 June 9, 2011 - 5:04pm | Thanks CaptainRags for the inspiration to start this thread: http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/4525#comment-19910 the scope of this thread is to discuss the races technology: obviously the Starmist module and the bolo sized tank is the starting place but the fact that they practiced de facto slavery and possibly genetic manipulation of said slaves should also be covered. Just why did they need bolo sized tanks? and expendable slaves? We can discuss their tech but I think that some thought needs to be given to just who they would have felt they needed such big weapons for. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 9, 2011 - 6:05pm | A clikk military exploration vessel, mapping in the area of Starmist, had problems that required dumping of extra weight. Unloaded on STarmist were a tank of advanced design and all nonessential personnel. Nonessential personnel included the Heliopes. Before leaving the Clikks subjected the heliopes to a mindwipe that caused amnesia. Item #1: Clikks employed military exploration vessels whose mission was to map- why military vessels and not civilian? A military exploration vessel carrying the tank? the tank itself being on board could be for 2 reasons: A. its the clikk version of an explorer B. its considered neccessary equipment because of the feared or expected encounters- which in turn suggest the reason that it was a military exploration vessel. Item #2: they're mapping in the region of Starmist which could imply that there is other evidence/artifacts in that same region: Starsystems like Araks, Scree Fron, Capella, Mechan,and Athor could all hold artifacts or evidence. Item #3: The ship had problems requiring the dumping of wt. This tells us something about their tech but what that is I'm unsure of at this time. Perhaps its as simple as lightening the ship to reach escape velocity. Which would make sense that they ditch the tank. Item #4: Nonessential personnel are left behind and recieve a mindwipe the resembles amnesia. Apparently the clikks employ serfs or slaves that they can dispense with as they will. They have an advance form of mind manipulation being able to wipe a mind and could even have a form of gene forming tech.the use of mind wipes and slaves suggests an exploitive attitude but from the technology angle they certianly possess advance bio sciences. Item #5: is more proper for the other clikk thread. Item #6: The Clikk never returned- either the ship never made it back home, or the off loaded cargo was considered expendable, perhaps the "wounded ship" encountered whatever they needed their militarty assets for. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 9, 2011 - 6:26pm | While on Starmist, Malligigg found a piece of fused metal unlikely to be produced by a culture as primitive as the heliopes. He suspected the metal was left by alien visitors or manufactured by and ancient advanced culture. not much here but the metalurgy implications- a strange piece of metal requiring advance metalurgy. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 9, 2011 - 7:03pm | Lekeekh, leader of the rescuers, has an automatic pistol that is alien in design but its function is obvious to anyone with a military PSA. ....The statistics of clikk projectile weapons are the same for the automatic pistol in the Star Frontiers weapons table. chemical projectile weapons on par with the Frontier. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 9, 2011 - 7:47pm | the hut is stacked to the roof with junk left by the clikks centuries ago. Larger pieces of equipment, such as generators and transformers, take up most of the available space....Massive tools and heavy structural members of the clikk ship are corroded and broken from age. electrical generators are no real surprise as the tank has an electric defense screen also one of the heliope priest has an inertia screen and another one has an albedo's screen clikk tech also uses wand or baton locks and keys- as per the tank's detail. RE Item #4 above- the tank is equipped with a special security device to prevent its falling into enemy hands, a code must be entered daily during full power operation or it self destructs. The self destruct device is a small nuke. The tank also has computers that are recognizable somewhat to the PCs. The tank is powered by a nuclear fussion power supply. and moved by powerful hover fans. The tank is also equipped with an electronic warefare missile that scrambles com, computers, and holo devices. if you ask me the clikks sound like they're on par with the Frontier except possibly in the area of bio and medical sciences. If they have been kicking around since the heliopes were abandoned on Starmist then their tech is probably far in advance of the Frontier. But if their civilization is now gone then its probable that clikk artifacts are on par with Frontier tech or slightly advanced. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 10, 2011 - 4:32am | Sorry for the multiple double post but then I'd rather do double post than edit old post and leave people confused about post they already read. noticed last night that the module said that the automatic pistols of the clikks had a hollow tube that the clikk would insert a forleg into to fire but that the heliopes can just barely insert a claw into to do the same thing. so taking the lead on that, clikk technology should have lots of hollow tubes for inserting foreleggs into. This blends well with the key/lock mechanism of the tank as its a rod that both disables the defense screen and opens the hatch. Looking at the rod in the module, its red and black striped so I would gather that red and black striped rods are actually high level keys giving access to sensitive military equipment. Question is should all clikk rod/baton keys be striped or should the high level ones be red, black and red and black striped? In other words is it the colors that are important or the stripes? I'd like to hear from the military/ former military among us on the type of thinking/contingency planning that goes into military security. Since the clikk show quite a bit of this in the module- the code for the tank and its self destruct device, the possible reason for the mindwipe of the heliopes, understanding what real world militaries do in this area might supply ideas for what the clikks might have done. One story I have from my Dad: during Vietnam he was on a tanker as a technician. They had three "anchors" where tankers would sort of orbit as flying gas stations with cherry anchor being up by Hanoi. If a radar technician was on board a KC135 it could not go to cherry anchor to prevent the technician from falling into enemy hands with sensitive information in the eventuality of the plane going down. A max effort was on and Dad was trying to pull a malfunctioning radar and install another while the plane was taxiing in line but as he was running the test on the new install the plane reached #1 in the que and it left with him still on board. The KC135 took up position at one anchor below cherry anchor but a navy jet had taken damage and was loosing fuel as fast as it could be pumped in. so the KC135 at cherry anchor was flying with that jet to the south to get the pilot to safety. The call went up for Dads plane to move from its station to cherry anchor but the pilot then realized that he had a technician on board. So my father vollunteered to go and they went. I believe it was on this mission when his plane was lit up by radar for a SAM, the EW officer called out radar lock and one of the navy jets in the area responded with "I'm on it." and dove in to waste the radar site. Surprising to find out that Dad was not out of harms way by being stationed in Thailand or that the VC attacked his air base while he was on the flight line working on a plane but thats another story. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 10, 2011 - 7:24am | My experience says most exploration vessels, military or not, carry a tank or some equivalent. That's why there are Privateer class ships, in our own history, and in the Frontier. Casting a wide net: In one of the system write-ups for Araks there was an outer planet that was given to being a potential Xeno-dig uncovered by miners, apparently nothing further was discovered in the short time before the mines tapped out and a couple planetary disasters disrupted further explorations. In Scree-Fron there was a derelict ship of no known origin, hidden out in a far-system belt (twice the distance of the furthest planets orbit, or there abouts), but it was something mentioned in a very short article, and I don't recall the source (  Shadis Magazine Hook-Line-Sinker perhaps... But I am sure it was for Star Frontiers... I am missing my mags.)Starmist is the easy and obvious place to have other artifacts, on planet and in the larger system... Proximity to Mechan and Capella, and even Volturnus being established as a multi-dig planet already, these could all have something, though I would likely hold way back on detailing major artifacts and digs in these locations. Seems anything with a native population would have less chance of undisrupted digs. The Clikk in the region would be older and less settled than the Elomi, especially if they were just exploring... again lending to scarce pickings still intact. Wouldn't overlook the possibilities of areas near the Vrusk side of the frontier, especially if there is an insinuated connection... a world out in the far extents of the Capella-Klacok Run, or in the fringes of the Dark Rift, or stuck in the Xygag-White Light bottle-neck corridor... And are there any Zuraqqor similarities to look at. Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
June 10, 2011 - 1:27pm | I'm surprised that Shadis had an article on Star Frontiers as it didn't begin publication till '90 which was long after SF was out of print. I'd be very currious to know the issue and try to pick it up on ebay and create a SF-shadis archive like the polygon & dragon archives. I've been of a mind to make the Clikk home area to have been west of the Frontier or west by south west. As for any clikk/vrusk connection my studies into reproduction and genetics openned an idea of the clikk having a feature in their genetic code that promotes genetic recombination. If a clikk ship had become lost all the way over in vrusk space and discovered primitive proto-vrusk and the last crew member decided to father a new race by combining its genes with the proto vrusk genome then that could be the connection- no real evidence of that would exist till clikk genetic material was recovered. EDIT: did a little research into Shadis history and discovered an archive that listed game system then all the articles and what issue there were in that covered that system- nothing listed for Star Frontiers but interestingly Gang Busters had 1 article. There was a list of articles on general science fiction gaming material wonder if it would be worth the effort to compile an archive of that. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 10, 2011 - 8:25pm | Here is a Klick for you... http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/5427 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 |
 June 18, 2011 - 8:45am | [Item #3: The ship had problems requiring the dumping of wt. This tells us something about their tech but what that is I'm unsure of at this time. Perhaps its as simple as lightening the ship to reach escape velocity. Which would make sense that they ditch the tank.] That's a point that primes my deductive reasoning. If the Starmist tank and atomic powered hand weapons were considered to be unimportant extra weight by the Clikks, what better tech/equipment did they NOT choose to dump? Answer: mind blowingly advanced tech that would make any Yazirian's hair stand on end. I'll leave it to you as to what could possibly rate as 'mind blowingly advanced tech'.  My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
June 18, 2011 - 8:23pm | @Caption Ragged: excellent ideas brewing, if we view the clikk tech seen in the module as what they considered expendable and as what they figured was safe to give to their slaves, the heliopes, which is on par with Frontier tech then any interaction with a clikk client species is even Steven tech wise. But getting in with a clikk and his tech should be scary. Perhaps the clikk trilogy finale should require the PCs calling /luring in the sathar to finish the clikk off. EDIT: I really think the end point needs to be cataclysmic. bolo sized tanks, mechs, robotic armies and swarms of sathar and the PC's playing monkey in the middle. As to mind blowing tech- I'd enteratian ideas, I never got D20 fFuture which I think maps out levels of tech. The sathar have a hypnosis ability and captain suggested phychic powers perhaps its a theme with the clikk if the sathar were their slaves 1000 years ago. However, the clikk have to be overcomable in some way for the adventure to work. If a clikk is brought out of suspended animation then there is no reason that the heliopes wont be brought out of suspended animation. So if the heliopes are still serving the clikk and their tech is on par with the Frontier then they make great opponents of average difficulty. The clikk would be a boss encounter or perhaps the encounter that should be avoided at all costs. Perhaps the PCs must foil the clikks plan and save the Frontier but cant go toe to toe with him directly. One option is that the clikk has tech that simulates mentalist powers (pick 3 good ones). star ship tech? I like the idea of one ship that could take on a whole sathar fleet. NOTE: if the heliopes are brought back for this then their culture under the clikk needs to be thought out. It wont be anything like what we see in the Starmist module for obvious reasons. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 18, 2011 - 11:53pm |
My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
June 19, 2011 - 12:02am | I was thinking about the zerg ability to plant parasite on an enemy unit and that gave the zerg player the ability to see what was going on around that unit; in effect it lifted the Fog of war around that unit as if it was a zerg unit. However the clikk parasite would be more insidious, it would give the clikk puppetmaster like control over the subject (purhaps its the same tech as the bio-organizm that attached to the back of a sathar agent and lead to clear and see through clothing becoming the norm toward the end of the Zebs timeline. Perhaps this infected/controlled NPC will take a ship load of such parasites back to the Frontier with the plan to gain top down control of the UPF and key mega corps- PCs have to stop him. Great opportunity for the clikk to speak to the PCs through this NPC's mouth. I also like the idea of the clikk surviving the module via downloading his persona to a human or vrusk. This could lead to yet a 4th adventure called Requiem for the Clikk where said downloaded NPC takes over a corporation that suddenly makes incredible leaps and bounds in the technology department. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 19, 2011 - 10:28am | Would the mind control parasite burrow into the victim's head like "ST-II:Wrath of Riccardo", or does the parasite have psionic relay abilities linked to the Clikk. Just trying to work out how the parasite itself dominates the victim's mind. Unfamiliar with the Zerg. Where or what source has more info on them to help bring me up to speed with your FTL mind. You go waiving your arms around like you're some kind of Jedi (on357).  My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
June 19, 2011 - 1:19pm | I thinking more along the lines of the one from the send time line but having it burrow into you is more creepy and threatening. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 21, 2011 - 3:06pm | How about simply stating the tech is considered "high-tech" and double the stats of Frontier gear. For instance; 1/2 the time to calculate jumps, longer ranged weapons, more powerful, etc. Or perhaps they had star wars type repulsor tech, gravity fields, biotech. After all, tech/gear/equipment are just stat blocks players use to get around in the frontier. Granted I know we care about how stuff works, but remember it just works because we say it does. |
June 21, 2011 - 3:11pm | I w00t's suggestion has merit for a lot of equipment and some thought should be put into the shiny flashy stuff too. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 21, 2011 - 8:24pm | Yeah, might consider a higher multiple... but an over all statement of 'Clikk Tech = x5 Increase / x.01 Decrease' and detailing only the flashy and weird alien stuff, works for me too... I would add a very high 'Starfish-Tech' and 'Orange/Blue Mentality' modifier to any attempt to discern the nature of any Clikk Tech device, and usesuch modifiers for any attempts to use a Clikk Tech Device as well, even if it's purpose is understood, no matter what the item is. Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
July 18, 2011 - 8:35pm | "Killiks" from Star Wars RPG. Couldn't they spell "Clikks"? My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
July 23, 2011 - 6:51am | nice find! Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
 March 22, 2017 - 9:03pm | I was thinking about the zerg ability to plant parasite on an enemy unit and that gave the zerg player the ability to see what was going on around that unit; in effect it lifted the Fog of war around that unit as if it was a zerg unit.
However the clikk parasite would be more insidious, it would give the clikk puppetmaster like control over the subject (purhaps its the same tech as the bio-organizm that attached to the back of a sathar agent and lead to clear and see through clothing becoming the norm toward the end of the Zebs timeline. Perhaps this infected/controlled NPC will take a ship load of such parasites back to the Frontier with the plan to gain top down control of the UPF and key mega corps- PCs have to stop him. Great opportunity for the clikk to speak to the PCs through this NPC's mouth. I also like the idea of the clikk surviving the module via downloading his persona to a human or vrusk. This could lead to yet a 4th adventure called Requiem for the Clikk where said downloaded NPC takes over a corporation that suddenly makes incredible leaps and bounds in the technology department. Oooh! Nasty. Maybe that's where the Sathar get their parasite tech for 111FY. Joe Cabadas |
December 5, 2017 - 5:56pm | I was reviewing this old thread and decided to necro- post. Some things occured to me. 1. Klikk and sathar active in same area of space at same time. Roughly- 700 years ago Klikks on Starmist 900 years ago Sathar on Volturnus. 2. Klikks came prepaired for a credible threat ie the big honking tank, this could very well have been the sathar. Odds should be good that it was. What if the klikks and sathar association was a lot closer than we know? Klikks are a bug like race resembling the vrusk and sathar are a worm like race. What if the clikks had been fond of eating the sathar? What if the sathar who havent seen klikks in centuries (maybe) mistook the vrusk for klikks upon frist contact and assumed that the rest of the core four were subjugated client species like the heliopes? They freak out and attack the Frontier. And it really is a big miss understanding. Would not the racial memory of klikks eating the sathar explain the sathar penchant for suicide rather than capture? If we could just talk to the sathar we might be able to build bridges of understanding and eventually coexist? Therefore we should not expand Space Fleet further lest we frighten the sathar more but rather build scout ships to seek out the sathar and try to communicate I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 5, 2017 - 8:48pm | The Klikk were supposed to be more beetle like and very large. Not sure the Sathar would confuse the two. Maybe they were using a different sense like smell or one the Sathar have they confused the two. Why did they commit genocide against the Eorna though? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 5, 2017 - 10:24pm | The Klikk were supposed to be more beetle like and very large. Not sure the Sathar would confuse the two. Maybe they were using a different sense like smell or one the Sathar have they confused the two. Why did they commit genocide against the Eorna though? Did they? or did they just when the PCs were present for the Battle of Volkos? IIRC Starmist had the idea that the heliops mistook any vrusk characters for klikks- or am I wrong on that? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 6, 2017 - 5:25am | The Heliopes do not mistake the Vrusk for the Klikk. The module only says they are shy around the Vrusk. The goes along with the lore that despite a couple hundred years of working with the Vrusk many Humans are slightly disturbed around them. The Heliopes do kidnap a Vrusk but this is to serve the gods and is the NPC of the group. Not because he is a Vrusk. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
love it!