Carnage of the Apes!

I had a appointment today that took me near a comic shop I used to frequent.  I used to really get into comics "back in the day", but for various reasons (cost being one) I haven't bought much in the way of comics in quite some time.  Anyway, I had a few extra minutes so went into the comic shop.  I spotted the below issue on the shelf and got excited.

Unfortunately, the Apes were just on the cover and had nothing to do with the content.  I think this was a missed opportunity.  Apparently Marvel has the Planet of the Apes license again and are doing variant Ape related covers on their main comic lines to promote it.  Personally, I think it would be really cool to have Carnage "zapped" through a portal and end up in The Forbidden Zone!  Imagine the Cat (er I mean Carnage) and Mouse games of him hunting down Soldier Apes in the ruins! Would make for a fun and entertaining one shot story-line.  Maybe could adapt this to an Apes Victorious or Mutant Future game. Personally I love pulling in stuff from all kinds of sources for my games, that's one of the things I especially love about the OSR, you can really mix and match, tweak and adapt all kinds of things to make the sort of campaign you and your group really want.

Project Pegasus, Deathlok, Gamma World

My recent post about my acquisition of the Deathlok TPB. Got me thinking about the first comic I picked up that had Deathlok.

That was Marvel Two-In-One #53.   Featuring The Thing and Quasar.  This was my first time reading about Quasar, and Deathlok (spoiler) with Deathlok only showing up near the very end of the comic.

 This comic also featured Project Pegasus. The timing of this comic was pretty important to my formative gaming GMing years/experience. You see as I have mentioned a few times in the past. D&D was NOT my first RPG to GM. It was actually Gamma World.  I started playing Gamma World in 1979, at the age of 10. Marvel Two-In-One #53 came out in 1979. It had cyborgs, weird powered beings and Project Pegasus!

For those who don't know Project Pegasus was presented as a massive underground energy research station in the Marvel Comics.  Getting this comic at the same time I was starting to run/play Gamma World made for a perfect match. My Gamma World game needed underground installations of the ancients and Project Pegasus was the prefect fit! On the surface it looked like just a small outpost or collection of buildings on a rocky outcropping. Perfect to plug into my Gamma World Campaign.

Just a few years prior the Planet of the Apes TV series being on TV (I have treasured memories of watching these with my grandfather), and eventually I got to watch the original movies.  So of course the Apes were a major faction in my first Gamma World Campaign. Oh and on a side note the 1976 King Kong movie remake was fresh on my mind, so yeah there was a giant ape (or two) roaming about the Post Apocalyptic Wasteland..Anyways back to project Pegasus
My 10 year old imagination knew I needed underground vaults, bunkers and installations for my Gamma World game, and Project Pegasus was perfect for this, there were even maps!

These were perfect to use as inspiration for my Gamma World games. I didn't know the term at the time, but Project Pegasus formed the foundation of my first Mega-Dungeon, although it was for Gamma World and not D&D. Different sections of the massive installation had different purposes, one held energy powered heroes/villains. Can you say perfect material for a Gamma World game!  

While my players, the most consistent being my cousin and my best friend Tormentor, although there were many others that floated in and out over the years, were the ones that played in my Gamma World Campaign the longest (over 10+ years) they didn't always know just how much of a power player the factions within and around Project Pegasus were controlling/influencing the Campaign. The Knights of Genetic Purity wanted to obtain it, The Created worked hard to maintain control of their sections of it and to continue "their" research.  Restorationists saw it as a way to restore civilization. And the apes! Well they wanted to destroy any hint that humans once dominated the planet. Many years later (1986) I discovered and hungrily read the first of the Deathlands series (Pilgrimage to Hell). That series heavily revolved around secret installations with a special connection between them. I adapted that concept to my ongoing Gamma World campaign and tied it in to my Project Pegasus original campaign concepts. But that is another story for another time. 

Part of the reason I mention this whole history of my early Gamma World Campaigns, is that Christmas makes me nostalgic for Gamma World. You see, over the Christmas holidays from school, my cousin would come into town and my buddy Tormentor would come over and we would play Gamma World non-stop for days at a time, we'd go without sleep, overly caffeinate  and it was glorious! So spend time with friends, family roll some dice and have fun! That's the best kind of memories. -Tis the Season!

Stars Without Number : Duckworlders

Here's one that I had alot of fun doing.  For those who don't know my gaming style, I like to inject a little bit of humor and craziness into my games.  I try not to take things too seriously. Sure I can and do run some grim and gritty games, but its fun to laugh too.  So for those who are so inclined to add a little zanyiness to your Space Campaigns I present the Duckworlders!

Duckworlders

Lenses: Adaptable, Adventurous

Government: Representative Democracy
Technology Level: 3 (comparable to 1970's Era Earth)
Motivation: Leisure (a cold beer, a cheap cigar and the latest issue of Playduck)
     Duckworlders or "Ducks" as most other races call them are 3 foot tall anthropomorphic ducks! They average around 40-50 lbs. and their body is covered in feathers which are usually white or yellow (other colors are possible, but rare), they have webbed feet and a duck bill (complete with teeth). Ducks are an adaptable race and can function quite well in the societies and cultures of other races and peoples, although many can come across as rather  "grouchy" & irritable". Some Ducks refer to humans as "hairless apes", but not all ducks are quite so rude. On their own world, they tend to not wear pants, but have learned that when interacting with humans and other races trousers are for some reason considered mandatory.
     Most Ducks are content to go about their everyday lives living, loving, eating, drinking and smoking, but a significant portion of the population has an adventurous streak. These are the ones most likely to be encountered by other races. Even though they lack long distance space travel many can be found hitching rides on the spaceships of other races, off to find their next adventure and a cold beer.
     Most races, humans in particular, assume that Ducks being Ducks are naturally adept swimmers. This is not necessarily the case; there are many Duckworlders that can't swim at all! They have to be taught the skill like most everyone else.

     Some Duckworlders, in particular the more adventurous ones, have developed their own martial arts style, "Quak Fu" that takes advantage of their size and stature, allowing them to take on opponents much larger than themselves. 

Duckworlder PC's

Hardy- In spite of their size (or perhaps because of it) Duckworlders are a hardy and tenacious race. PC Ducks must have at least a 14 constitution. Ability scores are generated normally.
Lucky Duck- Ducks often find themselves caught up in circumstances bigger than themselves, relying on their "pluckiness" some would say "duckiness" to see them through. They get +2 on all Luck based saves.
If a Duck finds himself in a really tight situation he can use his bill/beak for a bite attack doing 1d3 pts. damage. They very seldom resort to this, but will use it in desperate situations.
Insulating Feathers- their feathers help insulate them from cold/wet conditions and when a physical save is required under such conditions they get a +2 bonus to their rolls.
Hold Breath-even though they can't swim any better than humans they can hold their breath for a bit longer than the average human, they can go without air for 5 minutes + their Con bonus and do not have this shortened when doing strenuous activity such as swimming.

Obviously based on Howard the Duck from Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended.

First Appearance: Adventure into Fear #19 (1973)

Stars Without Number : Entemen

We didn't meet to play Pathfinder today, so I took the time to work up another Marvel Universe alien race for Stars Without Number.  I didn't have much to go on for this race so I extrapolated a little bit, hope you enjoy.  And as always please let me know if you use any of these in your games.

Entemen

Lenses: Greed, Treachery

Government: Multipolar; Trade Guilds, Crime Bosses
Technology Level: 4 (actually a high 3 but they have managed to "acquire" i.e. steal higher technologies)
Motivation: Power, Wealth, Recognition
     Entemen are a tall (average height 6'6") humanoid/octopoid race with dark yellow to orange skin with darker spots and large pointed ears. Instead of arms and legs they have tentacles.
Entemen have a racial knack with all things criminal, in fact the race has a bad reputation among other aliens as being criminals. But this is not always true. Many Entemen are not criminals and in fact some go on to use their skill and knowledge of crime to become skilled (and quite honorable) law enforcement officers. But the negative stigma of their race is hard to shake.

Entemen have shown a fondness for Old Earth 1930's Era Mob and Gangster movies and many try to emulate the behavior from that period, even setting up their criminal organizations to resemble that era (or at least how that era has been portrayed in holo-vids and popular fiction).

Entemen as PC's

Roll ability scores as normal: 3d6

Not having multiple fine manipulative digits causes Entemen some issues when attempting to engage in skills that require such. Generally an Entemen is at -2 when trying to do intense, complex fine manipulation skills, but if the Entemen can bring his "feet" into play this penalty is negated.

Their tentacles allow them to be superb grapplers, gaining a +2 to any attempts to grapple with a foe.
Entemen have large pointed ears which provides them with slightly better hearing than humans, any attempts to Listen receive a +2 bonus.
Automatically has Culture: Criminal: 0 and Culture: Criminal is always a class skill. When dealing with criminals and the criminal element they get an additional +2 to their Charisma rolls.
This can also work against the Entemen. Having a reputation as criminals causes other races to question their motives and purposes. When interacting with others for the first time (particularly those in authority and law enforcement) all Charisma interaction attempts are at -2 (ya just can't trust those Entemen), after the Entemen has had time to "prove his honesty" to others, charisma interactions will be normal, but they still can turn up the charm when dealing with criminals.
Entemen can possess psionic ability but as a species show a slightly decreased occurrence of having psionics when compared to humans. Those that do possess psionics are often criminal leaders and masterminds (no big surprise there).

First Appearance: Marvel Presents #5
Copyright Marvel Comics, No copyright infringement is intended.

I added (made up) the criminal part to this race. The one Entemen I read about Mr. Slech in Marvel Presents #5 was an inmate on a prison planet that led a gang of prisoners. : )

Stars Without Number : Quwrlln

Needles over at the Swords and Stitchery blog has been making me look bad, posting Stars Without Number goodies like a mad man!  : )
He reminded me I haven't done much real posting in awhile, especially for Stars Without Number, so seeing as how he has "thrown down the gauntlet" so to speak, I thought I'd post a new Alien for my ongoing SWN/Marvel/DC Aliens Series.
This one even ties into (not so subtly) a certain Cosmic Entity he mentions on this list.
Anyways without further ado, I present a somewhat more obscure Marvel Universe Alien race;
The Quwrlln

Quwrlln

Lenses: Sagacity, Fear, Pacifism
Government: Oligarchy; Council of Scientists
Technology Level: 4 (but they have made higher level advances in experimental teleportation technologies, if they pool all their resources on a global scale they can achieve teleportational marvels that come close to tech level 6, they also have achieved great advances in Bio-technology some of which are tech level 5)
Motivation: Knowledge, Species Survival

     Quwrlln are a race of sentient cephalopods, averaging 3' tall and 98 lbs, with pinkish, translucent skin and multiple tentacles. They are considered to be a very old species in the galactic scheme of things. They have been called the scientific students of the universe. A large segment of the Quwrlln scientific community (which is a majority of their overall population) is focused on preventing some future catastrophe that they believe is coming, (something potentially even more devastating than The Scream), they are devoted to preventing this thing/event from happening, or more specifically, from affecting their race. They refer to this event/thing as "The World Devourer". While they are not an inherently evil race, they are not above using and manipulating other races to forward their goals (the end justifies the means, and they feel their entire species' survival is at stake). While there are Quwrlln that are not focused on this occurrence, these are considered outcasts, mentally unstable, delusional, not devoted to the common good of their race, etc.
     While the Quwrlln do their best to avoid violence, especially physical violence they are not by any means helpless. A Slaver fleet, (no doubt working for the Deonists) brazenly sought to attack a Quwrlln world, thinking the Quwrlln's peaceful nature and psionic potential would make for easy pickings and fetch them a high price with their masters. The entire fleet upon orbiting the planet and making their demands was caught by some sort of teleportational wave weapon and simply disappeared! Rampant speculation continues as to what happened to the fleet but no one knows for certain and the Slavers have left the Quwrlln alone ever since.
     Also note that while the Quwrlln are a pacifistic race, they are not above using other races to do their fighting for them. There are reports of Quwrlln using their advanced bio-science skills to enhance the abilities of other aliens and pit them against their foes.

SWN Default Campaign Notes: The Quwrlln were devastated by The Scream, their civilization was ripped apart. It has taken them the centuries since The Scream to recover and they still have not regained the level of technology that they once possessed.
Psionics: Prior to The Scream over half the population (65% +) of Quwrlln exhibited some form of psionic ability, in the centuries since, they have slowly began to recover their psionic potential, roughly 35% of Quwrlln alive today possess some psionic abilities, but even those don't reach the pinnacle of achievement that this race once possessed.

PC Quwrlln:
Few Quwrlln are ever encountered away from other members of their species. But there are those rare individuals that reject their race's obsession with preventing some future calamity and pursue their own ends. However, most of these "rogue" Quwrlln still embrace their race's pacifistic tendencies. Because of this no Quwrlln can be of the Warrior class.
Stats: Quwrlln must have a minimum Intelligence of 14. Due to their higher intellect and scholarly training they gain an additional +2 on any Skill Checks related to Intelligence. Psionic Quwrlln can waive this bonus and instead get an additional Psi Point.
Multiple tentacles- Quwrlln possess multiple tentacles and with these can hold 3x more objects than normal; were it not for their pacifistic nature they could also get one additional attack per round, but they may use their tentacles for one additional action per round or to add +5 to their movement. Their tentacle-like limbs also make them expert grapplers (+2) to the attempt but they would never perform a grapple attempt as a physical attack.
Mucus Membrane – Quwrlln are covered in a slimy mucus membrane that makes them hard to grapple (-2 to any attempt to grapple them),

First Appearance Alpha Flight #25 (1985) Copyright Marvel Comics, No Copyright Infringement is intended!

Special Thanks to Matt over at The Land of Nod.
I used his Mollusk alien as a template from his Space Princess RPG. : )

Stars Without Number : Reptoids

What's this? A post over on the Green Skeleton Gaming Guild Blog?? Shh...I'm sneaking back in from my hiatus. Bat said I wouldn't be able to stay away and he was right! LOL.. Actually an old buddy of mine from out of town called me the other day, asking what Sci Fi RPG games were out that might meet his needs, he wants to get his gaming group to try something other than Magic and Battletech, he played Traveller back in the day and alot of D&D, he said wanted something like Traveller but with maybe some D&D mechanics, well of course that describes Stars Without Number to a tee.  I think he is going to start up a Campaign soon, I'm excited to hear how it turns out. Anyways that caused me to dust off my notes and I found another Marvel Universe race that I figured I'd post for ya'll, yeah they are heavily based on Lizard Men but I figured what the heck.

Anyways, enjoy!! : )

 

Reptoids

Lenses: Tribalism, Savage

Government: Tribal

Technology: 0
Motivation: Predators

     Reptoids are a race of savage reptilian humanoids. They average 6' in height when standing upright; have green scales with a yellow underside. They can walk erect or run on all fours and have powerful 6'long tails which they often use as weapons.

     The mindset of a Reptoid is very simple, "Bite it! Kill it! Eat it!" … Or if their prey looks like it might be a bit troublesome: "Slam it! Bite it! Kill it! Eat it!"

SWN Default Campaign Setting Notes: Reptoids would be an ignored blip on the radar in the galactic scheme of things were it not for certain disreputable types finding that Reptoids (with the right motivation; FOOD!) make for vicious gladiatorial arena combatants and in some instances bodyguards.

PC Reptoid

Move: 30, or 40 if on all fours
AC: 5
+4 on all Climbing related checks due to their climbing claws.
PC Reptoids must have at least a 14 strength attribute.

Attacks: Tail Slam; if the Reptoid forgoes any movement actions or other attacks in a round he can slam his opponent with a powerful tail attack for 1d8pts damage otherwise they will use a bite attack doing 1d6. Victims of a successful Reptoid tail slam attack must make an Evasion Save or be knocked prone by the creature's powerful tail. Reptoids are quite strong and get an additional +1 to damage on all physical attacks. *(I thought about having the tail attack do 1d10 damage instead of 1d8 but was concerned about power creep, feel free to up the damage or lower it depending on your campaigns needs).

Reptoids cannot be psychics. In fact, Reptoids are particularly susceptible to Psychic influence and manipulation; they get a -2 penalty to any saving throws to resist telepathic attacks or scans. For this reason powerful Telepaths (like the alien Slavers in particular) often use them as bodyguards and such.
     Reptoids are a very primitive species and are not comfortable using advanced weapons or technology (to a Reptoid a crossbow is an advanced weapon). Some rare more intelligent specimens have been trained to use low tech weapons (swords, axes etc.), but most prefer to use their natural attacks to get the job done.

Adapted from Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended. The Reptoids first appeared in Thor Annual #6.

Stars Without Number : Slavers

Slavers
Lenses: Gluttony, Greed
Government: various Merchant Houses compete for dominance
Technology Level: 4 (Specialty Genetic Engineering)
Motivation: Profit
     Slavers, the original racial name for their people was lost ages ago, are a race of large, extremely obese blue skinned humanoids. For centuries, Slavers have engaged in the slave trade of other sentient races. As they would say, "it's nothing personal, just business". They will work with whomever or whatever will pay their prices, whether it be Badoon, Deonists or worse. They have their greedy fat fingers into all sorts of shady business transactions across the galaxy, but the core of their money making endeavors is the slave trade. In fact many believe they got their start and much of their technological advances from direct dealings with the Deonists, the Slavers being a psionic race (and potential "prey" of the Deonists) opted to make a "deal with the devil" the Deonists, and rather than become victims to these Devils they instead capture and send other psionic races to their doom.
     Many clients have special requests, and are willing to pay big money to those that cam meet their requests. To enable them to meet these special requests, the Slavers have engaged in extensive genetic engineering experiments that have enabled them to create special "Hounds" from other races. These hounds are specially designed Trackers sent out after particular quarry, just one more reason for other races to loathe the Slavers. Slavers are also always on the lookout for means to better control their slaves, psi-tech devices and artifacts in particular always draw their interest.
     Spending years as "businessmen" has atrophied their physical abilities, indeed Slavers find it beneath them to engage in manual labor, after all, "that's what slaves are for!"…but they have more than made up for it in enhanced intellects and a wily cunning, in fact the majority of Slavers are quite skilled psychics, especially in telepathic pursuits.
SWN Default Settings Note: Slavers have been slowly on the rise ever since The Scream, there is some speculation that Slavers are actually descended from genetically engineered humans specially created to have enhanced psychic abilities, The Scream destroyed this project leading to the evolution of this vile blight upon the galaxy.
Stats: Str & Dex are 2d6, Int & Wis are 2d6+6, roll rest as normal. The Majority of Slavers have some Psychic ability and those in positions of power and prominence are almost always full-blown members of the Psychic Class, frequently of significant ability. All Slavers start play with a free bonus Psychic point.

PC Note: Slavers are not recommended as a Player Character race.

This write-up is very loosely based on the Slavers from Marvel Comics, first appearance Excalibur #17 1989. No copyright infringement is intended!

Stars Without Number : Badoon

My buddy Giles emailed me the other day, asking my thoughts about the Stars Without Number RPG.
He also said he missed my alien race posts for the game.  Well after several exchanges with him about the coolness of SWN, I dusted off my notes and thought I'd post another Marvel Alien race.
And here I was in full blown Fantasy mode! Darn Gamer ADD, Darn you Giles!! LOL

Badoon

Lenses: Domination
Government: Monarchy
Technology Level: 4 with Specialty: Personal Cloaking Technology
Motivation: Conquering

     The Badoon are a 6' tall race of reptilian humanoids. Although the Badoon are an older race in the galactic scheme of things, they were quite late (compared to other races) in developing advanced technology. This was primarily due to an unusual gender schism…a hatred actually between the male and female members of their species, this conflict held them back from expanding and developing for centuries. The Badoon fought full blown gender wars for ages. After a time the males won and placed the females into captivity. In time, the males developed technology and abandoned their homeworld, leaving the females behind, returning only when their mating drive made it necessary. Their society is now divided into two with the Brotherhood of Badoon (ruled by a "Brother Royal") and the Sisterhood of Badoon (ruled by a queen) dwelling on the original Badoon homeworld, sometimes referred to as "Swampworld". The males became conquerors of other worlds and races, while the females became more pacifistic, apparently content to remain on their homeworld and oblivious of the males' star-spanning empire. Some scientists of other races believe the Badoon males developed some plant-based chemical means to control the females, but so far have been unable to prove this theory.
     The Badoon will do whatever necessary to conquer other races; whether it is bolstering their forces with Zom soldiers (the corpses of victims turned into cyborg warriors) or putting a long term intricate plan in place that may take decades or longer to bear fruit. The Badoon are believed to be active on countless worlds, many worlds are unaware of the Badoon's plotting of their society's downfall. Currently the Badoon control (either overtly or covertly) multiple star systems and work to conquer and dominate more.
     Cloaking Field: The Badoon have taken the Artifact Tech of Ghost Mantle armor a step further and have been able to develop personal Cloaking Field technology. This field renders an individual Badoon effectively invisible! The Badoon and any gear that he is carrying are completely invisible. Only specially designed sensors can detect his presence. Should the Badoon drop an item he is carrying, the item will immediately become visible. Any footprints or tracks he makes will be visible; also the cloaking field does not affect any sounds the Badoon may make so if he is noisy he will draw attention to himself. All attacks against the Cloaked Badoon are at -4, unless the attacker is using specially designed sensor devices. Should the Badoon attack any creature/person the field is disrupted and the Badoon becomes visible. These personal cloaking fields are rare even among the badoon and only used by their elite warriors and special scout teams, they also go out of their way to make certain this technology does not fall into the hands of other races. They will never trade or sell this technology!

  A Badoon female…no wonder the males all moved to another planet!

SWN Default Campaign Setting Notes: The Badoon were not affected by The Scream for two reasons, one they were slow to develop technology and so at the time of The Scream were not key players on the Galactic Scene; the Terran Mandate considered them to be a minor nuisance back in the day. In fact one could argue that the Badoon benefitted from it, with the Terran Mandate devastated by The Scream the Badoon have been able to expand their Empire and two, to date no Badoon has exhibited any psychic ability. So their technology never had a basis on Psychic energy.

Brother Royal

  PC Badoon

A player character Badoon is quite rare, they tend to stick together and work to dominate other races, in fact a lone Badoon working with other races is more likely a spy for his Brotherhood, so most other aliens tend to distrust a lone Badoon's motives, however a renegade Badoon while quite rare is possible. Badoon roll 3d6 for stats but must have a minimum of 14 in their strength attribute. Their scaly hide grants them a natural AC of 5 against primitive weapons. Their scaly skin tends to get irritated when other armor is worn over it, so they seldom wear much clothing or armor at all. Being Cold Blooded creatures they avoid cooler climates and in fact in temperatures below 40 degrees are at -2 to all attacks and skill checks, unless wearing an environment suit.
PC's will not start out with a personal Cloaking field, unless the GM decides otherwise. Also unless GM states otherwise, PC Badoon cannot be psychics.

Adapted from Marvel Comics, I tweaked them slightly to fit in with the Stars Without Number Campaign Setting. The Badoon first appeared in Marvel Comics Silver Surfer #2 (1968) No copyright infringement is intended.

Stars Without Number : Krugreppeans

Krugreppeans
Lenses: Superstitious
Government: Tribal
Technology Level: 4
Motivation: Vengeance

Krugreppeans are a tall (average 7'), humanoid race covered in thick hair, and have light brown skin with no visible nasal structures.

     Krugreppeans were originally a happy and peaceful people. This all changed when a deranged alien psychic unleashed a Maltech device in an attempt to harness the power of their homeworld's star. The alien was unable to control the ancient device, and instead, their sun was destroyed as was the bulk of their civilization and people. They used their starships to flee the destruction of their homeworld; however, they only possessed a limited number of spike drive capable starships, nowhere near enough to save the bulk of their people, the remaining Krugreppeans died on their homeworld. Since that time they have spread out in their starships across the stars, hunting for the rogue psychic that destroyed their civilization. Now most Krugreppeans are trained as warriors, favoring both energy and bladed weapons. In spite of their advanced technology they have always been a superstitious people, the destruction of their society has only made them even more so. One oddity, they like to use the word "Hoopla" as an exclamation of some sort, its meaning has yet to be determined.
Krugreppeans as PC's
Roll 3d6 for attributes as per the normal rules; however, Krugreppeans have at least a 14 strength attribute.
Hairy – They are covered in a thick hairy hide, providing them with a +1 bonus on saves to resist the effects of cold. This thick hair also gives them a base AC of 8.
No known Krugreppeans are psychic.

Based on the alien race from Marvel Comics, Defenders #150, no copyright infringement is intended.

Stars Without Number : Astrans

Astrans

Lenses: Faith, Artistry (three quarters of Astrans are either priests or artists)
Government: Theocracy
Technology Level: 4 (but general populace/production capability TL is closer to 3, although they can produce Spike Drive Starships in limited numbers)
Motivation: Religious Pursuits

     The Astrans are a humanoid race averaging 5'6" tall with yellow skin. They are hairless, and have spatulate (toeless) feet. They have four lungs and special excretory glands in their stomachs (this additional lung capacity and system allows them to go without air for 8 + Con modifier minutes before being at risk for suffering ill effects from lack of air). They have a rigid theocratic society of priests and artists, although a rare few have risen to become powerful villains amongst not only their own people, but the galaxy at large. Psychics are not unheard of among the Astran race, although there are very few true academies present on Astra to teach a budding young psychic how to harness and control their powers. Astran society is quite rigid with little tolerance for any form of deviation. Any Astrans exhibiting such powers are carefully monitored by the religious authorities. Those Astrans that do have such powers can become quite powerful, but some have shown a predisposition to megalomania and can become a threat to themselves and those around them. The worst of these are driven into exile, often times off planet, in the hopes to purge the Astrans of their stain. Some Astran psychics have exhibited an ability dubbed Magnetokinesis: the ability to psionically manipulate metallic substances, shaping them into various forms and also includes the ability to telekinetically move metal substances from one location to another at various velocities and with varying degrees of force. These Magnetokinetics are often quite talented artists, creating some of the most beautiful metallic sculptures known, however, others have rebelled against their theocratic and controlling rulers and gone on to become would be conquerors and villains!

Astran PC's

Few Astrans leave their homeworld, most being too dedicated to their artistry or religious pursuits. They tend to be uncomfortable interacting with other races (nonbelievers) although an exiled Astran could turn up in all sorts of places. Game mechanic-wise their attributes are the same range as humans, with the addition of their ability to resist suffocation effects longer and a chance to have the powers of Magnetokinesis.

Copyright Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended.

Stars Without Number : Ba-Bani

Ba-Bani

Lenses: Combative (Not Xenophobic, but have distinct regional hatreds that regularly descend into all out war)
Government: Local militaristic dictatorships
Technology Level: 3 (but personal weapons and body armor are TL: 4 in many cases)
Motivation: Domination (rival clans and groups strive to dominate other Ba-Bani groups through warfare).

     The Ba-Bani are an alien race of humanoids very similar to humans, with yellow skin and orange to yellow hair. They are the same general height as humans, although they are leaner and more muscular, out of shape Ba-Bani are not acceptable members of their society. Some human scientists have theorized they are descended from genetically engineered human stock, tailored to be soldiers for some ancient forgotten group. Indeed the races proclivity to divide into groups and wage war on one another, yet having no additional animosity towards other races does give this some merit. However, if an outsider identifies himself as a member/ally of one of the opposed groups he is fair game. The Ba-Bani hotly deny this theory saying they are an independently evolved race, that is they deny it if you can get them to stop fighting one another long enough to comment. Many pirates and slavers have learned the hard way to leave the Ba-Bani alone, there have been reports of pirates attempting to take advantage of the Ba-Bani during one of their many wars, thinking that the Ba-Bani with their "lower" tech level and "weakened state" due to war would be easy pickings, the Ba-Bani when attacked like this quickly stop fighting each other and go full out attack against the invader, after the invader etc. is repelled they resume their conlict with one another. 

     Recently a powerful human psychic called the Goddess of Peace by the Ba-Bani has come to their world and for the first time in centuries an extended period of peace has ensued. While there are still some isolated rebels and rogue clans fighting, for the most part the world is at peace, all thanks to their goddess; Moondragon. Many Ba-Bani do indeed worship her as a true goddess.

Adventure Seeds

The party is approached at a Starport by a Ba-Bani, he says his people have been enslaved by a crazed psychic that dominates his leaders through the power of her mind, he begs for their help.

The party is approached by a robed alien (race determined by needs of GM), he tries to hire them to kidnap a rogue psychic hiding out in a temple on the planet Ba-Banis who is wanted for crimes against his people. He is actually an agent for the Deonists and is trying to get the party to do his dirty work.

A weapons dealer (smuggler) seeks to hire the party to transport a shipment of weapons to the Ba-Bani, they are always in the market for better ways to fight each other, although they tend to shy away from weapons of a massive destructive scale.

A desperate Ba-Bani female approaches the group and states that her people's goddess of peace, the Moondragon has been kidnapped by alien slavers and her people are desperate for her return! Slavers are taking her to the Deonists who seek her psychic essence to power their dying world!

Ba-Bani are copyright Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended!

First Appearance: Avengers I#219 (May, 1982)

Stars Without Number : Levians

Levians

Lenses: Indolent, Irresponsible
Government: Democratic Republic lead by a "First Citizen"

Technology Level: 4 (but declining, no Spike Drive technology)

Motivation: Hedonistic, Decadent

     Levians are a humanoid race, very similar to humans in appearance and body structures save for their blue skin and different range of hair colors. Levians are the epitome of hedonists, being perhaps one of the most indolent races in the galaxy. After depleting their planet of magma and resources, the Levians sent a fraction of their population aboard a starship to survive their world's imminent destruction. The survivors continued their wasteful ways and now live out their lives aboard their crippled, drifting worldship; The Levianon, served by robot minions that they no longer know how to repair.

Player Character Levians should only be allowed by the GM under very special circumstances. The Levian homeworld is uninhabitable and the only remaining Levians, an estimated 5 million, are on the Worldship Levianon. Stats will be the same as normal humans. Few Levians bother to actually engage themselves enough to attain a class of expert or warrior and no Levian Psychics are known to exist, they just don't have the discipline to learn how to properly use/control their abilities.

 

     Levians are protected by robot guardians they refer to as The Securitrons; these robot guardians are assigned to provide security aboard the Levianon. When not in use, they rest inside of Servo-Pods, emerging during a state of emergency. Over the years, the Levians have forgotten how to repair the Securitrons, resulting in their numbers slowly dwindling. The Securitrons are equipped with powerful laser rifles (1d10 damage but no burst fire), but some of these rifles are malfunctioning and no longer work.  Treat the Securitrons as Infantry Warbots per pg. 167 of the SWN Mongoose Edition rulebook (GM's option; only 1 in 6 has a functioning laser rifle).

Levians are copyright Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement intended!

Stars Without Number: Tribunals

Tribunals

Lenses: Subtlety, Sagacity
Government: Inapplicable
Technology Level: None
Motivation: Enigmatic

     The Tribunals are believed to be powerful alien beings composed of sentient energy. They can take on the outer shape and physical form of those they interact with, i.e. when they appear to humans, they take on a human-like appearance, although it will be mystical and somewhat nebulous seeming in form, for other species they have been reported to do the same.
     Many races believe the Tribunals to be nothing more than a wild space myth, a fanciful tale concocted by bored space travellers and scoff at talk of powerful psychic energy beings that occasionally meddle in the affairs of "lesser mortals". The Deonists apparently aren't willing to miss out on the chance to "worship" such a powerful psychic creature and have put an enormous bounty on the capture and delivery of a live Tribunal specimen to their world. There are others that seek out the Tribunals as well, for it is said they possess psionic talents and abilities that have long been lost and forgotten by the rest of the galaxy. It is said that those rare few whom the Tribunals deem worthy are gifted with a brief taste of this forgotten knowledge and power, although there is always a cost. Some come away with powerful new abilities, others come away powerful but maddened by the experience, while others are never seen again.

     SWN Default Campaign Setting Notes: If the Tribunals existed prior to The Scream there are no reports of it, but so much data is lost from the previous era, nothing is conclusive in that regard. Some races claim the Tribunals somehow caused The Scream, but there is no proof of this.

     The Tribunals are obviously not appropriate for player characters. They can be used in various ways in your Campaign, some examples are; as a GM Plot Device, perhaps they could be meddling do gooders or villains or somewhere in between….Maybe a PC Psychic is on a quest to learn some new Psionic ability that can only be obtained from The Tribunals.

I very loosely based these on the alien race featured in Defenders #124, no copyright infringement is intended.

Stars Without Number : A-Chiltarians

A-Chiltarians
Lenses: Domination, Tribalism
Government: Tribal
Technology Level: 3
Motivation: Conquering
     A-Chiltarians hail from the planet A-Chiltar. They are a short (5'5") humanoid species, with four fingers and three toes and are covered in purple-grey fur. Of particular note are their large multi-faceted eyes, permitting them to see in many directions at once. The planet A-Chiltar has a methane based atmosphere, and the A-Chiltarians being methane breathers require special breathing apparatus (such as those pictured above) in order to breathe in oxygen based atmospheres.
     A-Chiltarians are a tribal species; it is this tribalism that has kept them from reaching a higher tech-level, and becoming a true threat to the systems surrounding them. Over the centuries, especially since the time of The Scream they have made numerous attempts to dominate and stage invasions of systems near their homeworld, some of these plans have been quite involved and elaborate, but to date none of these efforts have proven to be successful. But the A-Chiltarians keep trying undeterred by their previous failures.

A-Chiltarians as PC's
Roll 3d6 for attributes as per the normal rules.
Multi-Faceted Eyes- The eyes of A-Chiltarians are much like those of an insect making them difficult to surprise and grants them a +1 on their initiative rolls, as long as their vision can come into play, i.e. in complete darkness they would have no such advantage.
Furred – The planet A-Chiltar is a cool temperate world, their light fur provides them with a +1 bonus on saves to resist the effects of cold.
Methane Breathers- A-Chiltarians are Methane breathers and require special breathing apparatus to survive on Earth-like atmosphere worlds.

A-Chiltarians are based on the alien race from Marvel Comics; Tales to Astonish #46, no copyright infringement is intended.

Stars Without Number: Deonists

Deonists  a.k.a. Soul-Survivors
Lenses: Despair, Faith
Government: Theocratic
Technology Level: 5 (in decline)
Motivation: Declining (simply trying to hold off the inevitable)
     Deonists are a humanoid alien race, of pale white skin, dark reddish hair, yellow eyes and of a spindly and gaunt form. In ages past the Deonists' homeworld; Deo was known as "Templeworld" and was the religious center of a confederation of planets. "Templeworld" was not only the center of the confederation but it was the location of their greatest treasures. According to Deonists Doctrine their greatest treasure was "The One Above All" an extremely powerful being of vast psychic power. They apparently worshipped him as their god and in exchange he supplied them with the psychic energy needed to maintain their planets delicate biosphere and their powerplants. The Scream changed all of that, The Deonists' relied heavily on Psi-Tech to not only maintain their planet's biosphere and technology but to travel to the stars. The confederation collapsed, most Deonists went mad, or were killed in the Scream's aftermath, a few managed to survive on their homeworld, using their powerful technology to hold back the darkness. It is at some point during this time that "The One Above All" sacrificed itself to shield the remaining Deonists from the chaos engulfing the galaxy. The Deonists survived off of this beings energy for quite some time, but eventually the entity's energies were depleted. They now seek to find powerful psychics to fuel their dying (75% of the planet is desert wasteland) planet's energy. No psychic found today has come even remotely close to matching "The Once Above All's" power, so they require a steady stream of victims, just to survive. It is for this reason that the world of Deo is now known as "The Doomsday Star". Deonists use their remaining hi-tech to recruit raiders and others to kidnap and bring to their world powerful psychics, dubbed "gods" by the Deonists, that are then used (against their will) as fuel for their dying society. In the centuries since The Scream, the Deonists could have worked to change their technology to run on different energies, but that would be contrary to their beliefs and society. While still advanced by other races standards, the Deonists have made no new technological strides since ages before The Scream. It is believed that there are now only 200 or so Deonists left on their homeworld, they have dubbed themselves the Soul-Survivors, with a select few scouring the stars for new "gods" to feed their essence to maintain their world's dwindling energies.

Deonists roll 2d6+3 for Strength and Constitution, 2d6+6 for Intelligence and Wisdom, Charisma and Dexterity are rolled normally.
Detached: Deonists XP requirements to increase in level are 10% greater than normal.
At GM discretion may start with some TL: 5 weapons and gear.

Adapted from Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended. First Appearance: Thor #261.