 July 16, 2011 - 4:55am | Heliopes are the product of their time: mans body with scorpian tail and a few other weird features to make them "alien" Heliopes stand errect and average 2 meters tall. They look slightly reptillian. The head is man shaped, with long sensory, whip-like antenna dropping down fromt he rear and curving back up into the air. Heliopes have superberb hearing because this appendage is sensitive to atmospheric vibrations. Heliopes are omnivores, having large teeth and manibles for chewing and cutting. Heliopes have one large central eye protected by bony ridges and nictating membranes. Heliopes possess two long arms of average strength but the hands are two pincers, slightly rigid, with a sharp nail along the edges. Two extremely powerful legs dominate the lower body. A long tail sweeps up like a scorpian's, to rest over the shoulder. Heliopes are neither right or left handed, but right or left shoulder tailed. The feet are large, long and splayed. All heliopes seem awkward and clumsy in confined spaces and seem totally unsuited for riding in vehicles or on animals. They are excellent swimmers. The heliopes have translucent skin. The normal network of upper musculature and veins is visible and heliopes vary in color from violet to deep purplish red. The whip like tail changes color toward the end to opaque shiny black. Because of their body chemistry heliopes are immune to electricity attacks and only take half damage from lasers. Because of their antennae they take double damage from sonic attacks. Both the pincers and the mandibles do 1d10. The damage from the mandibles is against the skien suit but the pincers damage the character directly through the skien suit. The tail is not prehensible and cannot strike. Heliopes carry pouches of small stones that they can throw with terrific force (1d10). Although the heliopes use harpoons to fish they are not adept with such tools as weapons. The basic social structure is the family. Marriage ties cause complex relationships. Government is a simple system of chiefs and subchiefs chosen for ability in combat and leadership. Priest have great influence on the tribe but no official power. All heliopes enjoy color and collect gem stones, pollished rock crystals and similar baubles. They are superberb sculptor and do intricate detailed work on wood and bone. They paint and decorate their tails and mandibles in patterns that differ from trible to tribe. What seems odd in the above: 1. "right or left shoulder tailed"- huh what; and the tail is not prehensible nor can strike? so does it have to do with them being right or left handed, I dont get what is trying to be said with this. 2. They have pincers and yet they can manipulate small stones and throw them like a bullet for 1d10? That seems like a stretch to me. 3. translucent skin and they only take 1/2 damage from lasers? I wont really knit pick this one but it seems to me that if the light of the laser passes directly through the skin it would cause more damage. However the statement about body chemistry covers this despite it seeming odd. What was good: A. long tail and long legs is a natural body shape, much like a terrapod dinosaur, the tail acts as a counter balance and causes the body to be canted forward with the legs forming a sort of pivot point. I mention this because while I like the classic cover artwork, it does not really match the discription. The should be depicted stooped over like a terrapod IMO. B. The long splayed feet and being good swimmers- logical and works for me. C. pincers and being good sculptor (carvers really)- again logical and in a latter Frontier with some commerce and travel between Starmist and the rest of the Frontier, heliope carving would be an export from Starmist, probably averaging 10-100 credits per item. D. The pincers do crush damage and ignore the skien suit- good, gives the PCs a rude shock first time in combat. Sensitivity to sonic while immune or partially immune to electrical and laser attacks- good. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 16, 2011 - 5:16am | The issue with the small stones being thrown: does anyone think that pincers that are powerfull and do crush damage ignoring a skien suite will be dexterous enough to do this really? and yet a tool like a harpoon could not be used as a weapon? I'd give them the harpoon as a weapon and delete the stones. However, I suspect the thrown stones were given to them to give them a ranged attack. So I'd delete the stone throwing and take the long whip like tail that does absolutely nothing for them and make that the source of their ranged attack. Example: The Heliopes have a gland in the base of their tail that produces an acid. By whipping the tail at an opponent they can discharge a small spray of acid (1d10 and stun- RS check to aviod stun) They aim for the face and while shock of the searing attack can stun an opponent. any given heliope with have 1d10 doses of acid. Issue 2 They're depicted as slightly bug like (scorpian tail, mandibles and pincers; though you could make the case for crustacean like with a segmented tail and pincers) and yet the description states reptillian like. Certianly the clikk are bug like so perhaps if the heliopes were a species from their native planet much like chimps are to us that they "uplifted" to sentience but used as a client species it would make sense for them to be more bug like then saurian. New artwork of them depicting them as a bug like terrapod would work for me. That said, if they are to be more bug like, I'd advocate for a facetted bug like eye as well and assume that the eye constuction eliminates the problems of depth perception typical with only one eye. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 16, 2011 - 12:44pm | Thinking about the abilities of the heliopes, combined with the fact that they were also considered to be expendable members of a military crew it occurs to me that they make good melee troops for going against the sathar. First their natural weaponry gives them a possible 3d10 worth of damage per turn. Secondly, they have 1/2 immunity to laser weapons which also happen to be one of the most common weapons seen in sathar hands in the modules. Finally, while they do use auto pistols and such in the starmist module, the module clearly states that the autopostols are designed for the clikk and the heliopes can only just insert their claws into them and operate them. That could suggest that the clikk employed them as strictly melee shock troops, not even bothering to provide them with modern equipment for use against lower caste sathar which are generally given a laser rifle and a clip. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 16, 2011 - 10:02pm | Jedi wrote: "1. "right or left shoulder tailed"- huh what; and the tail is not prehensible nor can strike? so does it have to do with them being right or left handed, I dont get what is trying to be said with this." I think what they were trying to say is that the Heliope rests its tail on its shoulder; the shoulder the tail rests on depends on if they are right or left handed. Why the player would care which shoulder the Heliope rests its tail on is anyone's guess. Jedi wrote: "The issue with the small stones being thrown: does anyone think that pincers that are powerfull and do crush damage ignoring a skien suite will be dexterous enough to do this really? and yet a tool like a harpoon could not be used as a weapon? I'd give them the harpoon as a weapon and delete the stones." My take on this part is that the stones are not round stones; they're flat stones and likely worked (knapped or ground) to have an edge. So you can still have them throw stones, but pincers can only efficiently throw flat stones. My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
July 16, 2011 - 10:22pm | Jedi wrote: "That said, if they are to be more bug like, I'd advocate for a facetted bug like eye as well and assume that the eye constuction eliminates the problems of depth perception typical with only one eye." The way I tried to make sense of the Heliope's illogical physiology was to assume that they were originally genetic constructs made by the Clikks to serve as slaves. The Clikks could make an insectoid with a big blinky eye as opposed to a bug eye. Or not. Depends on the function the gennie was designed to do or otherwise what the Clikks wanted. Actually, the player characters SHOULD be confused as to the illogic of Heliope physiology, concluding correctly (if they pass a LOG check) that the species could not have evolved naturally to have conflicting traits and therefore must have been genetically engineered by some other (unknown) race. Something to think about. If you were to go with the big cyclopic bug eye however, I'd suggest you include extra minor eyes like ants have. Like most insects, ants have compound eyes made from numerous tiny lenses attached together. Ants' eyes are good for acute movement detection but do not give a high resolution. They also have three small ocelli (simple eyes) on the top of the head that detect light levels and polarization. Adding ocelli wouldn't conflict with the Heliope picture that is already shown on the cover of Sundown on Starmist. My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
July 17, 2011 - 10:03pm | I can buy the genetic construct theory but it still leaves us with a D&D monster Manuel escapee, which is something I'm not fond of, but I can go with. As for extra eyes, the sensory organs that make them vulnerable to sonic attacks might or might not be enough to explain away eye sight problems. In the real world we have genetically engineered organisms but they are not freaks of nature. Potatoes and cotton with the BT gene still look light potatoes and cotton. Until we get a freak of nature from gene engineering it'll be difficult to judge a creation like the heliope. For that reason I'd like to see new art work recasting the heliope as either more saurian or as more bug like, preferably bug like since the written description has bug features already. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 17, 2011 - 10:17pm | I thought over Capt. Raggs explanation about the stones and I can go with that though I 'd rule it to be short ranged. However I'd still think the tail needs to have something done with it. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 18, 2011 - 8:05am | I agree with the Jedi that for the damage to be 1d10, it'd likely be at short range. Maybe long range should be half damage. Looking at the picture of the Heliope on the cover of SF-3, it looks like the tail was designed to sting due to that big 'ol nasty stinger thing I see there. It could just be the artist's rendition though. Module says Heliopes color ranges from violet to reddish purple, but the artist made him blue. hmm. I'm also wondering about the similarities between Heliopes and Barsoomian Plant Men (google them to see). Both cyclopic, both with long tails, both primitives, both with medusa-like sensory organs protruding from the head, both designed with big feet for running through the wilderness; just a thought on my part and not trying to take the thread in a wrong direction, but interesting nonetheless. Jedi wrote: "For that reason I'd like to see new art work recasting the heliope as either more saurian or as more bug like, preferably bug like since the written description has bug features already." I'm working on one as we speak actually; I'll post it soon. My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
 October 10, 2012 - 12:56am | In my campaign, they Heliopes are also known as the "Scorpion People". |
