From: Elliot Wilen (8hum190@violet.berkeley.edu)
Date: Sat 18 Aug 1990 - 09:56:33 EEST
Here's a race from my campaign, a low-entropy world with emphasis on
cultures and politics. Magic is relatively rare.
Copyright (C) 1988 Elliot Wilen, all rights reserved. This material may be freely copied and distributed for non-commercial use, provided this notice is included in all copies. References, derivations, and fixes to this material must contain proper attribution. Any other use, without written permission from the author, is prohibited.
Runequest is a trademark of Chaosium, Inc. GURPS is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games.
[Sorry about that, folks, but this is near and dear to me.]
[Ed's note: the above wasn't an Ed's note. This is, however. :-)]
Ralgethae, also known as Fuzzies
The Ralgethae are quite a bit shorter than men. Furry hair covers them from head to toe, even on their faces. If you want a really good idea of what a Fuzzy (as they're sometimes called by men) looks like, find a photo of someone with lycanthropy. (I'm not kidding. This is a real condition.) Ralgethae wear clothes like humans.
The Ralgethae come from the marshes and and estuaries where the river Rusorlod empties into the sea. They also may be found in small settlements to the southwest, in the rolling meadows and woodlands of Owyr and the hills of Obergia. A few have taken up life in the city of Bednor, a major port of the Carian empire, which is even further to the south. Within their homeland, the Ralgethae live in floating houses, huts on stilts, and treehouses. (One advantage of a floating house, incidentally, is that it's easy to move if you can't stand your neighbors.) Elsewhere, they live more or less like humans. Each settlement typically has a headman, a non-hereditary leader chosen by popular acclamation. Above the clan-settlement, there is no overarching authority among the Ralgethae; however, they're usually too busy eking out an existence and protecting themselves against the nastier swamp horrors to engage in much fighting among themselves.
The Ralgethae speak a language akin to Penkwari, the mannish tongue spoken in Owyr. (In fact, no one can say whether the Ralgethae learned speach from the Penkwari, or if it was the other way round.) Like Penkwari, Ralgethae is not generally written, except in runes on the occasional landmark or crafted item. The law of the Ralgethae is simple, customary, and informal; unlike the Penkwari, they do not need to rely on bards to memorize vast stores of esoteric legal and cultural knowledge.
RUNEQUEST STATS Characteristics Average
STR 2d6+1 8 Move 3 CON 2d6+6 13 Hit Points 10 SIZ 3d3 6 Fatigue 21 INT 2d6+6 13 POW 3d6 10-11 DEX 2d6+8 15 APP 3d6 10-11 _____________________________________________________________ Hit Location Melee(D20) Missile (D20) Points R Leg 01-04 01-03 0/4 L Leg 05-08 04-06 0/4 Abdomen 09-11 07-10 0/4 Chest 12 11-15 0/5 R Arm 13-15 16-17 0/3 L Arm 16-18 18-19 0/3 Head 19-20 20 0/4 ______________________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack % Damage Parry % PTS Short sword 8 25+7 1d6+1 25+8 10 or Hatchet 8 25+7 1d6+1 25+8 6 Short spear 8 20+7 1d8+1 20+8 10 (1h) Buckler - - - 25+8 8 Sling 3 25+7 1d8 - -
Skills: Agility +8: Boat 25, Dodge 15, Ride 00, Swim 25; Communication +5; Knowledge +3; Manipulation +7; Perception +6: Listen 30; Stealth +8: Hide 15, Sneak 20.
Armor: May wear any.
CREATING A FUZZY ADVENTURER Because I'm a nice guy, I give players 70+4d6 points to distribute to characteristics if they're playing human characters. If you use this system, a player gets 70+3d6 points to distribute among his Ralgethae character's characteristics. No characteristic may be outside the range possible given the above dice rolls. The Deliberate and Combined methods (Player's Book, p. 12) can also be used, of course, if you want PC's to be more average people. For the Deliberate method, you might want to allow just 78 points, but it's probably not worth the trouble.
Occupations
Roll d100
01-05 Crafter 06 Entertainer 07-11 Farmer 12-51 Fisher 52 Healer 53-62 Herder 63-82 Hunter 83-85 Merchant 86 Priest 87-89 Sailor 90-92 Scribe 93 Shaman 94 Soldier 95-99 Thief 00 Sorcerer
All Ralgethae occupations give the same skills as the equivalent Civilized human, with the exceptions listed below.
Ralgethae Crafter as per human Civilized Crafter except the experience for Spear goes to Short sword. Possesses Boat x2 and Swim x2.
Ralgethae Fisher possesses Boat x5, Climb x2, Sing x1, Swim x3, Throw x2, Search x2, First Aid x1, Animal Lore x3, Plant Lore x1, World Lore x3, Devise x3, Scan x3, Sneak x1, Hide x1, 1H Spear x2, Parry or Dodge x2.
Ralgethae Herder as per human Civilized Herder except also possesses Hide x1 and Sneak x1.
Ralgethae Hunter as per human Barbarian Hunter except lacks Ride. Possesses Hide x2, Sneak x2, Listen x1, and Swim x1.
Ralgethae Merchant as per human Civilized Merchant except also possesses Boat x1 and Swim x1.
Ralgethae Priest as per human Civilized Priest except lacks Ride.
Ralgethae Shaman as per human Barbarian Shaman except also possesses Boating x2 and Swim x2.
Ralgethae Soldier as per human Civilized Soldier except possesses Hide x2 and Sneak x2. Must choose Missile Weapon x4. 1H Weapon Attack is x3 and Shield Parry is x3.
GURPS STATS Ralgethae 5 points
A Fuzzy gets +1 on HT, +1 on DX, and -2 to ST. He is 1 foot shorter than a human of his ST.
Advantages: Acute Hearing Level 2. Also, treat Stealth as a Physical/Easy skill for Ralgethae.
Friends and Enemies: none. However, humans unfamiliar with the Ralgethae will sometimes react at a -1 due to their appearance. This will generally apply only outside of the regions which adjoin the Ralgethae homeland.
Likes and Dislikes: Due to their environment, Ralgethae are naturally wary. They prefer to err on the side of caution--thus, Miserliness is a more common Disadvantage among the Ralgethae than Overconfidence. (Common Sense is often found among the Ralgethae.) Ralgethae are industrious folk; they apply themselves seriously to their livelihood, whatever it may be.
Miscellaneous: As a people, the Ralgethae are not accustomed to horses. Except for those Ralgethae who have taken up residence in Bednor and entered Carian society, few if any learn Riding. By contrast, any Ralgethae from the marshes will certainly have at least fair ability in Boating and Swimming.
-Elliot Wilen
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