From: [r--dd--n] at [ttidca.TTI.COM] (John Redden)
Subject: Other Suns : 13
------------------ OS.13 ----------------------------------------
This is being posted to the net by myself for Niall Shapero.
Others Suns is copyright by Niall Shapero. This gaming material is
distributed on a shareware basis. If you do not use the material you
owe the author nothing. If you do use it please pay him what you
think it is worth at a fair price becasue it took a damn lot of work
to develop and playtest. The USmail address is:
Niall Shapero
2536 Short Ave
Los Angeles CA 90066
USA
Those of you with modems can dial into his BBS using this phone number:
(213)822-6729
Please email any comments to my electronic mailing address and I will
pass them on to Niall.
---------------- end of preamble -------------------------------------------
The Silithii: An intelligent race for OTHER SUNS
Copyright (c) 1982, 1990 by N. C. Shapero
(Part 1 of 6)
(1D6 in INT and CON replaced by a 6 in DICE rolled)
CHAR DICE EXPECTED SPECIES MAXIMUM
STR 3D6 10.5 21
INT 2D6+7 14 23
WIL 3D6 10.5 21
CON 2D6+6 13 21
END 4D12 26 52
DEX 3D6+2 12.5 25
CHA 3D6 10.5 21
LEN 6D20+120 183 247
BLD 1D3+9 11 14
SIZ --- 21 29 (27 rollable maximum)
TSC 1D6-5 -2.5 N/A
TPR 2D6 7 N/A
Expected Bonuses:
Accuracy = +11.5% Luck = 13
Attack = +11% Manipulation = +7.25%
Damage Bonus = +0 Observation = +7%
Dodge = +10.5% Parry = +4.75%
Hit Points = 18 Persuasion = +1.25%
Knowledge = ?% Stealth = ?%
Armor= 1 point fur (impact protection only)
Expected mass = 852 kilograms (1874 lbs)
Natural Weapons' Damage: claw -- 1D4
bite -- 1D6
kick -- 1D6
Brief Background
The Silithii are a tailless bipedal humanoid species resembling
certain of the terrestrial mustilids (weasels) in appearance.
Their homeworld has the same surface acceleration as Earth, and
virtually identical atmosphere. It orbits a main sequence G2
start at a distance of 1.02 astronomical units (roughly 95 mil-
lion miles) and has an essentially terrestrial climate.
They are carnivores. Unlike the other carnivorous species of the
Hegemony, they have not weeded out the berserker element; they
are vicious and cruel, both as individuals and as a race.
Silithii society is strongly patriarchal; only the males have any
say in the government, and only a few males have any real influ-
ence on the government. The Silithii are ruled by a hereditary
aristocracy. It is still possible, however, for commoners to be
elevated to the peerage through exceptional merit or achievement.
Like the Humans, the Silithii are relative newcomers to the
interstellar scene. First contact between the Hegemony and the
Silithii came during the closing years of the Fourth Expansion,
just before the Hegemony-Empire Wars brought on the collapse of
both Imperial and Hegemonic civilizations.
(Part 2 of 6)
In the early years of the Fifth Expansion, the Silithii were
recontacted by the reborn Hegemony, and "offered" membership
therein. They rejected the offer, violently. And the Silithii
worlds were joined to the Hegemony -- by fire and the sword.
Since their rather unhappy readmission to the galaxy of "civi-
lized" intelligences in the sixteenth century of the atomic era,
the Silithii have attempted to secede from the L'Doran Hegemony
five times. In each of the first four of these "Secessionist
Wars", the Silithii burst off their worlds, occupied a half dozen
or so other worlds, then lost their spacefleet in battle within a
year of beginning hostilities. There followed a period of twen-
ty-five years of occupation government, followed by a period of
relative calm while the Silithii prepared for the next revolt.
Prior to the Fifth Secessionist War, the Silithii had always been
careful to keep civilian casualties to an absolute minimum
(something that could not always be said of some elements of the
OverGovernment forces, specifically the Humans and the Altani).
As a result, no one race or coalition of races had ever felt
sufficiently upset with the Silithii to attempt to wipe them out
completely.
The Fifth Secessionist War was somewhat different. The Silithii,
with a certain amount of Imperial help, and a fair amount of
unwitting Central Committee assistance, almost managed to win the
war. After four years of direct control of the Hegemonic Grand
Fleets by Central Committee Headquarters admirals, the Silithist the Silithii
home-system and ten of the Silithii Central Worlds ended the
Fifth Secessionist War in 1817, after nearly seven years of war.
The final cost? Over eighty billion Silithii dead, three times
that many non-Silithii dead, and hundreds of trillions of mone-
tary units damage. And eleven burned out suns and three hundred
twenty-six bombed out worlds. And a great many very bad memo-
ries.
It is to be noted that there were some Silithii who fought on the
Hegemonic side during the Fifth War; the courage and daring of
such units as the 319th Special Assault Force has been neither
ignored nor forgotten by the Central Committee powers. There are
still Silithii in service to Hegemonic Arms, though they are few
in number, and frequently must face discrimination or out-and-out
abuse from officers and enlisted personnel of small mind or
heart.
Few of the Human troops that were involved in the recapture of
Novaya Amerika or New Jerusalem can be trusted to serve with
Silithii; some memories die very hard, and Humans have never been
known to forgive atrocities easily. Humans, even in the "en-
lightened" Fifth Expansion era, have been known to hate easily
and long.
(Part 3 of 6)
Names among the Silithii
Silithii official names (as opposed to the nicknames frequently
used by commoners) are strictly based on occupation. Thus,
though an individual shuttle pilot might be known to his friends
and close acquaintances as "Old Red Ear", he would be known
officially as, say, Shuttlepilot-213544.
Those individuals who are members of the first grade of nobility
are given a "last-half name". That is, in addition to the func-
tion name, they may add a personally selected given name. Thus,
if the shuttle pilot of our preceding example were elevated to
this level of the peerage, he might choose to be called Shuttle-
pilot-Chargon (with the given name taking the place of the origi-
nal numerical designation).
Those individuals who become members of the second grade of
nobility are given "a first-half name"; a name, based on their
birth or adopted noble clan is added. The given name of the
first grade is dropped for those individuals rising in caste. In
the case of our earlier example, "Old Red Ear" might come to be
officially known as Klanath-Shuttlepilot.
Individuals in the third grade of nobility have "both-half-
names"; if "Old Red Ear" managed to make it to this exalted
station, he might well be known as Klanath-Shuttlepilot-Chargon.
Individuals of the fourth grade of nobility drop the "function
name", since it is in their case superfluous -- all fourth grade
nobility are involved in government. If "Old Red Ear" made it
this high in life, he'd be known as Klanath-Chargon.
Individuals of the fifth grade of nobility drop the given name,
and are known only by their clan name together with a rank desig-
nation (first, second or third only). So in our earlier example,
if "Old Red Ear" managed to reach one of the top three positions
within clan Klanath, he would be known as Klanath-first, Klanath-
second, or Klanath-third.
Until recently, the only higher level of nobility than the clan
leaders was the Tagran, the Emperor-leader of the Silithii world.
With the advent of starflight, a new level of nobility was creat-
ed above the clan leaders and below the Tagran (who came to be
the Emperor-Leader of ALL the Silithii worlds). This sixth grade
of nobility, the Isa'a, are known by the names of the worlds that
they rule, together with a given name. If "Old Red Ear" managed
to claw his way to leadership of all of the clans of Sanadar III,
he might then be known, say, as SanadarIII-Chargon (Chargon,
ruler of Sanadar III).
(Part 4 of 6)
Silithii Languages
The People's Tongue
This is the principal language of the Silithii -- spoken as a
native language by 90% of the Silithii population.
The Master's Tongue
This is the principal language of the nobility of the Silithii --
roughly 10% of the Silithii populace.
Highspeech
The court language of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades of
Silithii nobility. Teaching Highspeech to commoners is a crime
punishable by death by slow torture. Teaching Highspeech to
nobility below the requisite level is punishable by death.
The Silithii Outlook
(1) There is a passion for virtue.
(2) The four cardinal virtues are: obedience to duty, courage,
honor, and cunning, in order of descending importance.
(3) Fortitude and indifference to pain and sorrow are also
considered important.
(4) Power over another intelligent being does not require justi-
fication. Or rather, it is its own justification.
(5) There is a basic natural law governing not only all intelli-
d gent beings, but all life, to wit: survival of the fittest.
(6) Under this law, all intelligent life forms are basically
equal. That is, they start from positions of equal opportu-
nity. But, based on genetic background, training in youth,
and personality, they will not enter adult life at levels of
either equal responsibility or privilege. And they cannot
be treated completely equally at any time later in adult
life -- unless their responsibilities, privileges, and level
of authority are exactly identical. (All animals are equal,
but some are more equal than others).
Attitudes of the Silithii Middle Class: Equality among sophonts
is assumed to be a fallacy. The world view is pessimistic
(stoic), and dignity is considered to be a basic virtue. Poverty
is regarded as a vice. The "species" memory of the Silithii is
extremely short, and despite repeated failures to achieve same,
the Silithii are ever eager as a race to assume a position of
galactic dominance.
Attitudes of the Silithii Elite: Power evokes respect, and the
greatest political force among the Silithii is brute force.
Government is not reason, nor is it eloquence; it is blind unrea-
soning power. The hero image is the leader/conqueror (yet, at
the same time, individualism among the Silithii is exalted -- at
least among the elite). Sophisticated aliens evoke wariness, and
the primitive masses (i.e. everyone else) is regarded as a vic-
tim, ripe for the taking. Ambition is tolerated in others. The
greatest weakness among the Silithii elite is an excess of ag-
gressiveness. They are indifferent to others' cultures. Dilet-
tantism is strongly frowned upon. Leisure, incidentally, is re-
garded as a vice for anyone except those in the fourth or higher
grade of nobility.
Silithii (Part 5 of 6)
The Silithii: An intelligent race for OTHER SUNS
Copyright (c) 1982, 1990 by N. C. Shapero
(Part 5 of 6)
Psychological Profile for Silithii
Brave - Cowardly 01-60 96-100
Cautious - Reckless 01-10 51-100
Forgiving - Vengeful 01-05 96-100
Generous - Miserly 01-40 96-100
Hedonistic - Stoic 01-05 31-100
Honorable - Treacherous 01-40 96-100
Humble - Arrogant 01-05 61-100
Merciful - Cruel 01-05 61-100
Optimistic - Pessimistic 01-15 71-100
Peaceable - Combative 01-15 31-100
Trusting - Suspicious 01-10 51-100
Xenophilic - Xenophobic 01-10 81-100
The Silithii: An intelligent race for OTHER SUNS
Copyright (c) 1982, 1990 by N. C. Shapero
(Part 6 of 6)
Silithii Physical Characteristics
(1) Gravitational Norm and Tolerance Range: 1.00 g, 0-1.5 g,
max 3g
(2) Atmospheric Norm and Variation Tolerance: 60-400 mm Hg Oxy-
gen, 10-25 mm Hg Water Vapor, 1.00 atmospheres.
(3) Temperature Range Norm and Tolerance: 0 to + 30 degrees C
mean; -10 to +40 degrees C daily.
(4) Electromagnetic Range(s) Tolerated: 0-30 lumens per square
centimeter; wavelengths greater than 300 Angstroms.
(5) Size Range: 4' to 8'
(6) Chemical Base: Carbon
(7) Particle Radiation Tolerance: Less than 0.03 rem steady
state (per week), less than 100 rem short term.
(8) Sensory Types, location, and sensitivities:
(8A) Electromagnetic:
Coarse: 7,000-10,000 Angstroms; skin
Fine: 4,000-7,000 Angstroms -- color vision; eyes
(8B) Pressure Differential:
Remote: 20-20,000 cycles; ears
Contact: skin, muzzle hairs
(8C) Chemosensing:
Coarse: Depends on substance; skin, tongue
Fine:Nasal cavity (slightly more sensitive than human),
tongue
(8D) Damage Detection:
Corrosion: skin.
Other: internal nervous system
(8E) Texture Sensing: skin
(8F) Psi senses: varies with the individual.
(8G) Other: No other senses
(9) Substances absorbed: Oxygen, other creatures, fruits,
water, miscellaneous trace elements. Carnivorous.
(10) Substances Emitted: Water, Carbon Dioxide, miscellaneous
solid, liquid, and gaseous organic compounds.
(11) Reproductive Methods: Typical mammalian; gestation period
295 days (single birth).
(12) Body shape and Natural Weapons: Tailless, furred bipedal
mustilid; teeth, hands, feet, non-retractile claws on fin-
gers.
(13) Periodic Functions: 24-30 hour wake/sleep cycle (diurnal
species); 20-40 day female menstrual cycle.
(14) Non-sensory Psi Functions: Varies with individual