 227,236, 263

Hamazakar Crater andCavern: 60

Haran: 71

Harkarth: 266

Harmonious Secularism: 1

Haruji (Malvan martial art)107

Heart’s-Fire, the: 134

Hedril: 27

Hek’ta III: 162

Hektanese: 162

Helgthret: 205

Helminths: 202

Herculan: 16

Hgythra: 146

High General: 160

High Ruler: 159

High Yogonic Priests: 31

Holo-Disguise System(Gadroon gadget): 185

Holor: 294

Holorm: 294

Homo erectus: 296

House of Marrath: 103-04

House of Seltaru: 101House of Tarel: 101

Howler: 139

Hrac’dar: 270

Hrac’darese: 269

Hrjtlo: 12

Hrusa-Tena: 139

Hrusarese Empire: 141

Hssqa -class Light Warship166



300 n Index Hero System 6th Edition Human-Gadroon Creature Orion

Human-Gadroon Creature:63

Hundred Houses, the: 28

Hwuldep: 183

Hyperbeast, the: 289

Hzeel, the: 137-54, 277

Hzeel Gangster: 152

Hzeel Soldier: 152

Hzeel Spy: 152

Hzeelo Rganthkorsha: 144

Imperial Feast-Hall: 97

Ingaladi: 272

Insaru: 270

Introduction: 5

Ion: 236

Ironclad: 16-17

Istvatha V’han: 262

Ixendar: 29, 286

Ixendria: 30

Jaa’lu Darkmaw: 80

Jackson, Harold: 257

Jakkari: 12, 30

Jarnevon: 236

Jaruma: 270

Jgalth IV: 144

Jgalthi: 144

Jhin: 271

Jhinu: 270

Jro: 292

Jroon: 292

Jules Verne, the: 9

Jupiter: 92

Justice Squadron 11, 15, 17

Justiciar: 15

K’ru-dava: 229

K’zemni Hegemony: 159

Kadathari: 271, 296

Kadilia: 271

Kadilians: 271

Kadrigar: 28

Kalisha: 272

Kalishari: 272

Kanrok the Acquisitioner: 70,120

Kdathar: 271

Kdothri: 294

Kdothri Mirror, the: 294

Kedron: 226

Kelvar: 295

Kelvarite: 16, 19, 22, 297

Khro Dmavo: 143Kings of Edom: 48

Klascés: 266

Kntla: 54

Kolaj: 273

Kolajik Pack: 273

Kolebism: 266

Komar: 96

Komren: 107

Korggon the Butcher: 230,254

Korrex: 40

Korun: 274

Korundar: 10, 273

Kotho: 27

Kovarl: 74, 259

Kr’Aan: 10

Kr’Aan War: 10, 162

Kregn Archipelago: 139-40

Kro’ang Empire: 183

Krsst: 274

Ks’lch: 284-85

Kumaria: 96

Kuzane: 9, 31, 257

Laktarian: 41

Lanendra: 271

Langford, Pete: 244

Lar, Drogen: 16, 120

Larke, Major Jason: 22

Lascoran culture: 100

Lauckta: 186

Lawbringer, the: 43

Legion: 254

Lethla: 115

Lifestyle art, Malvan: 107

Lindiriandrian Union: 100

Lkanv: 145

Lodge, the: 139

Lokona: 145

Lord Entropy: 48

Lords of the Jeweled Spider:101

Lorgann: 295

Lorghil: 249, 274

Losai: 280

Lost Lab, the: 63

Lothan: 275

Ltanl River: 141

Lunar Amazons: 59

Lunar Games: 65-86

Lyrane, Queen: 227-28, 254

Magellanic Cloud: 289

Main Arena: 69

Main Temple: 37

Malachite: 82

Malaquathria: 96

Malva, Malvans: 37, 93-136,261, 265, 279

Malva-Elder Worm War:101-03, 206-07, 228,293

Malvan (language): 106

Malvan Empire: 104

Malvan Presidency: 100

Malvan World Council: 100

Mandaar: 32

Mandaarian Council: 32Mandaarians: 13, 32,

256-57

Mandala: 289

Mandlu: 115

Mars: 21, 90

Mars Research Base: 90

Marshals: 229, 232

Martian invasions: 8, 12

Martians: 91-92, 259

Mechanon: 85, 257, 259Mega-Terak: 10-11

Meliaros the Bright: 126

Merrax: 236

MeteorMan: 15, 51

MicroMan 11

Mightlord: 102

Mills: 230

Mills, Anna: 15, 27, 34

Mindknight: 102

Mitsura: 10-11

Mkori: 139

Mogar: 39

Mon’da: 33, 115, 271, 277,283

Mon’dabi: 33

Mon’dabi: 296

Monarch, the: 265

Monster Island: 10-11, 17,162

Moon, the: 49-88

Moonbase Serenity: 87

Mordace: 15, 18, 230, 249

Moreau, Dr. Phillippe: 139

Mortalus: 48

Mostreen: 275

Mqro: 12, 34

Munerator Dominus: 66, 70

Naloth: 275

Nan: 275

Nao: 275

Narthesh: 205

NASA: 18

Nathar: 37

NAUTILUS: 22

Naxar: 227-28, 276

Naxari: 227-28, 276

Nebula: 289

Nibu Gemani: 289

Night Philosopher, the: 236

Nirm, Urtins: 249

Nishar: 271

Nl’ta’k: 103, 206

Norck, Admiral: 149

Northern Guard: 15

Nova: 17

Nucleus: 236

Nyingpa Temple: 9

Oculon: 139

Odrugar: 35

Odrugarans: 34

Officials at gladiatorialgames: 113

One Who Ensorcels: 213

Optimus: 8

Orion: 257



Champions Beyond n Index 30 Orth Supreme Oversee

Orth: 276

Orthu: 276

Osathri: 276

Overseer Sixteen: 234

Overseers: 234

Palace-City of the Phazor: 97Parsec: 289

Pazuron: 10-11

Peacekeepers, the: 15

Pelavreth XI: 103, 112

Pelavrian games: 112

Pelgonites: 17, 276, 296

Pellom Mysteries: 186

Pem: 16, 39

People’s Legion, the: 15

Perseid Empire: 33, 281

Perseid-Hzeel War: 142

Perseids: 36

Pgedda: 141

Phazarian Arena: 112

Phazarian Gallery: 97

Phazor, the: 104

Phi Cassiopeia: 36

Phormon: 28

Phytians: 260

Plasmarax: 128

Poetry Forest, the: 98

Pograck: 276

Pograckians: 276

Progenitors, the: 251, 258,260, 295

Project Blue Book: 20

Project High Ground: 257

Project Incubator: 257

Project Stargazer: 22

Prophecy of the Firewing:261

Prylenish: 141, 143, 276

Q’qlar High Port: 159

Q’qlarash: 159

Qedusti: 277

Qedustiers: 277

Qeqlub Arlavo Dhren: 161,165

Qerg: 164

Qeruvo: 97

Qliphothic Avatars: 206

Qror: 159

Qu’na -class Heavy Fighter:166

Quagi: 265, 277-78, 286

Qularr, the: 10, 17, 63, 142,155-80, 256, 262-63

Qularr Air-Runner: 166

Qularr Bugkeeper: 177

Qularr Drone: 174

Qularr Empire: 162

Qularr Exozoologist: 174

Qularr Firebug: 177

Qularr Hive: 177

Qularr Invasion Leader: 174

Qularr Invasion Lieutenant:174

Qularr Shock Trooper: 177

Qularr Swarm: 177

Qwenda-Hndra: 139

R’kaili Hive: 279

Ranamogtu: 186

Ranks of the Star*Guard:231

Rathuliorn: 98, 108

Ravenspeaker: 15Ravenswood Academy: 277

Rcur Empire: 141

Reality Storm: 40

Recorder, the (Galaxar): 47,293

Rel’harda: 288

Relations, diplomatic andeconomic, with aliens: 18

Renghadi: 265, 277-78, 286

Renton, Allen: 9Renton, Michael: See

“Amazing Man”

Reqla caste: 163

Reqqat: 159

Reqqat Senate: 162

Research Scientist: 161

Revandis: 96

Revenger: 12, 51, 55

Rhukhla: 271

Richardson, William: 256

Rigel V: 278

Rigellians: 278, 296

Ritual of Control: 205

Roin’esh: 75, 103, 261

Roma, Major Trevor: 87

Ronos Firefist: 120

Rorenga: 278Rostanac: 283

Rthchash: 205

Rules of the Arena: 112

Ruqo: 164

S’thoth’n Empire: 159

Sal Garath Sal: 37

Salgandarond: 135

Sapphire Grotto, the: 98

Sargu: 115Schad, Col. John: 90

Scientific Determinism: 271

Scoba -class Warship: 186

Scomaru Shaan: 286

Se’ecra: 280

Se-lag: 280-81

Sea Hawk: 8

Sea of Vnatht: 139

Secret Crisis: 40

Sectors, Star*Guard: 232,241

Selenites, the: 12, 15, 51,258

Selenus: 50, 258

Seltaru Interregnum: 101

Sentinels, the 11-12, 15,17, 229

Sextans Dwarf Galaxy Super-humans: 292

Sga’shl: 213

Sgadonda: 143Sh’athef -class Fighter/scout:

210

Sh’garothayn: 284

Sha-Prylen: 141, 143, 277

Shadow Destroyer: 262

Shadow Guard, the: 104

Shadowmasks: 206

Shain, Terala: 75

Shaper, the (Galaxar): 48

Shar’een: 281

Shduko -class Marauder: 1

Shepathonism: 108

Shet’sa caste: 163

Shiseki: 281

Shola: 282

Sholarron: 281

Shug’hla-Wthelg: 204Sinclair, Jeffrey: 9

Siria: 38

Sirians: 8, 12, 37, 92,257-58

Sirius: 38

Skarn the Shaper: 48

Sklaar, the: 226

Sky-Knight: 191

SKYGUARD: 15, 21

Skylark: 289

Skyprospect: 260

Skyspear, Malvan: 110

Slavery, on Malva: 106

Sleynu, the: 258, 295

Slug, the: See Chapter Nin

Solar Seed: 295

Solar System, the: 89-92

Solemnids: 141, 143, 282

Sorcerer-Priests: 206

Spearmane: 102

Spider Sign: 101

Stand On Guard: 230

Stand On Guard : 15, 27, 3

Star-Staff: 239-40

Star*Base Zeta 491738: 9

Star*Bases: 233

Star*Guard: 12, 17-18, 10225-54, 293

Star*Guard Code: 233

Star*Prison: 236

StarAvengers: 241

StarGuard Anodyne: 242

StarJets: 244

StarKnights: 241

StarScout: 242

Starwing: 102

Steelhead Division: 17

Stronghold: 17

Sulianjrith, the: 152

Supreme Overseer: 234



302 n Index Hero System 6th Edition Survivors’ Legion Zurites

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