Well, thought I might post what I have so far for my hulking amphibian aliens.
Here goes:
The Tonk
The Tonk are a race of extra-terrestrials with an obvious amphibian
anatomy. Hailign from an unknown sector of space little is known about these
massive brutes save that they are technically on par with the terrestrial
powers and that they seem to have no serioud imperialist motivations.
Encounters with the Tonk have been sporadic and nearly
wholey incidental. Several skirmishes between survey groups or run-ins
on colony worlds near the Outer Rim.
Physically, the Tonk are hulking, standing approximately 8 ft tall on average
and possessing a physique which is hulking and muscular. As
species they seem rather passive and even-tempered, but when riles, they
are quick to action and decidedly dedicated in their actions. Skin tones range
from a deep brown to a light olive tone, most however are a
sort of dirty brownish-grey in color. Both male and female Tonk fight
and outwardly are indistinguishable from each other save for the presence of
more pronounced spotting on the males.
They seem to have no teeth but instead possess a single dental ridge on
the upper and lower mandible. Their eyes are small, ill-suited to
bright light and slightly near-sighted a condition they correct with
hi-tech optics. One striking feature is a complete lack of visible
nostrils. Instead their entire nasal region seems to be permiated with highly
acute olfactory sensors giving them greater than human sensory capabilities.
Game Notes:
Movement: 6 regardless of encumberance.
Terrain effects as for Power-Armoured Infantry.
Psychology:
+1 to all other modifiers when rolling to get IN POSITION
Ignore first SUPRESSION MARKER Count as One LV better when making Confidence
Tests. Count as One LV better when making Reaction Tests.
Other: When spotting hidden units Tonk count as One lower SENSOR type. When
spotting hidden units up to 12 roll one higher QUALITY DIE
Fire Combat: Tonk are considered one LV lesser when determining range bands
for targeting personal weapons. This does not apply to support or vehicle
weapons. Casualties as if Power Armour.
Close Combat: Treated as Power Armor for Close Combat. TONK EQUIPMENT AND
WEAPONS: Tonk travel light. Each soldier carries a modest field pack, a few
pouchs, his gun and his ammo. Most Tonk never wear anything better than basic
battledress. A few carry grenades. Tonk strength allows them to carry Class 1
weapons as heavy weapons, a fact that they make good use of for support of
their troops.
Throttle Gun: TYPE: Heavy Gaus Rifle; FIREPOWER: 3; IMPACT: D12.
Throttle Cannon: TYPE: GAC/1; FIRE CONTROL: Basic (D6); IMPACT:
D12
Throttle Gun/S: TYPE: Gaus Sniper Rifle; FIREPOWER: D10; IMPACT: D12
Basic Battledress (D4) Tonk battledress is a very basic affair. A sleeveless
shirt of
semi-rigid ballistic material which also traps moisture and keeps the
Tonk comfortable. In addition to this, a pair of loose fatigue pants are worn
and a pair of heavy buckled combat boots. An advanced optical visor is worn,
providing the Tonk with basic targeting information,
infra-red vision capabilities as well as light suppression and flash
compensation to protect their sensitive eyes. These optics also work to
correct some but not all of the Tonks natural vision defects.
Why casualties as Power Armor? Do they have healing abilities? Also, CC they
act as PA. They are big and strong, but as tough as PA? Hmmmm, not sure about
this. If the Tonk ever developed PA themselves, they would be unstoppable in
CC (roll x4 it would appear....) Eric
> Fire Combat:
Hmmm, few points.
> Why casualties as Power Armor? Do they have healing abilities?
Hmmmm,
> not sure about this.
Tonk are big. They are about the size of newer GW minis about 30mm and heavily
muscled. Having them act as PA made it simple. They are bigger than most of
the PA models. They do have amphibian regeneration abilities and are from a
hostile world where redundant anatomy is a must. The lifeforms they evolved
from are similar to a cross between a manitee, a dolphin, and a frog in form
alone but are of an amphibian anatomy. They do not have the armor of PA so
they are vulnerable to weapons fire.
> If the Tonk ever developed PA themselves, they would be unstoppable in
The way I have envisioned the Tonk has them unable to produce PAs or
unwilling. Anythign they did field along these lines would likely skip the PA
stage and go straight to Combat Walkers. Most of their vehicles are hovercraft
or VTOL their homeworld being covered in marches and muck.
Eli
G'day,
> 6" regardless of encumberance.
So I take it they got at top speed regardless?
> Terrain effects as for Power-Armoured Infantry.
Just to ask the obvious, if they're amphibian why do they have so much trouble
with water?
> Ignore first SUPRESSION MARKER
Just to be a pain, how do you track this?
> Count as One LV better when making Confidence Tests.
Is the logic behind this because they're big and thus won't be scared by
stuff? Maybe changes to the TL and mission motivation (riled vs surprised etc)
may work better for what I think you're trying to reflect here.
> Casualties as if Power Armour.
Why? Is this because of bulk? Redundant systems?
> Close Combat:
I'd actually be tempted to say like PA for first round, but then as normal (to
reflect the fact most things that are big or only fast for a short while and
then the effects of gravity start to eat into their reserves).
> Basic Battledress (D4)
I'd also be tempted to do a few scenarios where they have to get things done
quick in a desert environment (or dry out and start dropping quality levels).
Cheers
G'day again,
> They do have amphibian regeneration abilities and
However, unless they're metabolism is beyond belief I doubt they'd be able
to do much regeneration-wise in the time span of a battle.
> The lifeforms they evolved from are similar to a cross
OK that's really hard to imagine, which bits come from which animal?;)
> in form alone but are of an amphibian anatomy.
So they should be super susceptible to dry or windy conditions, as well as
biochem warfare.
> Most of their vehicles are hovercraft or VTOL their
Alternatively they may go for amphibious sub-like things? Just a
thought.
Cheers
Well,
There's a reason I posted the early work on the Tonk to the list. I had hoped
that the more experienced players would catch some of my
short-sighted choices.
My attempt has been to capture the bulky, powerful nature of the Tonk while
also reflecting their even temper and rather steady psyche. I actually am
trying not to make them all that alien, but also trying to make them stand
apart from humans to some degree.
I was trying to make an alien but one that fought in a way all too close ot
humans. From a cinematic point of view they are "more like us than most of us
think".
Thanks,
Eli
> Beth.Fulton@csiro.au gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu RE: The Tonk "long"Date:
Mon, 15 Oct 2001 10:20:23 +1100
> Reply-To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu