A recent surge in interest in 2300AD at The Pub has me peering at the BladeRunner RPG as a possible shim to run it. Ditching the promotion and humanity rules of course.
As I tend to run my games a little ‘narratively’, I don’t feel the need to rewrite rules for no reason. I mean, I’m not going to worry about the spaceship rules. I think that owning a space ship is not the desired campaign I’d go for. A colonist campaign would be interesting so I’m telling myself to read Building Better Worlds (the ALIEN RPG supplement) before getting started.
Other than that…it’s really about converting the Kafers. The Kafers would be an interesting addition to the ALIEN universe as well.
So, here’s to another game I’ll plan and not get a chance to run.
KAFERS (YZE-Step)
Kafers have an imposing humanoid presence, standing over two meters tall (and therefore taller than most humans other than Spacers) and are heavily muscled (emphasizing their difference again). Their torso is large, encased in a hard, spiny carapace and their skin elsewhere is tough with short coarse bristles. Their heads are relatively smooth but when their mouths open, revealing multiple structures for biting, manipulation, tearing and shredding, most humans would recoil in horror. Even worse when witnessing them feeding. Kafers are descended from a carnivorous scavenger species and their heads and mouths are designed to feed ‘head first’ into prey carcasses. Their mouthparts are also useful for ‘cleaning’ their entire head of food remnants. Their eyes are deep set with articulated ridges which again have a function in protecting the eyes when a head is plunged into a carcass.
Their hands consist of three opposable thumbs which makes using Kafer tech challenging for humans. Humans think of them as insects (hence the name in German, Kafer = bug) but they’re not remotely related to Earth insects. Probably important that in the Kafer language, they refer to themselves as “Vah”, meaning “the race”.
Kafers by and large are dull creatures, opportunistic and cruel (resembling a hyaena in play). This challenging behaviour is used in their society to make them more alert. When challenged, they release a hormone simlar to adrenaline which causes a change in their intelligence – transforming them into tactical geniuses. They’ll make use of any tactic while stimmed – and their intelligence will remain high for about thirty minutes after the conflict. Some Kafers are smarter than others and quickly are promoted to officer roles. Kafer commanders will often employ a club to beat their squads on the head and back in order to keep them alert and engaged.
Kafer expansion is about territory and access to resources. They can be highly motivated to expand onto garden worlds with indigenous life (things they can eat). They’ll pursue food and play with it, looking for a challenge that will, inadvertently, stim their intelligence. They will be dogged in their pursuit of prey (high Stamina).
Human expansion is coming to the rear of the Kafer territory and Kafers are expanding aggressively in other directions. Kafers have interpreted this as a tactical move by humans (nipping at their hindquarters) and have been enthusiastic to respond in kind. The threat posed by humans has caused a significant uptick in general intelligence among Kafers and a savage response. Retaliations in kind by humans in the French arm have been met and raised tensions accordingly. Observers would suggest that the Kafers have significant appetite for war.
STR d12
Force d8
Hand to Hand d8
Stamina d12
AGI d8
Firearms d8
Mobility d6
Stealth –
INT (d10 for officers or when stimmed)
Recon d6
Survival d6
Tech –
EMP d6
Command d12 (officers)
Medical Aid d6
Persuade –
CUF – or d12 when stimmed.
(natural reaction of unstimmed Kafers is to retreat. But 1d6 turns later, they become much smarter)
Armour: Kafers have Natural Armour of 2 for torso hits.
Kafer Talents:
KILLER
TOUGH
Kafer weapons:
Vved Ush ‘pistol’ – a heavy revolver with automatic fire
– ROF 3, Damage 2, Crit 3, Range 2
Vved Ach ‘rifle’ – with integral grenade launcher
– ROF 3, Damage 3, Crit 3, Range 5
– ROF 1, Damage C, Range 3
Vved kala’ach – a rugged laser rifle with grenade laucher
– ROF 1, Damage 2, Crit 2, Range 10
– ROF 1, Damage C, Range 3