 August 8, 2011 - 7:14pm | My-xine (Snot Snake): Average Size: 1 meter Average Mass: 15 kg Average Lifespan: 150 years Reproductive System: Asexual, regeneration. Body Temperature: Varies, but remains always within about 5C (9F) of ambient air (or water) temp. Typically they are most comfortable in the 13C (55F) range, but can survive adequately in temperatures ranging from -7C (20F) to 38C (100F). Physical structure: Typical adult my-xinei (plural) are approximately 1 meter (3 ft) in length and about 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. They are worm-like creatures who’s skin is a mottled dark and light brown in color. They have a single iridescent green eye that sits out at a right angle to their body on a thick stalk, just in front of their head. This eye is protected by a second, transparent eyelid that remains closed to protect the eye during adverse conditions. My-xinei have an internal cartilaginous skeletal structure which consists of a skull (about 10 cm [4 in] in diameter for an adult) and exactly 25, 2.54 cm (1 in) thick x 2.54 cm (1 in) diameter vertebrae stretching from the base of their skulls to about 2/3rds of their body. They have underdeveloped jaw bones and no teeth. When feeding they swallow their food in whole gulps and can consume any organic material (carrion, dirt, etc) and process it for nutrients - any organic material that is except wood or wood products (paper). If they inadvertently swallow something they can not process (a small stick, wad of paper or a rock for example) they will simply regurgitate that item and move on. As detailed below, they are incapable of passing such an item like a human might. The last 1/3 of their body is nothing more than musculature and some rudimentary, redundant internal organs. Procreation in this species is through a process of asexual regeneration. The my-xine (singular) will shed the last 1/3 of its body in a body of water (in a protected area like a crevice in a rock) where it will quickly regenerate into an exact genetic duplicate of it’s parent. Once shed, the parent my-xine abandons their offspring to its own fate. It takes about 10 days for this immature my-xine to sprout a head and eye and other necessary internal organs for it to function normally, at which point it is quite capable of fending for itself. It will live in this body of water for at least another two years before it attains a length capable of allowing it to create offspring of its own. In this way, the my-xinei as a race are able to pass down from parent to offspring, genetic knowledge and are therefore able to perpetuate their mentalist abilities (see below). Similar to Dralasites, my-xinei are able to breathe through their skin. They have no lungs. Their respiration system allows them to draw oxygen from either air or water. This species originated in a liquid environment - shallow water seas (they have the same depth limitations as humans) - and has since adapted to an amphibious lifestyle. It can live perfectly well in or out of water. Though if living out of a liquid environment it must keep itself moist to keep its skin from drying out and thereby, suffocating; as the skin would then lose the ability to pass oxygen into the blood stream. My-xinei secrete waste products from digestion through their skin. Normally this occurs in small amounts continuously. There are specialized subcutaneous reservoirs between their skin and muscles. These reservoirs remain constantly full as a by-product of digestion and as these reservoirs become overfull, tiny ducts leading to the surface of the skin channel that extra waste material to the skin’s surface. In short, my-xinei do not pass waste material in the same way as humans, they have no anal or urethral vents from which to discharge waste. Rather, waste is discharged through the skin - over the entire body of the my-xine. Under normal conditions the creature’s body only releases small amounts albeit continuously. But in this condition those small amounts aren’t noticeable or objectionably scented (though a slight ‘musky‘ scent is discernible by the human olfactory system). However, under extreme conditions, a my-xine can cause the reservoirs beneath their skin to release their payload of waste by-product all at once with extremely dramatic effect (see below). Senses: My-xinei have good color vision, sensing the spectrum between infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. They have good depth and motion perception but can only see things within a 45 degree arc of whichever direction their eye is facing. Their anatomy is such that they can swivel their heads around 180 degrees to look behind them if they wish. Their skin is very sensitive to tactile stimuli. They also have an organ similar to fish called a lateral line that runs along the sides of their bodies. This line is sensitive to electrical impulses such that they can sense the synaptic activity of other living beings. It also produces a very weak electrical field itself that bounces the energy off the environment around the my-xine and produces a mental picture something like radar. This lateral line affords them a 360 degree radar-like view of their surroundings. Out of water this effect has a range of only 25 meters (82 ft) - in water this range is 100 meters (328 ft). Lighting conditions (darkness, smoke, etc) do not hamper this ability. A curious effect though is that anyone wearing any sort of electrical defense (anti-shock implants do not count - just suits & screens) are rendered invisible to this effect. They have no sense of taste or smell. Speech: My-xinei have no vocal cords and can not vocalize - in fact, they have no way of making any noise whatsoever short of noises made during normal movement (see special abilities below for further information). Society & Customs: These worm-like creatures are not social within their own race since everyone is an exact genetic copy of everyone else, conversations tend to be a bit repetitious. But that does not mean they are anti-social with other races they may happen to meet. They are intelligent beings after all - and with their mentalist-based abilities and their heightened mental acuity they are naturally a very curious and social race. Once they are able to leave the confines of their current planet, they would be exceedingly eager to interact with any other race. Attitudes: Staying true to their scavenger roots, the my-xinei will take advantage of any being that they can gain from. Need to leave a planet? Nothing wrong with stowing away on a ship to do so! Need some protection? Why not befriend that tough Weren and hang out in his backpack, poking your head out every so often to use some of your mentalist abilities. Ability Scores: STR/STA -10 DEX/RS +0 INT/LOG +10 PER/LDR +0 Movement: Walking 3 meters per turn Running 12 meters per turn Hourly 2 kilometers/hour Swimming: They are no faster in water than on land. Playing a My-xine: When playing a my-xine character it is important to keep a couple things in mind. Foremost is that they are descended from original scavenger stock and much of their outlook and attitudes reflect that. Though not at all an evil race, they could be viewed as unscrupulous in that they have no particular concept of belongings or money. Eating the leather handbag of some nearby human female and then regurgitating the lipstick and mirror in a saliva and mucus coated puddle that you couldn’t digest might seem perfectly fine to a my-xine since it was simply food…even though that human female may well harbor some objections to such activity! Similarly, stowing away on a transport wouldn’t be seen as particularly bad by a my-xine either since the nature of a scavenger is to utilize whatever is at hand that fulfills your needs at the time. Now this doesn’t mean that a my-xine PC can’t ever learn that other races have things like laws that prohibit such behavior. But it does mean that “old habits are hard to break” as the saying goes and it could take time for a new my-xine character to ‘adjust’. And there may always be some minor cultural differences that rear their ugly heads from time to time no matter how old the my-xine character is. Oh no! Little Susie’s precious pet kitty just got squished on the streets of Port Loren by that articulated ground truck right in front of poor, horrified, little Susie! Looks just like a great snack to that passing my-xine! What’s this? Susie’s having nightmares and therapy the rest of her life with a deep-seated disdain for worm-like creatures? Ah well, there was no sense letting a perfectly good cat go to waste! The other aspect of playing a my-xine, and probably the most challenging is it’s form of communication (see the Special Abilities section for more detail). Speaking is through a form of blended telepathy that utilizes both words and images. When spoken to or speaking, the my-xine is able to troll the thoughts of its target conversationalist(s) and associate words with images in order to impart ideas. This means that there is always an inherent degree of delay built into any conversation with a my-xine. Both sending and receiving. This leads to uncomfortable pauses and occasionally speaking over each other until such time as the conversationalists get used to the method of communication. This means that a group that has a my-xine as a member will eventually become accustomed to communicating with it and the communication will then flow more naturally. But whenever meeting any other individual (except another my-xine of course), the communication will be exceedingly slow and awkward. Similarly, this method of communication has inherent flaws that make it unreliable to a degree (see Special Abilities below for further detail). Miscommunications are a built-in part of their language and will always persist because word/image association can pair multiple words/images that mean the same or nearly the same thing - but the context could be completely off and the my-xine has no real way of correlating the meaning with the context. Special Abilities: Unable to Carry or Adequately Use Equipment: Lets face it, not having simple things like arms, legs…shoulders…kind of makes it difficult to carry back packs, fire laser rifles, etc. These beings are 100% committed to their mentalist disciplines and rely on them completely. This is not as debilitating as it may seem at first glance. Telekinesis for example, gives enough lee-way for a my-xine to be able to manipulate everday items adequately - exerting presure on a lever, button or toggle switch to open doors, turn on lights, that sort of thing. This simply means that the Telekinesis ability doesn't provide enough manual dexterity and precision for a my-xine to effectively aim and shoot a weapon or wield a vibroknife, etc. Common sense should be an adequate guide in dealing with this disadvantage. Have no Concept of Money - and no need for it even if they did: Again, lets face it - these guys can survive on dirt, literally. They can’t wear a shirt, and even if they improvised and slipped into a sock how long would it take for the thing to slide right off? Yeah - who needs money under those circumstances? Natural Psionics: Again, as a result of their genetic knowledge, these creatures have passed down their extensive knowledge of mentalist disciplines that they have adapted over the course of many centuries of development. These creatures are required to take mentalism as their primary PSA. They have knowledge of all the mentalist disciplines (as passed down through their genetic memory) but lack the control to call upon all of them at first and must develop the mental control to do so over time (simulated by the experience point system). This means that they do not require teachers to teach them any of the mentalist disciplines, they are already aware of them - they simply need the maturity to access them. Except for those exceptions listed in this racial description, all mentalist disciplines are handled as per the Mentalist rules from Alpha Dawn Remastered starting on p.145. As with any other character type, this species is allowed to choose skills from the other skill groups if they wish. Some obvious things to note though; a beam weapon skill will be of no use - but a tracking skill could be useful. Just use common sense when shopping around for skills. Can Not Speak or Read: Though they can inherently use Send Thoughts and Read Thoughts at skill level 1 without having to spend exp to attain them. This race developed with no written language and no books to expand and record their language so the my-xine communicates through images and words. Thus, their ‘sentences’ incorporate simple phrases and/or single words in conjunction with images. Since this race has adapted to this form of communication throughout their existence the Send and Read Thoughts abilities are slightly more powerful than those listed in in the AD remastered Rules p.145. The my-xine’s ability allows them to associate a word or a very simple combination of words with a mental image to be broadcast between them and their communicative target. The word(s) in question would be ‘heard’ by the target(s) in whatever language the target(s) is most comfortable with (meaning that if there are multiple targets receiving the communication of the my-xine it could potentially be perceived in different languages simultaneously). Similarly the ‘word’ in question can be taken from the target (as a surface thought) and associated with an image (also taken from the target as a surface thought). If the target is actively attempting to hide that word or image then they would be considered an unwilling target as outlined in the AD remastered rules governing Send & Read Thoughts. This form of communication, though superior in that no poly vox is needed to communicate with a receptive target, also means that miscommunications are quite possible and indeed, maybe even probable. Since the my-xine is a being like any other being, when trolling the surface thoughts of a communicative target the my-xine is most likely to use whatever word association comes to them first when pairing it with an image. For example the word ‘toxic’ which could mean deadly might be paired up with the image of a shark - leaving the target with the phrase ‘toxic shark’ or even simply, ‘toxic fish’ when in fact the my-xine was attempting to communicate that sharks are deadly physically - not necessarily if consumed. This also means that complex ideas are exceptionally challenging to explain in the my-xine language - even though a my-xine may well be able to understand a complex idea if it is being explained, for the my-xine to explain it in return would be daunting and would take an extreme amount of patience and time to impart. One last component of this style of communication that comes into play is the delay between the my-xine trolling surface thoughts for image/word association and the time it takes to broadcast that ‘sentence’ to the respective target(s). Though only a couple seconds, this delay necessarily creates pregnant pauses bordering on the uncomfortable. It causes moments of accidental interruption and speaking over the verbal conversation of others until such time as the target(s) of a my-xine’s conversation becomes accustomed to the way they communicate. Natural Swimmers: As a result of their genetic knowledge, these creatures take readily to a liquid environment and start with a swimming skill of 1 without having to spend exp to attain it. Natural Resistance: Since they originated as scavengers (carrion eaters) they have a natural resistance to toxins and disease. They get a +10% to rolls concerning such. No Cybernetics: Though an anti-shock implant would be alright, any other cybernetic devices would negatively affect their mentalist abilities (to the point of completely blocking their ability to use them). This species has grown so attached to their mentalist abilities that severing that bond would be like amputating a human’s arms and legs and leaving them that way. No my-xine would willingly do that. Chemical Defense: Under extreme conditions this species can suddenly and explosively expel copious amounts of a very viscous, mucus-like goo from every pore in their epidermis. This goo coats their bodies in a two inch thick layer. It is extremely foul-smelling, very slippery, greenish gray and viscous like axle grease. It is a defensive mechanism (similar to that of a hagfish) employed to keep would-be predators at bay. Aside from being absolutely repulsive because of the vile rotting flesh/sewage-like stench, it is also extremely bad-tasting for any creature unlucky enough to have a my-xine in their mouth at the time this defense is employed. It has another potent characteristic of note. This goo completely nullifies damage caused by (only the following) acid, flame, cold, lasers, bolt, electricity and rafflurs - up to 50 points. After that the goo is burned away and the my-xine is vulnerable. Once this defense is triggered, the my-xine can not employ it again until at least 1 hour after eating a full meal. After the attacker has left the my-xine alone, it will loop itself into a square-knot configuration and slide the knot free, scraping off the goo (exactly as a hagfish does), leaving behind a viscous 3 gallon puddle of digested organic matter. Another effect of their natural chemical defense is it’s completely repulsive (by human standards) stench. This stench naturally repels anything within 5m (assuming that creature or being has olfactory senses equivalent to those of a human being). Optionally, if the game master (GM) wishes, he or she could perhaps, expand that repulsive radius from 5m to say 10m if the creature or being in question has olfactory senses that are more sensitive than that of a human. This repulsion effect would grant anyone smelling this foul concoction of rotting flesh/sewage a -5% to all actions while in the area of effect. The GM should use common sense when applying this effect of course, as some creatures with exceptional olfactory senses are attracted to the above-described stench. Vultures for example can smell rotting flesh from 10 miles distant and are attracted to the source…to feed. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you!  |
August 22, 2011 - 6:38am | Alright, I can't think of anything else to add to (or subtract from) this race so unless anyone else has noticed anything that needs to be re-worked I think these guys are all done. I plan to introduce this race in my SF Universe in the near future. I am working on a adventure which will be used to introduce this race and which will be submitted to the webzine shortly. I plan to re-vamp my Archangel scenario (posted elsewhere on this site: http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/5453 - this is not the final draft and may get some fairly drastic changes before it gets submitted) - excluding the Equidarians (I never was really happy with the way that race turned out so I plan to just ditch them altogether) and using the My-xine instead. BTW Rags, if people want to use this race would it also be alright for them to use your art? As I mentioned previously, my avatar art isn't open source so it can't be used - leaving this race artless otherwise. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
 August 24, 2011 - 9:08am | I'm sure the art can be used for home games. Ben Gorman has a submission in the Star Frontiersman queue, "Return to Archangel" - is that you? I don't want to put anything in that isn't ready. |
August 25, 2011 - 1:21pm | Yup, it's me wOOt. Jedion357 asked me to re-work the Archangel scenario. So that's what I am in the process of doing atm. Please drop me an e-mail if you need anything else (Narbelithil@yahoo.com). Currently I've gotten the scenario re-written to include the my-xine, but Jedion had some other revisions and clarifications he was going to e-mail to me. Once I get those I'll be able to finish. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
August 25, 2011 - 4:46pm | Awesome! I look forward to it. |
 August 26, 2011 - 4:44am | spotted this guy: http://www.zenzmurfy.com/starcontrol/spathi/index.htm at this site: http://sites.google.com/site/palalyrncluster/home/alien-races thouhgt there was a rough resemblance enjoy I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 6, 2013 - 6:36pm | found this poster on DA with a my-xine depicted in it. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
