 January 8, 2013 - 11:38pm | Finding myself in a Star Frontiers mood again, I stumbled across this great site. Tons of great content here and while I like Imperial Lord's take on the sathar. I prefer my villains to be more tragic, even misunderstood. So I figured I would whip up another spin on the sathar. I don't think it conflicts with too much, canon-wise, and please correct me if I'm wrong. I recall Face of the Enemy and its clans, but that is a feature of the yazirians. Pondering how I could add a more tragic side to the sathar I realized, what if they are sects instead? So my apologies for the wall of text coming, but this was my pondering's path... WHAT I GUESS Alpha Dawn: Expandining Is it a guy or a gal? I figure that these annelids are simultaneous-hermaphrodites, like earthworms. As in each has guy and girl parts. Reproduction is about the same as their distant earth kin. They get all "wild and wormy," then find a safe place to secrete the cocoon and put the male and female stuff inside. A couple of months later, a mini-sathar or two come crawling out. I see you... While they might not be very advanced, evolutionarily speaking, as segmented-invertebrates. The satharian brain must be quite impressive. Four visual "feeds" coming in and their brain appears to process it all just fine. I figure their brains not only look bilaterally symmetric (one side mirroring the other) like ours, but actually functions that way too. Two brains, communicating intimately enough that there is a singular sense of self. However, processing two separate trains of thought. I'm sensing... For psychics, this dual mind helps keep the sathar enigmatic. The satharian brain presents a challenge above and beyond the already inherent difficulty of reading an alien mind, because each one is actually two. Two trains of thought that are never entirely in sync. Trying to read a satharian mind would be a migraine inducing experience. Like looking at a picture that refuses to come into focus, no matter how hard you try. Speaking in Tongues While the sathar have two brains, they only have one mouth. Yet that doesn't they can only speak one language at once. Their language remains indecipherable because sathar are usually saying two different things at once. Even overlapping words from two subjects within the same sentences. Easy for another sathar to understand, pretty much gibberish for everyone else, even to gifted alien linguists. Indeed, the other language they are speaking may not even be a satharian one. Perhaps the language of a long dead, or long gone, race that they learned a millennium ago. With different structure, traits, etc... Further confounding attempts to decipher what the sathar are saying. WHAT I ADD Satharian History Genesis The future bane of the Frontier and so many other species, evolved on a pleasant world orbiting a typical G sequence star. Moonless and with stable tectonics, their birthplace was pretty much a global wetland. Only an occasional line of hills breaking up the seemingly endless flat calm seas of aquatic flora. The world's fauna had not even passed the invertebrate stage when the "proto-satha" started tickling sapient's ribs, so to speak. Proto-satha tribes developed and began following the migrations of "great worms." Feeding on the deep and tender roots their stately passage exposed, and on their carcasses when they died. Paradise This became a symbiotic relationship between the proto-satha and great worms. Who were developing their own sapience too. The tribes guided and cared for the great worms who, in turn, provided everything they needed. Centuries turned into millennia and, in time, the proto-satha were not only following the great worms, but even living on top of them. Festivals occurring wherever tribes crossed paths. Life was good, and it would not last... Lost In a nearby system another species had found its way to sapience. A reptilian race which had clawed its way to civilization and beyond their world. Unlocking the mysteries of FTL, they reached to other stars. The first sapient race they encountered was the proto-satha. They saw the chatty worms as primitives, needing to be taught "civilized" ways. Before long this turned into land grabs and outright slavery. Mines and factories quickly followed, fouling the waters and skies. Much of the world's once plentiful flora and fauna were driven to extinction. Including the great worms. The proto-satha tried to resist, to fight back, but they were no match for the reptilian's technology and brutality. Beaten and broken, the proto-satha might have been forever doomed if their master's arrogance didn't court catastrophe. Encountering another sapient race they discovered, much to their regret, that they were hardly as naive as the proto-satha had been. A bloody war followed. Which became a brutal stalemate. The conflict dragged on and on, with casualties climbing higher and higher. Tiring of this seemingly endless war, their masters began having their slaves fight for them. At first it was simply as cannon fodder. Yet as the campaigns ground on, the reptilian's slowly turned over more and more of their war machine to their slaves. Wrapping themselves in decadence, protection from the truth of how high a price their pride was charging. Avenger In the midst of this hopelessness, a Messenger appeared among the slaves. Proclaiming that the last Great Worm was calling to them from beyond its grave. Calling them to punish the reptilians for their heinous crimes. Calling them to protect the Great Worm's children, wherever they might be, from the ravages of other befoulers. The Messenger was smuggled from fleet to fleet and legion to legion, gaining converts everywhere he went. And where the Messenger did not go? Its disciples would. A new religion was born among the wreckage and ruin. For a broken and brutalized people, the call of the Great Worm was like the sweetest honey. Giving them purpose and showing they were part of something greater. Only those who had cared for the great worms could be trusted with so sacred a task. The Followers' numbers grew but not all slaves felt the calling. Eventually the Messenger was betrayed to the reptilians. The masters began a great purge, but feared weakening their defenders too much, or finally goading them into rebellion. The Messenger died, but its disciples carried its message onward, the Followers' ranks ever growing. More purges followed, each teaching them how to hide their faith more and more in the shadows. In hiding some of the faithful would inadvertently begin altering the message. Focusing more on one gospel or another. The hidden communities became sects. The beliefs of each, somewhat distinct from the Messenger's teachings. They openly battled their masters' enemy, while covertly preparing, and converting. Across the stars, the Followers' and their Sects waited, for a sign... Crusader That sign came when the reptilians' implacable foe. Finally became more, well, placable. Exhausted, they agreed to peace. The relieved reptilians finally felt safe enough to start disarming the slave fleets and legions. Word of this spread like wildfire and the Followers knew they might never have another chance. Spreading as rapidly as the warning, an uprising began. The sects turned their guns on their masters, and any slave who refused to join them. Reptilian space dissolved into chaos as their slaves ran rampant, attacking anything and everything. The reptilians, and the slaves who remained loyal to them, fought hard. Yet they were vastly outnumbered. The reptilians started calling the Followers, "sathar," which meant "fanatic" or "zealot" in their tongue. The sects liked this slur and adopted it as their own. Soon the reptilians were driven back to their homeworld. Once they were done with it, only a radioactive wasteland of craters remained. Yet instead of peace, the sects discovered themselves in another war. Their master's enemy sought to take advantage of a supposedly weakened foe. Instead, they found the "sathar" to be much more dangerous without a master's leash. Before long? Their world was also turned a radioactive husk. As the Followers tried to reclaim the paradise of what had been. The disciples sent the sects across the stars. Where they found sapience? The sects studied it, and brought their findings back to the disciples. The disciples would study and debate the evidence, to determine if they were befoulers. If they were? The sects brought the wrath of the Great Worm down upon them. If they were not? The sects would protect them from the tainted or, rarely, even offer guidance. Sometimes the sects found a race, or collection of races, strong enough to delay the disciples' judgement. For them? The sects remembered the hard lessons taught by the reptilians and first used the shadows to move within... About the S'sessu Not everyone chose to fight to the bitter end during the uprising. Some slaves saw the "writing on the wall," so to speak, and fled instead. Most failed, dying in deep space or on barely habitable worlds. A few, like the S'sessu, managed to survive. Alone, without ever accepting the call of the Great Worm. Yet they know what the sathar are, and go to great lengths to hide any ties to their fanatical kin. Satharian Society Tribe Despite its importance, the "Sect" is not the backbone of satharian society. The "Tribe" is. Extended families with dozens of members, most tribes live a simple life on satharian worlds. Living together in large communal homes. They choose to survive at a nearly subsistence level. Herding, fishing, farming, hunting, much as the proto-satha had before the reptilians came. Stepping into a satharian village is like taking a time machine back thousands of years. The Followers believe that the simpler the life? The purer it is, in the Great Worm's eyes. Another common trait of the tribes is an aversion to technology. Now they do make some concessions, especially when it comes to weapons and medicine. However, they are kept well out of sight until needed. The reptilians forced the proto-satha into a future that, in their hearts, they still want as little to do with as possible. So they spend their days caring for their homelands and their communities. Finding fulfillment in working with their tentacles, instead of machines. Satharian children are born and raised within their tribe. Learning from the elders about their people, their faith, and their history. When they reach maturity, about a dozen years old, sathar undertake a pilgrimage to one of their world's monasteries. There they are tested, searching for what the Great Worm is calling on them to do. Usually, that calling is too crusade with that monasteries' sect. Years of training follow, before they are sent on to that sect's fleet or legion. It is during this training that their caste is chosen and their life-tattoo, a record of their tribe, caste, sect, rank, and accomplishments, is begun. Once their calling is finished, often decades later, the sathar returns to its tribe. Now some sathar choose to join a different tribe. Normally happening if the sathar finds a lifemate, joining its mate's tribe instead. Great celebrations occurring when they return. Most then gladly shed the technological trappings of their service. Returning to lives of tribe and faith, passing on what they have learned to new generations. Now some sathar never return to their tribes. It is said they still feel the call of the Great Worm. While for some this is true. For others? They are simply unwilling to cast aside the machine. They remain with their sect for their entire lives, a few even ending up as elders in the monasteries and helping new pilgrims to find their callings. Unlike those who return to the tribes, they continue to avoid mating. Since it is considered "impure" for a sathar to be born outside a tribe. Though tribes do accept cocoons from "strangers," and will raise them as their own. It is not even uncommon for those who choose to stay too neuter and spay themselves. A solemn declaration of their belonging to the sect and ceremonially cutting ties to their birth tribe. Sect Though the tribes are the "backbone" of satharian society. The sects are its "muscle." It is the sects who protect the Great Worm's tribes from the foul, the alien. It is the sects that answer the Great Worm's call to crusade. It is the sects which build and maintain the machines that make the crusade possible. The sects are the ones who bring fear to the befouler and glory to the guided. Yet it is also the sects who watch each other, as well as the alien. They are responsible for purging not only the unclean alien, but the tainted sathar as well. There are many different signs that another sathar, or even an entire sect, is becoming "tainted." However, only the disciples should interpret those signs. If there is evidence, it is to be brought to them. They have absolute authority over all sects. Though, in practice, that varies. Just as their templars have absolute authority over all sathar. Which, also, can vary. Still, the disciples are patient and deliberate, so it is not unheard of for some to take care of the issue themselves, instead of waiting overly long for their judgement. The results of such impatience can often be quite messy... Especially when entire sects are involved. The disciples intervene only when the Great Worm has not already made its decision clear. Today, there are dozens of Followers' sects. Yet there were, originally, hundreds. The trials and strain of centuries on crusade, has seen the weak (or impure) absorbed (or obliterated) by the rest. Each remaining sect now controls several fortress-like monasteries sprinkled across the home worlds. And beyond the satharian worlds? Each lays claim to vast stretches of space and up to dozens of systems. Searching for the tainted, harvesting, mining, and building their machines. Watching over the lesser races and even guiding a chosen few. Disciple The Messenger was not alone in proclaiming the Great Worm's calling. From its Followers came disciples. Ones widely recognized as especially wise and devout. They also went out and taught about the Great Worm. When the Followers' enemies had fallen, it was the disciples they turned to for guidance. It was the disciples who divined that the Great Worm wanted them to return to a simple life. And it was the disciples the sects turned to, when they could not be sure who was tainted and who was not. On the birth-world there is a complex that makes the sects' fortress monasteries look like villages in comparison. It is the Great Temple of the Great Worm and where the disciples spend their time when they are not among the tribes. Spending their days and nights studying the gospels, communing with the Great Worm, and debating evidence brought before them. There is no limit to how few, or how many, disciples there may be at one time. If one is accepted by the eldest among them? Then that one is considered a disciple. Templar Now the Great Temple is not the only temple in the satharian worlds. They are sprinkled across the homeworlds just like the sects' monasteries are, only far fewer in number. The few sathar who do not find their calling to crusade with the sects? Find it tending the temples and disciples instead. These templars' callings are usually shorter than for those in the sects, but more tend to still feel the Great Worm's call than with the sects. Like with the sects, the disciples' templars believe their calling requires the machine. Though they go to much greater lengths to keep the machine out of sight, compared to the sects. Restricting their harvesting, mining, and building to uninhabited planets, moons, asteroids, and the like. Understandable, since the templars mostly remain within the satharian homeworlds. While the sects crusade beyond, searching for the foul and guarding or even guiding the lesser races. The templars remain behind. Watching over the tribes and protecting the disciples. Satharian Values As the dralasites are thoughtful and philosophical. As the vrusk are hard-working and practical. The sathar also have traits that nearly all of them share to a great degree. In fact, they have three. Belonging Sathar spend their lives sure, convinced even, that they are part of something greater than themselves. Whether it is their tribe, their calling, their sect, or even their faith. Usually a combination of the previous, in fact. The "loner sathar" is pretty much a contradiction in terms to them. This sense of belonging helps them feel that everything they do has a greater purpose. Even if they may not know what that greater purpose is? They still have almost complete faith that they are playing their part in it. Vigilance The Great Worm calls on its Followers to be ever alert for signs of the unclean, the impure. No sathar is immune to becoming fouled. Not even the disciples themselves. Only through remaining ever watchful, vigilant, can they not only spot the taint in others, but guard themselves from it as well. Now because of the closeness found within the tribes and sects, such vigilance tends to be directed outward, instead of inward. Conviction Once the disciples have judged a sathar, a tribe, a sect, or even an entire race, as tainted? Most sathar will believe it with every fiber of their being. There is no doubt. There is no mercy. The strength of their convictions carried them through their race's darkest days. As their beliefs will carry them through whatever is to come. However, what if the disciples have not judged? If the sathar, tribe, or sect, was so convinced that they felt no need to wait? Then the result can be very bloody indeed since the accused, and their allies, will believe in their innocence just as strongly as their accuser, and their allies, will believe in their guilt. Satharian Troubles With a civilization over a millennium old, the sathar have proven that they are survivors. Yet, like any nation, they have challenges facing them that are as much within as without. Weird Science Perhaps uniquely among the space-faring races, the sathar don't really want to be one. The sciences have never held any great appeal to them. Such fields are treated more with suspicion, than recognition or reverance. Even their reptilian masters noted that while their slaves were great technicians, they could fix almost anything if given enough time, they made terrible scientists. This deficiency has cost the sects dearly over the centuries. While they have always managed to overcome or undermine their foes, before the cost became too great, in the past. That is hardly a guarantee that it will always be this way. Of course the sects are aware of this shortcoming and so always keep two pupils open for new technology. The sects have tried expanding their anemic scientist castes. However, such efforts are often seen as signs of taint, and tend to be judged poorly by the disciples. Go West Young Worm... Having faced resilient enemies before, the satharian sects were not very impressed with the collection of races in the space they were calling a "Frontier." Of course with multiple races involved, the disciples required far more evidence than usual to pass judgement. Even the sects were perplexed over how, overall, peacefully such a diverse collection was reaching outward. The disciples kept requesting more and more evidence, unable to reach concensus. The debate dragged on for years, then decades, and finally centuries. Several sects tired of waiting and resolved to handle this Frontier themselves. The result was so disastrous that even the often cautious disciples were jolted into action. Declaring all four races, and any who aided them, as tainted in the eyes of the Great Worm. More sects lent their aid to those already facing this Frontier. When they were ready, the results were even worse the second time. Not only worse, but the four races were now being aided by several more. It occurred to the more insightful sects and disciples that while the sathar had faced enemies as tactically strong as this "Frontier" before. They had never faced one as strategically deep. The battlefield stretched across hundreds of light years and the enemy had reliable interstellar communications technology that were used to great effect. Now, with even more sects being drawn to this Frontier, some disciples are debating whether their judgement was too hasty A select few, quietly, even ponder that perhaps it was not the "Frontier" that the Great Worm was declaring tainted, but the sects themselves instead. iCrusade The sects found their purpose in the Messenger's call to crusade. For centuries it had been a divine mandate that not only justified their existance, but also gave them a valued place in satharian society. However the disciples' thinking, regarding the sects, has been gradualy shifting. Does the Great Worm really want the crusade to be eternal? Did the Messenger really mean the entire universe? In the early centuries, the tribes felt vulnerable and the disciples saw their best defense? Was a good offense. The sects performed above and beyond, as the disciples restored the birth-world and terraformed a few near it. The sects harnessed the machine with skill and precision, both within the satharian worlds and without. However, as the centuries passed by, the tribes frowned more and more on displays of the machine. Especially by the sects. The disciples' templars, however, kept their machines hidden, or disguised. So the tribes felt more at ease around them. The templars began to be seen as the tribes' defenders, instead of just the disciples' servants. As the sects were seen more and more as just crusaders. Just aggressors. This shift in attitudes is becoming widespread enough that some tribes are even letting their young choose, whether they want to take their pilgrimage to a monastery? Or to a temple. This is threatening to choke off the sects' most precious resource, young sathar. The more suspicious sects even whisper that while their scientist castes are considered suspicious of taint? The templars secretly expand theirs, with the disciples' blessing. Darker whispers tell that some sects are having those who choose to stay, after their calling would normally end, not sterilze themselves. That in sterile ships and stations, far beyond the homeworlds, nurseries are being built, and filled. Filled with those who will never know the belonging of a tribal hearth. Never feel the peace of a satharian world under their belly. The darkest tales whisper that the sathar in those nurseries did not even come from cocoons. But crawled out from machines instead. To Heresy Or Not To Heresy For the first few hundred years, after the uprising, there were hundreds of sects. Some did not even have a monastery to recruit from, using less conventional methods instead. The tribes they recruited from were taught about the Great Worm from their elders and the disciples. The sects, on the other hand, focus on a few gospels more than the rest. Which, depending on the gospels involved, can lead them down strange paths indeed. Exposing young sathar to a different version of their faith was originally considered good for them. It showed the young that there was more than one way to worship the Great Worm. And with so many variations, even those who returned converted, had little impact on the Followers. However, as the weak sects were absorbed by the strong, not only did their variance from the orthodoxy become more and more distinct. The returning converted had a larger and larger impact on the Followers. With more converted, of the same sects, among the tribes. They began finding converts within the tribes themselves. Alarming many tribes and the disciples. There are even rumors of the converted leaving, and forming their own tribes in remote parts of the homeworlds. Openly practicing and teaching their heresies beyond the monastery walls. Some believing that a new Messenger will come, and make the sects and their heresies the true faith instead. Well what do you think? I'm sure I need to clean it up a bunch and add more here and there. But what do you think about it for a first pass and all? Suggestions? Again, thank you for having such a great site.  Note: I have a chronic case of edititus so the above will probably get tweaked a lot. |
 January 9, 2013 - 10:15am | First off vmnjn, Welcome to the site and don't forget to down load all of the Star Frontiersman issues and the Frontier Explorer issues because there will be a test  !http://www.frontierexplorer.org/ http://starfrontiersman.com/ Now, as to your material: WOW good stuff. Sort of a "sathar are not evil but misunderstood" vibe there and while I've gone with the "sathar are evil, end of story" I like a lot of what you did. the What I guess section building off of what's in AD is really good and anyone, no matter what their take on the sathar is, should incorporate that materail Satharian Dawn: as an origin of the species this is really good and well thought out. Naturally I was keeping a brain cell open to seeing ways to merge your material with mine and there are plainly some correlations to the caste system we've been developing here - the saurian overlords first using sathar as cannon fodder- lower caste; as time goes on there are middle and upper caste who take over more of the war effort. I think I may revisit several trains of thought in the future to do a mish mash of material into a coherent whole and I'll probably steal ideas from you left and right. I like the origin of the sessu as well- good logical stuff. This Satharian Life & The Satharian Way - great explanations of observed sathar activity in all the cannonical modules, great explanation of the sahtar motivations and their view points What I might tweek or change: 1.) the opponent of the saurians was the klikks- I've often said that since the klikk visited Starmist 700 years ago and the sathar visited Volturnus 900 years ago they must have encountered each other and that the klikks built the the bolo sized tank for an enemy they were serious about killing. I surmised that enemy was the sathar but it may have been the suarian overlords. The klikks have not been totally wiped out either just soundly beaten back such that a few pockets of them exist to be discovered in out of the way places. 2. 900 years of space faring history would put the sathar if they were anything like humanity massive light years beyond the tech level of the Frontier races and yet they are not in fact they seem to have the same tech level as they did on their first visit to volturnus. i see in your background the kernal of explanation: the saurians were the innovators and much that they knew is lost. the monasteries preserve much even while loathing it but they dont innovate. sure some do here and there you get new developments like the sathar cutter as an answer to the assualt scout but by an large they do not innovate as race. (Give the UPF 200 years and they have out innovated the sathar and will be able to wipe out what they discover of them) then one group with have a second coming of the messenger who will lead his group into becoming techno sathar, who dont actually innovate but instead assimulate technology, "Resistence if futile, you will be assimulated." 3. what you have here is some deep background and what I'm wondering on two levels is how to integrate it into the game for the players to experience? Deep background is good for referees but usually never gets to the players. The first level of integration is to start with your "what I guess" section from the AD and figure out how to play a sathar with this material, guidelines, suggestions, random tables for mixed train of thought communication etc. Much of that will also apply to the sessu as well. Then how would that deep background impact an adventure? could PCs visit a sathar world? I get the sense from the post what the basic experience might be like, how long till the monastery sends out the crusaders? etc. Are captive brought to a monastery for study? what happens there and then? would escape be possible? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 9, 2013 - 8:38pm | First off vmnjn, Welcome to the site and don't forget to down load all of the Star Frontiersman issues and the Frontier Explorer issues because there will be a test !http://www.frontierexplorer.org/ http://starfrontiersman.com/ Thank you. I've downloaded them and been reading. Lots of really great material. Now, as to your material: WOW good stuff. Sort of a "sathar are not evil but misunderstood" vibe there and while I've gone with the "sathar are evil, end of story" I like a lot of what you did. the What I guess section building off of what's in AD is really good and anyone, no matter what their take on the sathar is, should incorporate that materail Thank you, the sathar have always reminded me of earthworms and the four pupils bit just strikes me as odd. They specifically mention it and then never seem to really bring it up again. Thinking about how they handle four pupils led me to the rest of it. I've always had a bad case of edititus so I'll keep trying to smooth them out. Satharian Dawn: as an origin of the species this is really good and well thought out. Naturally I was keeping a brain cell open to seeing ways to merge your material with mine and there are plainly some correlations to the caste system we've been developing here - the saurian overlords first using sathar as cannon fodder- lower caste; as time goes on there are middle and upper caste who take over more of the war effort. I think I may revisit several trains of thought in the future to do a mish mash of material into a coherent whole and I'll probably steal ideas from you left and right. While the saurians fit, I've never been entirely sure the saurions were the reptilians that enslaved them. If I recall correctly we only have two instances of the sathar apparently going for genocidal. The Eorna and the Saurians. Unless I'm forgetting stuff, and I may be, both are reptile races so I started thinking... What if the sathars behavior was motivated more by who they reminded them of, than what they were genuinely guilty of. As in, the species that enslaved them, a reptilian race. That could help explain why the sathar have not really gone all out to wipe the frontier, and every living soul in it, off the map. This could be a story element too with the sathar going whole hog nuts whenever they see a saurian player. I like the origin of the sessu as well- good logical stuff. Thank you, the amoral s'sessu seem a good fit for what the enslaved proto-satha could have been. Everyone mostly out for themselves, with little sense of duty or obligation. Of course centuries of freedom have softened it a lot, but its still there. The whole tens of thousands of years in the past thing seemed too convenient to be anything but a deception. This Satharian Life & The Satharian Way - great explanations of observed sathar activity in all the cannonical modules, great explanation of the sahtar motivations and their view points What I might tweek or change: 1.) the opponent of the saurians was the klikks- I've often said that since the klikk visited Starmist 700 years ago and the sathar visited Volturnus 900 years ago they must have encountered each other and that the klikks built the the bolo sized tank for an enemy they were serious about killing. I surmised that enemy was the sathar but it may have been the suarian overlords. The klikks have not been totally wiped out either just soundly beaten back such that a few pockets of them exist to be discovered in out of the way places. Was Starmist just a Klikk outpost? Sorry, need to read it again. The Klikk could be a great fit as the reptilian's enemy but I would like the heart of their showdown to be further from the frontier. Maybe Starmist was a refugee world? As in, a world they fled to after the sathar destroyed their original homeworld. Then fleeing even further into the unknown once the sathar caught up with them again. Maybe even following a second war with them. 2. 900 years of space faring history would put the sathar if they were anything like humanity massive light years beyond the tech level of the Frontier races and yet they are not in fact they seem to have the same tech level as they did on their first visit to volturnus. i see in your background the kernal of explanation: the saurians were the innovators and much that they knew is lost. the monasteries preserve much even while loathing it but they dont innovate. sure some do here and there you get new developments like the sathar cutter as an answer to the assualt scout but by an large they do not innovate as race. (Give the UPF 200 years and they have out innovated the sathar and will be able to wipe out what they discover of them) then one group with have a second coming of the messenger who will lead his group into becoming techno sathar, who dont actually innovate but instead assimulate technology, "Resistence if futile, you will be assimulated." I do see the sathar as being great at reverse-engineering, or adapting/compensating, when they have too. However, I also see them as really not wanting too. Just about everything, from laser pistols to cyborg-beast hybrids, to heavy cruisers, to sentry bots, and more, in their war machine came originally not from the sathar, but from who they fought. Now because of their skill at working in the shadows, I can see them keeping up with the Frontier, to a degree. However, they'll always be playing catch up and trying to compensate for what they have not managed to reverse-engineer yet. They'll probably give the Frontier brutal and costly surprises from time to time, but the sathar just don't have the scientific curiosity you can find among the Frontier races. I do see satharian society nearing another great upheaval. The sects have been at this crusade for a thousand years or so. A thousand years of playing catch up whenever they find another befouler. A thousand years of being looked down upon by the tribes. Mabye considered foul themselves. Maybe the tribes are no longer sending "all" who reach adulthood on pilgrimage to the monasteries anymore. I need to add more up top. Becuase I figure the disciples have their own force, called something like templars or paladins or some such, of machine users who do not crusade. They guard the disciples and, by extension, the satharian home worlds. Maybe the disciples are starting to think that the Great Worm is no longer calling for crusade? Without the need to crusade then there is little need for the sects. Perhaps a showdown between the sects and the disciples is coming? If the disciples win the sects are driven out of the homeworlds, with only their alien allies to fall back on. If the sects win then the tribes may be looking at slavery all over again. Maybe even worse. Had not even considered a new Messenger appearing. What if he chooses to preach among the sects? Or the tribes? Another potential flashpoint. There could be a whole lot of ugly heading the sathar's way long before we get to a third war with the Frontier. 3. what you have here is some deep background and what I'm wondering on two levels is how to integrate it into the game for the players to experience? Deep background is good for referees but usually never gets to the players. The first level of integration is to start with your "what I guess" section from the AD and figure out how to play a sathar with this material, guidelines, suggestions, random tables for mixed train of thought communication etc. Much of that will also apply to the sessu as well. Then how would that deep background impact an adventure? could PCs visit a sathar world? I get the sense from the post what the basic experience might be like, how long till the monastery sends out the crusaders? etc. Are captive brought to a monastery for study? what happens there and then? would escape be possible?
For me it goes in two directions. Not only in what might happen once the Frontier finally finds a real satharian world, not just a sect base, and how the sects and disciples react. It also goes in the direction of the sects themselves. If the tribes start sending fewer pilgrims, its not like the sects can just start drafting sathar. How would they react to a certain lack of "belongingness?" Cloning? Make a new satharian world? One where the sect is the tribe? I keep thinking that there is a reckoning coming to the sathar and its mostly from within. The background, slowly revealed over many adventures and chapters, turns into a grand moment of epiphany. Not just for the players but, perhaps, for the sathar as well. Yeah, I'm probably aiming too high but my brain does like to wander around at times. |
January 9, 2013 - 8:44pm | Ooops i didn't mean the suarian but the reptillians. a name for them might help but then I like the enigma of "We dont know who the sathar overlords were." I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 10, 2013 - 12:30am | Odd, I think my last post disappeared. Yeah I would like to maintain the mystery for that. Ok, added a templar part and did some more cleaning. Think I need to add a "satharian doom" type part though before I'll call it clean enough. |
January 10, 2013 - 6:27am | Odd, I think my last post disappeared. Yeah I would like to maintain the mystery for that. Ok, added a templar part and did some more cleaning. Think I need to add a "satharian doom" type part though before I'll call it clean enough. Just a side note, re-editing your original post means that people will not reread a long post because they already read it. Best to just create a new post in thread as that will get marked new and will be read and discussed. for your long post above I would recommend creating a document in the sathar project. Take each major section starting with What I Guess and have that be a separate page in the documents then the document pages get edited and they remain in an accessible formate that is easy to find. This thread is likely to get lost eventutally in the general forums. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 10, 2013 - 7:34pm | Was wondering about that feature. As long as no one minds, I'll do that once I get the op prettied up a bit more. It feels like I need one more section. Okay, got the bits up in documents. Hope you guys like them, and can find stuff to use in your campaigns. Slither on my sinister segmented slimers, slither on... |
January 11, 2013 - 5:34am | I've read through the documents and I think I caught all the changes. good material. It leaves me in a quandry. I've loved to hate the sathar as just evil and yet I love this new material . Its richer, deeper and more textured. It does require a paradigm shift in your thinking though. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 11, 2013 - 9:42am | Thank you. Now I could see some sects going off the deep end, so to speak. Becoming pretty much full on wacko evil. Cloning, baby farms, brain washing, putting a computer in charge, etc, etc... However, such actions would be just as revolting to the tribes (maybe even more so) and other sects, as they would be to most Frontiersmen. If they were careful about it, who knows how long they could hide their new philosophy from the disciples. The "normal" members of the sect running the monasteries back on the homeworlds like a "front." While they keep the seriously blasphemous stuff to deep space. Maybe even have the sect believing that the computer is the new Messenger. Has his spirit or some such as the AI within it. Maybe believe that they found the Messenger's dna, grew a brain from it, and stuck it in a jar like the slave bot controllers. Could be an interesting angle if players are in the finale of an adventure involving "Clan X," and "Clan Y" (or other sathar) show up and help tear "X" apart. Of course they won't communicate with the Frontiersmen, they consider them befoulers after all, but "X's" actions have the disciples declaring "X" even more tainted than the Frontier, the greatest insult to the Great Worm. |
January 11, 2013 - 2:18pm | I've often entertained the idea of an overmind for the sathar much like the zerg in Starcraft but imagine a sect that encounters some thing that spoke to them in powerful and weird ways - it becomes the new voice of the worm and they serve it much like you describe; secretly and begin adopting tainted ways like worm farms in deep space and cloneing and weird body modifications (super soldiers- etc.) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 11, 2013 - 3:55pm | Interesting, maybe have it be a Klikk or Klikk device? Paving the way for a future Klikk invasion? How ironic it would be for a sathar sect to be actually serving one of their race's original enemies. The manipulators being manipulated. |
 January 26, 2013 - 9:51pm | vmnjn, This is all very good stuff. |
January 31, 2013 - 7:09am | vmnjn, This is all very good stuff. What about the sathar that have their brains removed? like in the obelisk in SF-1. Volunteer or conscript? How long could such a brain survive? 900 years? How do you get volunteers for this? Hype and propaganda? What if the leaders of the sects have gained immortality by doing this? Their vision for what the sec should be and do would remain unwavering for centuries. They sell the experience to others to fill the ranks of obelisk keepers and for other projects where a disembodied brain might be helpful to run things. Which reminds me the ares article about the Von Neuman machines; I would make the change that a sathar brain is in control of the factory. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 31, 2013 - 11:31am | The brains in a jar is interesting. What if they are cloned or grown? As in never had a "real" body. Maybe even made by the satharian version of Dell. If that was the case though I would expect them to show up more often in sathar encounters. Now if they are "rare," then maybe they are one offs? As in someone too injured to save the "body" or somone with an incurable disease or handicap that "volunteers" for the procedure. Maybe "brains" are actually easier to keep working, over centuries, compared to silicon? Maybe its even a punsishment for a particular sort of crime? "You failed your physical for the last time Bob. The Great Worm does not like chubby sathar. Its jar time!" Wouldn't have to worry about taking up valuable real estate with prisons. |
July 16, 2013 - 5:22am | Maybe "brains" are actually easier to keep working, over centuries, compared to silicon? Maybe its even a punsishment for a particular sort of crime? "You failed your physical for the last time Bob. The Great Worm does not like chubby sathar. Its jar time!" Wouldn't have to worry about taking up valuable real estate with prisons. The punishment angle works well with the sathar caste theory. An upper caste sathar that has failed the clan gets put in a jar. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 May 2, 2015 - 5:38pm | I think I may borrow a few ideas... it is true the Sathar did go complete genocide over reptiles, but not so much with other races... invasions of what became UPF space might have had a completely unrelated trigger... since I like the Tetrarch connection, maybe people bumping around in Dixon's Star system is what triggered the attack? I like the dual languages, dual minds angle a lot... I think I will be reviewing the Sathar & kin as I want a clearer idea of them in my setting as it is pre-contact... so when the big reveal happens the Sathar are more then just space mooks. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 May 6, 2016 - 4:58am | This is an interesting post. I first saw it a few months ago, but only recently rediscovered it. It has a some good ideas for the motivations of the Sathar. Joe Cabadas |
May 6, 2016 - 8:05pm | The Rooksha which are suppose to be master space hunters are described as Sathar and Reptile like... could they be a bio engineered Sathar Reptile hybrids, bred by either the reptiles or the sathar? Could they be specially developed sect of Sathar so far split off from others they now look different? Rooksha SFman04 "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 6, 2016 - 8:25pm | The Rooksha which are suppose to be master space hunters are described as Sathar and Reptile like... could they be a bio engineered Sathar Reptile hybrids, bred by either the reptiles or the sathar? Could they be specially developed sect of Sathar so far split off from others they now look different? Rooksha SFman04 That's an interesting theory! Joe Cabadas |
May 7, 2016 - 8:19am | Rooksha: "The Great Hunt" "The creature has never before been seen, and is oddly shaped – almost like s cross between a sathar and a lizard. They carry semi-modern weaponry, and have defensive screens. They seem able to exist in the vacuum of space without any atmosphere." "Rooksha, and are an alien species who hunt for sport and pleasure. Their society is built around the idea of the hunt. Their test of maturing into adulthood is to be dropped off on some foreign world and told to bring back as many ears as they can." "But in their section of space, the beings they hunt are hardly sentient. The Rooksha have misjumped and wound up stuck in a crashed ship in the Frontier area of space." (Note in the adventure idea the Rooksha are choosing to hunt sentients though). "the characters find telemetry that can lead them to where the other escape launches headed..." There are no stats for the Rooksha but they seem from the art to have a sort of "ear" head crests on each side of their heads, their "hand" looks to be have thicker and probably less fingers than the average Satharoid, I was first thinking 3 but it looks like their hand pad can wrap around for gripping and they have only 2 fingers each very thick and ending in heavy claws. This would make them a little more unique. "Nose" towards end of snout/moth. Mouth I am thinking looks & needs to be Satharoid like. Feeling whiskers around mouth. Basic head shape and design is Satharoid. They appear to have Satharoid type eyes though shaped a bit different. I am inclined to allow the double Pupils & Dual Brain, I think the Eyes are very dark in the art maybe they look Solid Black, dark blue, or deep purple? They could have a natural eye cover that protects their eye but makes their eyes look one color and pupilless to other races. Looking at the art they are Bipeds lacking the whole worm body aka no tail so they would have to use their legs for movement/support, possibly meaning they have some sort of skeletal system on top of the wormy chamber system. I am okay with them this way or having a "tail" but they seem to be built to have either bones of maybe a fiber webbing system that makes them more sturdy... so they move by walking instead of slithering. (I sort of like a more solid webbing with maybe a few specialized bones) Do they leave "worm trails" of slime, maybe they do or not, maybe they have greater control and are able to cover their bodies as needed with slime for added protection. They appear to be smooth skinned like a Satharoid, not "scaled". The art also shows a difference in markings with dark and light colored sections of their bodies and lots of organic line face markings. So we appear to have a sentient race adapted to space (they don't need to breathe, can wander around the vacuum... and probably other different atmospheres including the lack of it and lack of air PSI to keep the body functioning properly indicates some bio engineering to me, I would also guess they probably are adapted better to heat, cold, radiation, even acids and so on) both low gravity and high gravity adaptation with a culture based on hunting down and killing other beings to prove themselves... the ultimate hunt is always sentient being versus sentient being one on one, though group hunts on the "prey" is also a common themes in literature/tv/movies. I think these could have easily been "created" by someone (Sathar, Reptiles, Tetrarchs etc) to be assassins or special forces shock troops. Then once their masters where no more (for what ever reason) left to their own devices on a planet, developing a hunt society would make sense, rebuilding (like everyone else) to become space faring again. Since they misjumped we can assume they have void space tech & they are lost. Since their telemetry can be retrieved by PCs that tech must be understandable to PCs and somehow translatable. The article says the Rooksha space does not contain other sentient races... the base/planet (their homeworld) they where created at might have been in a secret local which was in a region of systems not inhabited by design, their creators wanted secrecy and a lot of it, plus training areas so choose such a region or the Rooksha have over hunted and exterminated any sentient races that existed near them. Regardless of which is true other races might avoid the Rooksha space as ships disappear in that region regardless of species, and no one may know why. Collecting "ears": If they where once assassins sent to kill specific targets (prey) then DNA proof might have been required by their masters and since first training would involve animals the "ear" collecting would have evolved from all of that. Attitudes: They probably see all life forms as prey. These guys are SF's "Predators" and may have hunt rules as well or not. Not Assassin Idea: Rooksha started as a slave caste and where bio engineered/adapted/evolved to survive extremes and became stronger and different looking than other Satharoids... rebelled and then developed a sort of Hunt type society. Maybe a group of slaves got left on some planet and forgotten, meanwhile the slave caste rebelled amongst the Sathar and after a bloody war where exterminated... but this pocket population has survived and adapted.
"Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 7, 2016 - 8:21am | Mouth based on art indicates instead of facing forward, is on the underside of the face so that would give another racial difference. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 7, 2016 - 8:38am | These guys should be hard to kill by everyone, Frontier Races, Rim Races & Sathar and their buddies, so I suggest this is because of racial modifications that give them natural edges in environs the others do not have... lets face it these dudes don't need suits to get from their ship onto some one else's ship, even if a ship was exposed to vacuum, or atmosphere pumped out they would be all no problem lets go kill the crew... How about Ability Modifiers: STR/STA +5 DEX/RS +5 INT/LOG -5 PER/LDR -5 Racial Abilities: I think there should be a limit on how long they can stay in a hostile atmosphere... I think they should be able to function without a penalty in a range of gravities. They should not have Hypnotize. Maybe a perk to survive Radiation & Poison better. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 7, 2016 - 8:53am | Rooksha: "The Great Hunt" "The creature has never before been seen, and is oddly shaped – almost like s cross between a sathar and a lizard. They carry semi-modern weaponry, and have defensive screens. They seem able to exist in the vacuum of space without any atmosphere." "Rooksha, and are an alien species who hunt for sport and pleasure. Their society is built around the idea of the hunt. Their test of maturing into adulthood is to be dropped off on some foreign world and told to bring back as many ears as they can." ...There are no stats for the Rooksha but they seem from the art to have a sort of "ear" head crests on each side of their heads, their "hand" looks to be have thicker and probably less fingers than the average Satharoid, I was first thinking 3 but it looks like their hand pad can wrap around for gripping and they have only 2 fingers each very thick and ending in heavy claws. This would make them a little more unique... I think these could have easily been "created" by someone (Sathar, Reptiles, Tetrarchs etc) to be assassins or special forces shock troops. Then once their masters where no more (for what ever reason) left to their own devices on a planet, developing a hunt society would make sense, rebuilding (like everyone else) to become space faring again. Since they misjumped we can assume they have void space tech & they are lost... The article says the Rooksha space does not contain other sentient races... the base/planet (their homeworld) they where created at might have been in a secret local which was in a region of systems not inhabited by design, their creators wanted secrecy and a lot of it, plus training areas so choose such a region or the Rooksha have over hunted and exterminated any sentient races that existed near them... These guys are SF's "Predators" and may have hunt rules as well or not. Not Assassin Idea: Rooksha started as a slave caste and where bio engineered/adapted/evolved to survive extremes and became stronger and different looking than other Satharoids... rebelled and then developed a sort of Hunt type society. Maybe a group of slaves got left on some planet and forgotten, meanwhile the slave caste rebelled amongst the Sathar and after a bloody war where exterminated... but this pocket population has survived and adapted.
Hi Tch: Yes, I looked up the story in Star Frontiersman last night after your posting about the Rooksha. I think I had passed over it before because, as you pointed out, it gave no statistics for this race. But, yes, they could be a Sathar creation. Maybe the worms took one of their slave races and remade it in the Sathar's image... If they are lizards... Maybe they're bio-engineered Eorna! Or maybe not. The could very well secrete some kind of slime that gives them protection in the vacuum of space, but I would say that is a limited ability, probably dependent upon how long they can hold their breath. Dolphins can hold their breath for about 20 minutes while sperm whales can last about 90 minutes. So I would put the Rooksha somewhere between those two ranges. They could certainly survive underwater or in a tainted atmosphere environment for about as long too. Joe Cabadas |
May 7, 2016 - 11:35am | I am going with the idea of bio engineered race by Sathar or non-Sathar out of Sathar stock and elements of other races... Since I see the Sathar and their cousins as races removed from their original Homeworld and tinkered with by a Precursor race the Rooksha fit perfect as an example of this tinkering, they are just even more tinkered with. Yet another idea: It could be possible the Rooksha where more appealing to the Reptile overlord race of the wormies in their prehistory, if the general wormy population rebelled the Rooksha would be associated with the lizards as oppressors or body guards or enforcers of the lizards oppression even if the Rooksha was enslaved too. The rebellion would have committed genocide on the Rooksha in that scenario, with just a few survivors. The survivors could have become a secretive hunter/pirate/scavenger culture. I am thinking maybe treat their ability to stay in hostile atmosphere as a racial ability that can be rolled for just like an Ability Score so the lowest roll would result in 30 minutes, with the highest being 70... a PC Rooksha could increase their ability, also they could receive damage that effects that ability to lower it below 30. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 7, 2016 - 11:53am | This Species has heavy hard claws so maybe a modifier to their punch strike if declared slashing how about +2. Another option is poisoned claws? Poisoned tongue or maybe tongue knocks out people for 1d100 with sufficient strike? After all they are a species designed to hunt/kill. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 7, 2016 - 1:06pm | This Species has heavy hard claws so maybe a modifier to their punch strike if declared slashing how about +2. Another option is poisoned claws? Poisoned tongue or maybe tongue knocks out people for 1d100 with sufficient strike? After all they are a species designed to hunt/kill. Hmm, yeah definitely. Joe Cabadas |
May 9, 2016 - 1:02pm | Rooksha origin ideas... If the Sathar made them, bio engineered Sathar, than they could be the scary Sathar other Sathar fear, specialized troops and assassins, enforcers... no one likes them but everyone puts up with them out of fear of being neutralized. Maybe the Rooksha were not bio-enhanced by any one but themselves... and the reason they look like Sathar is these guys are the Lizard race that co-evolved on the Sathar Homeworld, that the Sathar fought (Sathar did not kill them all, some escaped to the Stars ahead of the Sathar)... this would explain the similar evolutionary path and these Lizard-Worms are what made Sathar all genocidal toward Lizardoids. They fought over similiar resources becuase of similiar evolutionary paths. Maybe these guys uplifted the Sathar? "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 9, 2016 - 5:55pm | Rooksha origin ideas... If the Sathar made them, bio engineered Sathar, than they could be the scary Sathar other Sathar fear, specialized troops and assassins, enforcers... no one likes them but everyone puts up with them out of fear of being neutralized. Maybe the Rooksha were not bio-enhanced by any one but themselves... and the reason they look like Sathar is these guys are the Lizard race that co-evolved on the Sathar Homeworld, that the Sathar fought (Sathar did not kill them all, some escaped to the Stars ahead of the Sathar)... this would explain the similar evolutionary path and these Lizard-Worms are what made Sathar all genocidal toward Lizardoids. They fought over similiar resources becuase of similiar evolutionary paths. Maybe these guys uplifted the Sathar? Interesting thoughts. Joe Cabadas |
February 14, 2019 - 7:01pm | Now this could make a good Sathar article when combined with some other information. Joe Cabadas |
February 15, 2019 - 5:17am | This Species has heavy hard claws so maybe a modifier to their punch strike if declared slashing how about +2. Another option is poisoned claws? Poisoned tongue or maybe tongue knocks out people for 1d100 with sufficient strike? After all they are a species designed to hunt/kill. Sathar are covered in slime? what if the bio engineering division tinkered with the genes and developed a gene that causes the slime to be poisonous to others? touch sathar slime and STA chech or be knocked out? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
