A Gorlian Thug?

By Robert Bowman

Artwork by C.J. Williams

The Gorlians are mentioned in the original Alpha Dawn rules, in this example for Personality checks:

EXAMPLE: Dreevale the Vrusk has just insulted a Gorlian thug by accidentally spilling a drink on him. The Gorlian is very mad. Dreevale decides to try talking his way out of the situation.  "Oops, pardon me, my good fellow, how absolutely clumsy of me," the player says.  "Here, let me buy you a drink and let's forget about it. Dreevale' s Personality score is 40. The referee notes that the Gorlian is mad and wet and itching for a fight. He tells Dreevale to subtract 20 from his score. Dreevale rolls 91, which is greater than his modified score of 20.  The Gorlian punches Dreevale. 

Gorlians are large (8 feet tall, or about 2.5 meters) mammals. They are muscular bipeds, with powerful arms and legs. They have thickly padded hands, each with four fingers and a thumb. Their feet are large and padded, ending in five clawed toes. Their torsos are wide and muscular. Gorlians have bullish facial features, with a short snout, and small horns projecting from their foreheads. Short, course fur covers most of their bodies, with color ranging from light brown for females to dark black for males.  Males are generally slightly larger than females. 

A Gorlian's sense of touch, taste, sight, and hearing is very similar to Human's. Their sense of smell, however, is much more highly developed than humans. They can easily smell other beings nearby, even concealed ones, and make excellent trackers (see Special Abilities).

Gorlians produce sound through a larynx. They have a primitive language that sounds very guttural, with lots of snorts and grunts. They can learn Pan-Galactic, as well as Humans and Yarizian languages. 

Gorlians have a society based on strength and honor. Their society is a similar to a tribal one, with tribes being referred to as herds by other races. In the past, positions of leadership, such as the "chieftain", were won by fighting in gladiator-like duels to the death. In addition, mates were chosen and won through combat. In more recent times, positions and mates are fought for though nonlethal contests of strength and 

physical prowess that are still considered brutal. Chieftain positions, however, are still fought for to the death. Chieftains rule their herds with iron hands, and cannot show fear or weakness. Female Gorlians can participate in duels, and can win mates and positions. 

Sometimes a female will become a chieftain; Gorlian custom does not prevent this, as long as she can defeat and kill her predecessor. Gorlians mate for life, and will have many offspring. All week, diseased, or deformed offspring are killed. Gorlians give birth to live young, usually two at a time. A Gorlian born without a (fraternal) twin is considered very special. Gorlians are not a scientifically or technologically advanced race. They can learn to use technology, but as a whole, their native technology tends to be primitive. Gorlians are now often hired as "muscle"'; they make good mercenaries, guards, and thugs, and their tracking ability has enabled some to become excellent bounty hunters. Most Gorlians favor melee weapons such as axes, and some have begun using powered weapons. Gorlians are not unintelligent, but as a whole, they are more primitive than other Frontier races. Individual Gorlians can be very intelligent, and may be able to learn technological skills. Gorlians have an innate animal cunning that can make them very dangerous.

Gorlian Characters Characteristics 

Special Abilities 

Gorlians seem to get along best other mammalian races, such as Humans and Yazirians. They respect of strength and combat ability has lead them to have some affinity with Yazirians in particular. They are contemptuous of Vrusk and Dralasites, since these species are so different. They are not sure what to make of the Rim races, but do respect Humma's brawling and carousing attitudes.  The Gorlians as a whole have not had much contact with the Sathar. But they are hostile towards the worms, due to the threat they present, and have no problem fighting them if need be. But Gorlians do not have a centralized government, and have not been invited to join the UPF and serve in Federation military forces.  It must be remembered that Gorlians are very touchy beings to deal with. They have very short tempers, enormous strength, and are easily offended. Any slight or insult will result in a violent response. Bothering a Gorlian is not an advisable thing to do. 

Incredible Strength. All Gorlians are capable of incredible acts of strength. All Gorlians get a +20 bonus to their Strength/Stamina scores. This is summarized in the Ability Score modifiers listed in the table, but is such an extreme bonus that it qualifies as a special ability. Referee note: Gorlians are so strong because they come from a high-gravity world. On such planets, Gorlians can function normally, and are not penalized.

Tracking Ability. All Gorlians automatically have the Tracking subskill at 40% (that's the same score a first-level Environmentalist would possess). This score can be raised by spending experience. When using Zebulon's Guide rules, they have the Tracking Skill for wilderness areas, and Stealth skill for developed areas. Treat their sense of smell the same as Osakar.