Zuraqqor (the Big Z)

rattraveller

September 7, 2010 - 8:54pm

Looking over the races of Star Frontiers I found one of the most important (to me anyway) was also one of the least covered. I am speaking of the only know allies of the Sathar, the Zuraqqor. Since they are in the shortest module with one of the shortest race write ups I felt some expansion was due to them.

To do this, I took the basic write up and then applied what it said and comparisons to the other races to come up with the following. Of course I ran into a problem immediately as even this short commentary on them was filled with contradictions. So I will go through my process and how I arrived at my conclusions. PLEASE comment on them and let's see if we can improve this forgotten race of the Frontier.

We are given stats and skills for the eight Zuraqqor involved in the attack on Starship Omicron. Great, somewhere to start. Looking at these we quickly notice that for a group of warriors they are very weak and very technically skilled. Also worrying is the statements that Zuraqqor are born into orders which determine their stats and warriors have the second highest STR/STA only after workers. If this is true then we are dealing with the weakest race ever if there warriors only have 30s in STR/STA. But wait it also states warriors fight while technicians provide support. Another statement of the write up is that only the warriors can carry weapons except in defense. But all the attacking Zuraqqor have the same stats and are all armed, so these must all be warriors.

Then revelation hit me. The write up went on to say how the technicians have slowly taken control of Zuraqqor society and rival groups of technicians will try to put up figurehead kings and queens. Any faction so divided and Machiavellian would of course ignore any rules or restrictions they felt stood in the way of their goals. Politicians to the rescue! The attackers here are a group of technicians who have convinced their ally, the Sathar, to assist them in secretly attacking the Starship Omicron. In all likelihood to secure the deadly spores which kill Zuraqqor the fastest. Probably intending to use it against some of their rival technician groups and also giving it to the Sathar to use for their own diabolical purposes.

Using the base stats for technicians I worked up the Zuraqqor race write up. Hope you like it.
Zuraqqor
Physical Appearance and Structure
The Zuraqqor are a race of bipedal (two arms and two legs) insects. They have large bug-like eyes, two antennae and small wings. They appear smaller then they are because their knees bend the opposite way of most races and their necks extend horizontally from broad hunched over shoulders. To most other races individual Zuraqqor look extremely similar except for the physical size of a Zuraqqor (Vrusk can easily tell Zuraqqor apart). These depend upon which order the Zuraqqor belongs to (orders are covered under Society and Customs). Workers are the largest and heaviest; Warriors come in a close second while the other three orders are almost identical.
Zuraqqor have skin but it is more of a flexible and porous chitin. Coloring is also determined by the order they belong to. Also because of the shift in the light spectrum they can see (covered under Senses) the Zuraqqor appear a different color to themselves (and Vrusk) then to those races whose sight is similar to humans. Order               Human sight    Zuraqqor sight
Worker            Red                 Grey (solid)
Warrior            Black               Black with striations of dark blue
Technician       Blue                 Blue with splotches of violet
King                Black               Glowing purple with bands of violet
Queen              Black               Glowing violet with bands of purple Zuraqqor are an egg laying race so all reproductive organs are internal. Add to this they have three sexes; male, female and drone. This further adds to the lack of distinction between individuals as viewed by non-insectiod races. Senses
Zuraqqor senses of are very similar to Vrusk with one exception. The Zuraqqor have very large eyes which allow them to see in a 270 degree arc. This means they can see all around them except for what is directly behind them. Sense of smell centered in their antennae and slightly better than humans and they see more of the short wavelengths (blue and ultraviolet lights) and less of the long wavelengths (orange and red). The Zuraqqor have very large eyes which allow them to see in a 270 degree arc. This means they can see all around them except for what is directly behind them. Speech
Zuraqqor have mandibles for eating but speak with a larynx similar to Humans and Yazirians. This allows them to learn those languages easily and have an ability to speak Vrusk languages with a little training. Society and Customs
Zuraqqor live in vast communal buildings called Hives. Each Hive houses 100,000 or more. Their planets are divided into Hive Districts each containing several Hives. Zuraqqor society is divided into five classes, called orders; worker, warrior, technician, king, queen. The class of each Zuraqqor is determined at birth. The five orders have slightly different physical structures that distinguish them from one another. Individual Zuraqqor do not have much personality; they act as members of their class. About 75% of all Zuraqqor are workers. Workers do the basic labor of Zuraqqor society. The task could be simple, such as on as assembly line, or complex, such as a merchant banker. Workers might use machines as part of their jobs. However, they will never repair, direct or command machines or robots. Such work is the prerogative of the technician order. Workers are sexless creatures with a heavier build then the other orders. Warriors are the fighters of Zuraqqor society. They are sexless and make up about 10% of the Zuraqqor population. They are heavier and stronger then all orders except workers. Warriors are more agile then other orders Zuraqqor warriors repair and maintain their personal weapons, but the heavier weapons and equipment are maintained by a few technicians attached to the squad.Warriors are the only ones normally allowed to bear weapons. Other Zuraqqor can bear arms if the threat of death is immediate and to protect the queens, young and eggs. In this case technicians and kings will use ranged weapons and high tech melee weapons. Workers will usually attack with their powerful fists or some makeshift melee weapons.Technicians have a monopoly on science and technology in Zuraqqor society. They have larger brains than warriors or workers, but are not as strong as either. Technicians have gender but are sterile. Technicians make up about 10% of Zuraqqor society. Over the years, technicians became more important as technology became more complex. Technicians now enjoy privileges that workers and warriors do not have. Technicians have a decisive role in society and try to limit the kings and queens to figurehead status. Rival groups of technicians often stage palace revolutions to put their candidates on the thrones. Queens are the leaders of the worker order (although their power, like that of the kings, is now limited by the powerful technician order). Each Hive contains one Queen. The Hive Queens elect on District Queen yearly and the District Queens elect a Planetary Queen every ten years. Aside from their leadership duties, the queens mate with kings to produce each generation of Zuraqqor. The queens bear thousands of young several times per year. Zuraqqor young are born in a primitive embryo stage then mature in the Hive hatcheries. Kings lead the Zuraqqor warriors, just as queens lead the workers. There is one King in each hive. Kings have an organization similar to that of queens (Hive King, District King and Planetary King).
Kings and Queens who are not Hive leaders take on other leadership roles as preparation to becoming Hive leaders. Kings serve as military officers in both their army and navy. Queens work as supervisors and managers on many different levels both in labor and political fields. Attitudes
Zuraqqor in the same order act the same. Workers only wish to serve their Hive and Queens. Warriors only wish to protect their Hive and serve their Kings. Kings and Queens only wish to lead and provide for their people and Hives. Technicians are the exception to this attitude. They form sub-groups and in fight for their own personal pleasures. Many Frontier sociologists have speculated that either their drive for scientific understanding and curiosity separated them. The fact that they have sexes among themselves but cannot reproduce may have sent them to seek control of others of their kind. Possibly some of them were exposed to something which altered their DNA and caused this drive to control. One thing can definitely be said. Workers and Warriors are predictable. Kings and Queens work for their Hives and Race. Technicians are wildcards who can and will do anything. Special Abilities
Specialization-Zuraqqor may only choose skills from their order’s PSA until they reach skill level 4 in one skill. They can only take a total of 2 skills outside their order’s PSA and those can only be raised to skill level 2. Thanks to their specialization they start with one skill at level 2 and one at level 1. Hover-Zuraqqor wings have de-evolved to the point where they can no longer use them for flight. They can use them to lift themselves off the ground to a height of 5 meters and allow them to hover for two minutes at the most. They must then land and may not use the hover ability until they have rested for 2 hours. Zuraqqor Characters
Zuraqqor are unwelcome in the Frontier. They cannot be player characters unless the Referee is running a Bizarro campaign. Player Character Briefing on Zuraqqor
Zuraqqor are cunning and dangerous. Any encounter with them should be reported immediately. If escape is impossible, citizens should attack immediately, attempting to capture a live Zuraqqor for study, if possible. When Zuraqqor are encountered with Sather, citizens should either attempt to escape or attack to kill, as the Zuraqqor are known to be allies of the Sathar.

Worker Warrior Technician King Queen

Average Size        2.1 m       2.0 m      1.6 m            1.6 m    1.6 m
Average Mass      100 kg     90 kg      50 kg            50 kg    50 kg
Average Lifespan 60 yr     60 yr    100 yr            120 yr 120 yr
Reproduction       Sterile   Sterile heterosexual  heterosexual/Sterile/ovoviviparous
Body Temp          38 C     38 C     38 C            38 C     38 C
Initial PSA      BioSocial Military Technological Military BioSocial

MOVEMENT

Walking 10 m 10 m 10 m 10 m 10 m

Running 15 m 15 m 30 m 30 m 30 m
Hourly 6 km 5 km 3 km 3 km 3 km

AVERAGE STATS
STR/STA          70/70     60/60     30/30               30/30    30/30
DEX/RS            50/50     70/70     60/60               60/60    60/60
INT/LOG          25/25     30/30     35/35               35/35    35/35
PER/LDR        20/20     25/25     30/30             45/45    45/45
IM                     6            7            6                      6           6
PS                     4            3            2                       2           2
RW                   25          35          30                     30        30
MW                  35          35          30                     30        30

Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

Imperial Lord

October 11, 2010 - 8:24am

The Memnhe were enslaved too. They just had collaborators and such. By the time the PCs arrive in system, the enslavement is "in process" and not yet complete.

jacobsar

October 11, 2010 - 9:34am

I have always thought that the Sather themselves are just pawns...or at least started out that way.


In my SF campaign I have combined the "bug hunter" campaign world with that of Zebulon. Bug Hunter 
was a sci-Fi supplement for the Amazing Engine, a game developed by TSR. I liked the supplement and 
used it to flesh out the earliest frontier from the perspective of humanity.
The primary conflict of BH was an almost timeless war between two ancient races, referred to Shapers 
and Artificers. In this war many lesser races were conscripted. Most of these races are now extinct 
because of there association with the war.
The Shapers are masters of the manipulation of life. In my SF universe the Shapers altered the primitive 
Sather to use them in their war. Ramped up Sather aggression and used them. The expansion of Humans 
was a wild card. The Ancient didn't see it coming. As humans formed alliances with the rest of the four 
races the influence of the ancients subsided, but the Sather were still created as an unreasoning aggressor. 
Old habits die hard.
The Sather keep the old alliances because they were "programmed" to.

Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men.
Edwin Louis Cole

w00t (not verified)

October 11, 2010 - 10:53am

@jacobsar - Wow that is a cool idea. The sathar had masters at one time warping them into their current form. Maybe Clan Y found the truth and is trying to undo the Ancients curse on them.

@Captain Rags - Neat idea. I'm going to add that to my Ghost Station post. Is it possible to watch that episode of B5 online?

@Imperial Lord - I wonder if a write up is necessary that list the steps the sathar use to enslave another race.

Rum Rogue

October 11, 2010 - 4:37pm

w00t wrote:

I wonder if a write up is necessary that list the steps the sathar use to enslave another race.

Phase 1: Steel all the underpants.

Phase 3: Profit.

Time flies when your having rum.

Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time.

jacobsar

October 11, 2010 - 5:11pm

w00t wrote:

@jacobsar - Wow that is a cool idea. The sathar had masters at one time warping them into their current form. Maybe Clan Y found the truth and is trying to undo the Ancients curse on them.

Yes and the same former masters affected the development of the Z in the same way. BugHunters is a great resource. I have borrowed heavily from it. I also borowed from Gamma World. I have Earth located at the Gamma plague system. Basicly the last kicks of the dieing Ancients war spawned the blue plague. It took some re-writing of the timeline, but it is so condradictery any way I thought I couldn't do worse.

Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men.
Edwin Louis Cole

w00t (not verified)

October 11, 2010 - 6:04pm

@Rum, oh boy.

@jacobsar - we have a timeline submission starting from pre-federation up to PF 0. I believe the author is working on another submissions from PF 0 to present. Consider submitting your ideas, ppl may not totally agree with your timeline but its good for seed ideas. :-)

Captain Rags

October 11, 2010 - 8:32pm

wOOt wrote: [Neat idea. I'm going to add that to my Ghost Station post. Is it possible to watch that episode of B5 online?]

Not sure if that episode of B5 is on line or not. I "think" the episode was during the first season. I shall check my stash of stylin' B5 dvds, which I keep between my stylin' Firefly series and my stylin' Space 1999 series (strike the stylin' part on the latter, most of those episodes make me suffer like I was still married to my unstylin' ex-wife).

My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com

Max_Writer

October 12, 2010 - 12:11pm

I remember reading about the Zuraqqor in Dragon Magazine. Here is the picture that always stuck in my head:

http://www.f4fbbs.com/StarFrontiers/rules/Dragon/Zuraqqor.gif

Thought it was excellent. I don't know if a link to the actual article has been posted yet or not so here it is:

http://www.f4fbbs.com/StarFrontiers/rules/Dragon/_zuraqq.htm

Call of Cthulhu RPG Journals: http://www.yog-sothoth.com/blogs/2951
Other journals: http://forum.abyssalgaming.com/blog/7-maxs-blog/
http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/blog.php/8662

adamm

October 13, 2010 - 8:51am

I know I'm late to the party.

The Sathar's interplanetary politics seems like "Shoot first, never ask questions". So I too was surprised to find that they would have an ally.

Since the Sathar seem to be experts and genetic engineering. One possible explanation could be that the Sathar created the Z's to be an inexhaustible source of warriors. Cooperation with the Sathar could be genetically coded into their personalities the same way warrior/worker/queen behavior is. Thus, the Z's could be thinking the Sathar are their friends and allies, and the Sathar chuckle to themselves whenever they send their willing slaves into battle.

The competetive behavior and independent thinking of the technicians could be an unwanted anomaly or perhaps a built in way to keep the Z's under control. The idea being that if they are busy worrying about each other's ambitions they're less likely to team up and turn against the Sathar.

jedion357

October 22, 2010 - 6:45pm

OR... the real truth about the sathar is that a mis jumped ship that bounces through a black hole hurls the crew and passengers back in time, way back. They discover the proto sathar and attempt to influence evolution to prevent their rise as the villians of the future Frontier.

However.... one of the scientists on the team is an undiscovered sathar agent, another is an incompetent hack, others dont have the clout to call the shots. In the end their tinkering leads to the creation of the modern sathar.

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Imperial Lord

October 25, 2010 - 9:32am

I really don't think that we need an elaborate explanation here. I can't see how the Zuraqqor are not just another enslaved race, albeit with better conditions than others - that I can see. That is to say, it's better to be a Zurraqor slave than a Memnhe slave, for example - though not much.

I'm sure the Sathar keep a very close eye on their "allies" and the price of this near-paranoid suspicion and obsession for control almost negates the strategic value of the Zuraqqor in the first place!

Perhaps the Sathar Empire would have been better off just murdering them like everyone else?

jedion357

October 26, 2010 - 8:36pm

Imperial Lord wrote:

Zuraquor techs defect to the Frontier seeking help against the genocide being perpetrated on them by the sathar.

Space Fleet has dispatched a scout ship and a crack team to investigate.

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Captain Rags

October 27, 2010 - 11:20pm

Nice adventure set-up Jedion. Although...(scratching chin slowly) what if the twist is that it IS a set-up...for the PCs.

"Yeah, we want to defect to the frontier. Send over a team of yer best guys in a lone ship!"

My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com

Imperial Lord

October 30, 2010 - 12:54am

Another cool adventure idea...

Jedion strikes again!

jedion357

November 6, 2010 - 5:56pm

In light of the ever popular sathar tactic of agents and infiltrators it seems very likely they would allow a group of defector liberally salted with plants

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa

December 27, 2015 - 12:09pm

I am inclined to see the Zuraqqor, Antecs, Formians, & Thri-kreen races as close relatives maybe even the same species in the end. Not sure but it could be interesting.

In poking about on the TSR smart incestoid races these 3 races have a lot in common. I am sort of just collecting info at this point... what might do is create unique colony worlds that help explain the differences... I am mulling over an ancient bug empire idea, now gone but isolated some adaption and genetic drift would occur... then if the races started trading again? Who knows...

If the Zuraqqor are a lot more sneaky they might be using the Sathar for their own plans, maybe they are putting the bug empire back together, searching out old colony sites and so on... maybe they have a hidden agenda.

Just spit balling ideas...

Giant Hive ships is an interesting idea.

"Never fire a laser at a mirror."

rattraveller

January 1, 2016 - 9:10pm

Wait are you suggesting one government is using another for their own purposes? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357

January 2, 2016 - 8:06am

Now appearing HHO (Home Holo Office) Z Empire.

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa

January 2, 2016 - 11:03am

LOL yes

"Never fire a laser at a mirror."

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