Cybodragon

Originating from a huge Volturnus lizard, Cybodragons are attack monsters that the Sathar cybernetically altered. Many parts of their bodies have been replaced by machinery.

Its two eyes were replaced by the Sathar equivalent of a laser rifle set on 10 SEU. Each eye has 5 shots before its power pack must be recharged and with a rate of fire of two shots per turn, it could run out of power very quickly.

The cybodragon uses other sensing machines to serve the same functions as normal eyes.

Cybodragons weregiven their name because they have flamethrowers installed inside their mouths. The flamethrower has 10 charges. Each charge does 3d10 points of damage on a successful attack.

The ranges for a flamethrower are 10 meters = point blank, 20 meters = short, 30 meters =medium, 40 meters = long, and 50 meters = extreme.

In melee, the cybodragon uses its claws, bite and various metal tentacles to do 10d10 points of damage on a successful attack.

The Sathar made Cybodragons to support their combat troops or to guard Sathar installations. Up to two Sathar could ride on a cybodragon and are able to fire their weapons at targets.

Wartime Upgrades:

As the Frontier became more organized, developing better weapons and defenses, the Sathar began improving their cybodragons.

Second Battery Pack: The first upgrade added a second battery pack so each laser rifle could fire 10 times at a setting of 10 SEUs.

More Flamethrower Charges: A second upgrade was improving the capacity of the flamethrower’s fuel tank to 15 charges.

Alternative Weapons: Instead of relying strictly on laser eyes, some cybodragons were outfitted with Sonic Disruptors.

Special Defenses: An anti-shock implant became standard equipment on cybodragons. They were also outfitted with inertia and albedo screens that were powered by a dedicated 50 SEU pack. Only one defense screen could be activated at one time.

Special Sensors: Some cybodragons were outfitted with infrared and ultraviolet sensors with a 20 meter range. Others may have had odor sensors with a 100 meter range.

Cyboslug

A living nightmare created by the Sathar, a cyboslug attacks all non-Sathar lifeforms on sight. It uses a flamethrower that was implanted in its body.

Clinging to walls and ceilings, its body is covered with a reflective slime that reduces damage taken from laser or fire attacks to one-half normal, much like an albedo screen.

Sathar Slugs[1]

Native to the Sathar ecosystem, the Sathar Slugs have four different varieties ranging in size from tiny to large. The Sathar only use the largest slugs for cybernetic implantation.

They can climb walls and ceilings. Its body is covered with a reflective slime that reduces damage from laser and flame attacks.

All of these slugs can extrude a quick-hardening resin webbing that can even be used as a cocoon to hibernate in. Since the resin hardens in seconds, the all except the tiny slugs can use this webbing for attacks.

A webbing attack has effects similar to a tangler grenade except the resin is relatively permanent and does not readily degrade. The victim of this attack will be immobilized unless he makes a Strength (STR) check to break free.

Even if a victim breaks free the slug’s special attack it will continue to extrude resin and automatically hits on the next turn until it is dead or the victim is incapacitated. The resin web can be cut with a laser scalpel.

Quickdeath

The quickdeath is the ultimate land carnivore. This creature can propel itself at 100 kilometers per hour with its great legs, which resemble those of a jaguar.

Quickdeaths keep the claws on these legs razor sharp, using them to attack prey as well as for climbing. Three sets of smaller, tentacle-like limbs ending in suction cups are attached to the quickdeath's sides.

It uses these limbs to catch unwary prey and stuff the unfortunate creatures into its digestive maw. Any creature in the maw takes 1d10 points of damage per turn until it frees itself (as if breaking free from a hold).

The quickdeath has a long, flexible neck that ends in a snout and large mouth. Its four eyes are mounted on retractable stalks atop the head, while its brain is located at the base of itsneck.

Weakness: The quickdeath is nearly blind when it strikes it prey because it retracts these eyes. The Ul-Mor on Volturnus learned to use straw dummies in an effort to fool the monster. When it tries to strike and the character has a dummy, half the time it will end up attacking and destroying the decoy.

Special Attack: The creature has a long, whip-like tail that can fling a poisonous dart once every four hours.

Special Defense: The outer hide of the creature is covered by a moist, reflective armor which provides such good camouflage that the creature is nearly invisible until it approaches within 120 meters. Quickdeaths are constantly on the move, seeking to appease their hearty appetites.

Additional Background: Frontier xenobiologists have noted that wild quickdeaths stay in mated pairs. The female lays hundreds of eggs each year, burying them in deep in the sand or soil. These caches sometimes contain as many as 50 eggs. The first of the young to hatch eats the remaining eggs for his or her first meal, and immediately begins its lifelong search for more food.

Quickdeaths are not natural creatures. The Sathar used an advanced form of DNA manipulation to create these hideous beasts from a common type of housecat found throughout the universe.

When the worms retreated from the Frontier as the First Sathar War came to an end, they left behind hundreds of quickdeaths on several planets to terrorize its inhabitants. Most of these creatures were eradicated, though some still persist on New Pale (Truane’s Star) and Laco (Dixon’s Star).

Lesser Quickdeath[1]

The lesser quickdeath is a smaller version of the full-size quickdeaths that were originally released on Pale during the Sathar War and encountered on Volturnus. 

Where the full-sized quickdeath is about 5m long, the lesser quickdeaths are only about 3m in length. While individually smaller and less powerful, the lesser quickdeaths hunt in packs of 3-4 creatures instead of the solitary or breeding pair nature of the full-sized creatures.

Although not as fast as the full-sized version -- their maximum speed is only 72 kilometers per hour (kph) instead of 100 kph -- they otherwise resemble their larger ancestors.  Its great legs similar to those of a jaguar. 

They maintain the claws on their legs, keeping them razor sharp. These claws are used to attack prey and for climbing. 

Three sets of smaller, tentacle-like limbs which end in suction cups grow from the lesser quickdeath’s sides. The limbs are used to catch unwary prey and stuff the victims into its digestive maw.  

Any creature in the maw takes 10 points of damage until it frees itself (as if breaking free from a hold).

The lesser quickdeath has a long, flexible neck that ends in a snout and large mouth.  It has four eyes that are mounted on retractable stalks near the top of its head. 

Weakness: The creature’s brain is located at the base of its neck.  When the lesser quickdeath strikes, it retracts its eye stalks making it nearly blind.  

With a successful attack, there is a 50 percent chance it will actually strike something other than its intended target if that object is roughly the same size as the target and within 2 meters of the target’s position.

Special Attack: The lesser quickdeath has a long, whip-like tail that can fling apoisonous dart once every four hours. It typically uses this dart as it first engages in melee to strike a secondary, more distant target if one exists.

The lesser quickdeath’s hide is covered by a moist, reflective armor that provides excellent camouflage. The creature is nearly invisible until it approaches within 100 meters. The attack monsters are constantly on the move, seeking to appease their hearty appetites.

The female can lay hundreds of eggs each year, typically burying them deep in the sand or soil.  Egg caches can contain up to 50 eggs (4d10 + 11). The firs tyoung hatchling eats the remaining eggs as its first meal, and then sets out to begin its lifelong search for more food.

Lesser quickdeaths are not native to Pale. The Sathar used advanced genetic manipulation to create them from a common type of cat found throughout the universe.

During the invasion of Pale, they released hundreds of the larger quickdeaths in the area around Point True to terrorize any survivors outside the city. These lesser quickdeaths have only recently been sighted in the areas north and west of Point True. 

Originally thought to be adolescents, examination of recently killed specimens show them to be a fully grown subspecies.

GM Notes

There are still many full-sized quickdeaths on Pale.  You can use the normal stats for those from page 19 of SF0: Crash on Volturnus for other encounters on the planet. 

The lesser quickdeaths are a newly bred version of the larger creature. They were created by a former bounty hunter and recently released into the wild. 

He originally was simply breeding quickdeaths as a “safer” way to collect the bounties on the creatures.  However, about 10 years ago, he had an encounter with some sathar on Pale and was converted to their cause. 

He has been working on this new version of the creature since then and has been releasing them into the wild for only a couple of years.  The lesser quickdeaths are currently only found in the areas around his breeding facility.

Currently there are only about 50 lesser quickdeaths on the planet but their numbers are slowly growing and their range on the planet is increasing.

Slither

Slithers are genetically-created creatures designed by the Sathar as attack monsters. Resembling a giant-sized cross between a worm and a centipede, a slither is 20 meters long and 2 meters wide. It is part plant and part animal.

Plants grow from its back, providing camouflage and some nourishment from photosynthesis. It can only see moving objects, but can sense salt and water. One often lurks near pools of water or salt licks, waiting for prey.

Special Attack: When lying still, a Slither is often mistaken for a mound of plants ,allowing it to attack with surprise. Its gnashing, grinding mandibles are surrounded by 2-meter-long tentacles. Slithers also secrete an oily fluid that causes burns on touch.

They attack by lashing out with their tentacles, by biting with their jaws and by coiling around prey and burning it with their secretions. They must re-coil and make a new attack roll each turn to coil about prey.

Two Attacks: A slither can attack two creatures on the same turn, one with its tentacles and bite and the other by coiling around it. This makes them very deadly in combat.

Background: The Sathar, in their efforts to destroy peaceful worlds, have genetically altered a number of creatures into “monsters” which they then set free on various worlds. Slithers and other Sathar attack monsters can be encountered on many different planets.

Slavebot

Slavebots are cybernetic beings created by Sathar science by melding robotic components to a living being, destroying their higher brain in the process, effectively turning them into living dead.

They were first encountered on Volturns (Zebulon) at the Sathar Artifact by survivors of the Serena Dawn disaster.

Created to guard Sathar installations, the biological part of the slavebot is the obtained from a captured enemy. Most of the higher brain is replaced by a cybernetic implant.

The slavebot is controlled by a disembodied Sathar brain kept in special liquid solution. The brain is almost immortal since there are no other body parts to age. The Sathar brain is linked to a radio transmitter that sends coded signals. These are then received by the slavebot so that direct control is possible.

The slavebots on Volturnus were Eorna captured in the battle that nearly wiped out their race. A supply of captured victims was kept in cryogenic storage to provide replacements for worn-out slavebots.

Shock Bot[1]

Similar to a Slavebot, the Sathar used prisoners to create a semi-autonomous, expendable shock trooper. The Shock Bot has not been totally lobotomized – the Intuition and Logic scores drop to 20 each.

Reaction Speed and Dexterity scores of the victim are set at 40, while both the Strength and Stamina scores uptick by 15 points each.

One hand is removed and replaced with an electrostunner that is set at either 4d10 blast damage or stun, depending upon whether the Sathar want to take prisoners or not. This weapon has a maximum range of medium – 15meters. It uses 2 SEUs per shot and is powered by a 20 SEU clip.

Death Weaver [1]
Type: Small Carnivore

Number: 1-3

Move: Very Fast

IM/RS: +6/65

Stamina: 35

Attack: 60

Damage: 1d10 bite

Special Attack: Poison (S5/T20), paralysis

Special Attack: Spitting venom
Special Defense: Hard exoskeleton acts as 10 point skeinsuit.
Native World/Habitat: Sathar attack monster. Any warm areas.

Description:

The death weaver has been bio-engineered from original black racer stock from the Starfall system. It is a many-legged arachnid that is about a meter in diameter. If just the body were measured it would be about half a meter in diameter.

Black in color, the death weaver sports two fangs that are 7.5 centimeters in length and that are capable of easily penetrating a leather boot and delivering poison to the foot inside. They have been bio-engineered with spinnerets (unlike the original stock) and use their webs primarily for hiding their nests and for lowering themselves from unexpected places, thus developing a ambush predator lifestyle.

These webs are strong enough to support these massive spiders and eventually, through learned behavior (as the species did not originally produce webs), may begin to use its webs in a fashion similar to other spider species.

These robust creatures were bio-engineered to develop a more dense carapace so that they can now support their own weight on worlds with a gravity of 1.0 or less.  

Very fast, these spiders are extremely fearsome and exceptionally aggressive, chasing anything that they encounter. Their poison is also extremely toxic so that a single bite is generally capable of killing any creature twice the size of a human or smaller within moments of exposure.

Any bite that manages to bypass the defenses of the death weaver’s victim and does at least one point of damage will inject a deadly toxin (S5/T20) into the victim.  Fortunately a dose of Antitox will clear up the poison right away.

In addition to the damage inflicted by the poison, this toxin has a secondary effect: paralysis. The victim must roll against their Stamina each turn the poison remains in effect – with a cumulative -10 percent penalty per turn – or become completely paralyzed.

While paralyzed, the victim will still be able to feel and breath, but be unable to move or speak. Regardless of how much time passes, at the point at which the victim falls to the ground paralyzed, the spider will quickly approach and begin to feed… leaving the still-live victim to feel everything that the spider is doing while it contemplates its death.

Generally this arachnid will either rush at or ambush a victim from above, delivering a deadly bite before backing off quickly and allowing their poison to bring the prey down.

Once a victim has been brought down, the death weaver will defend their kill viciously and without regard to personal safety. They will climb up on their prey, wave their two front legs about menacingly, while arching back and displaying their fangs and hissing loudly to warn off any trespassers.

Venom Spitting: If any other creature were to approach a death weaver while it was defending its prey in such a manner and if that creature were to get to within 5 meters, the death weaver will spit a stream of venom at the eyes of the intruder with an attack score of 50.

If the attack is successful, the new victim will suffer the same exposure to the toxin as if they had been bitten. Obviously if the victim has any kind offacial protection (that would cover the mouth and eyes) the poison will be nullified even if the attack is successful.

Other information: The death weaver have been bio-engineered to produce twice the amount of poison as the original stock. It can produce and store four loads of poison in a day. Producing this poison takes a lot of energy that is why it is so very potent.

Once it is out of poison, a death weaver will seek a good hiding place (caverns, crevices and other similar dark places) to restore its supply before venturing back out to hunt.

If killed (and not completely destroyed), the poison glands (one each, located directly behind the fangs - each containing 2 ounces of toxin) could be harvested and used in a variety of different ways.

The liquid could be collected in a small vial, kept tightly sealed and later added to food as a potent and deadly assassination tool, the potency of which would be identical to having been delivered directly by the death weaver. It could also be applied to low tech, bladed melee weapons or to needler ammunition.

Once dried it would last indefinitely but would be used up after one successful attack. Used in this manner, it would be half as effective (S5/T10 and the -10% STA roll would not be cumulative).

The Sathar used an advanced form of DNA manipulation to create these hideous beasts from a deadly spider found on a moon in the Starfall system. Unlike the original stock, this monster has been engineered to create far more eggs each year – potentially creating as many as 200 young a year.

Also unlike the original stock, this spider has been engineered to survive for two years rather than dying naturally after just one. This allows this beast to produce 400 offspring during its lifetime with a very real potential to over populateon planets with no natural enemies and collapse entire ecosystems, not to mention the extreme hazard to civilized population.

As with all sathar attack monsters, the sathar plan to release this one on enemy planets to terrorize its inhabitants. Though this construct is most certainly less powerful than some of the other sathar attack monsters, it still has some very real benefits over those other more powerful constructs. 

It is really small in comparison which allows the sathar to carry many times more deathweavers than cybodragons while en-route to a planet to drop them off for example.

Vimyte

Type: Omnivore

Number: 1-10

Size: Small (16-20 kg), 1 meter tall

Speed: Medium, 20 m/t

STA: 20

IM/RS: 5/50

Attack: 50

Damage: claws 2d10 or bite 2d10 + poison (S2/T4)

Nicknamed "furballs" by the Landfleet, these bipedal, furry creatures have sharp teeth and claws. They are often used to supplement a Sathar cohort in overwhelming enemies during a swarm attack.

Frozen Spiders[1]

Type: Small Carnivore

Number: 1-2

Move:  Medium (26 meters per turn)

IM/RS: 5/45

Stamina: 20

Attack: 50

Damage: 1d10 bite

Special Attack: Special Poison – Sx(LOG)2/H40)
Special Defense: Camouflage
Native World/Habitat: Sathar attack monster. Cold areas.

Description:

The Sathar took original spider stock from Evergloom to create the Frozen Spider attack monster. These arachnids can survive in very cold environments, down to -50 degrees Celsius though they are more active above -5 degrees.

About 1 meter in diameter with bodies that are about 250 centimeters wide, they have heat sensing organs, double jointed legs and a central mouth. While hibernating or lying in wait, they rest balled up with their mouths facing upward.

When a warm object – such as a character or animal – passes within 5 meters, they awaken and jump up to grab and bite. They can spring up to 12 meters and can run at speeds up to 26 meters per turn for 5 turns. Afterward, they can move no faster than 10 meters per turn until they rest for at least an hour.

Because they have natural camouflage, they are difficult to spot. They have a 40 percent chance of remaining unseen until they attack.

If they successfully bite, the spider injects a poison that slowly affects their prey’s Logic. The victim will lose 2 points of Logic every hour for up to 40 hours. This makes it harder and harder for the victim to apply logic to any situation, which allows baser emotions or instincts to become more dominant.

Characters with a Logic score of 0 or less are rendered unconscious. They will not regain consciousness until the poison runs its course, allowing Logic to heal at the rate of 1 point per day, or if a suitable anti-venom is  provided to the victim. While the Sathar have such an anti-venom, the Frontier’s normal antitox medicine is useless against the Frozen Spider’s poison.

If the character’s Logic score drops below -30 before the venom is neutralized, the victim will die.