 October 27, 2012 - 1:14am | The game does not give us a lot of information on the Clikks. I have some detail, but not as much as with the PC species. 1. Clikks are into genetic manipulation. 2. Clikks have been around for a very long time. 3. They are cold, efficient and unemotional. 4. Their technology level is higher than the core four. 5. Clikks use slaves. In the Alternity setting, there are insectoid aliens called Klikks (spelled with a 'K' instead of with a 'C'), which may have been intended to be the same aliens. They are also mentioned in d20 Future. In my campaign, I put the Clikks outside the Frontier, off the map to the west. I would love to hear what people have done with the Clikks in their own campaigns. |
 October 27, 2012 - 5:21am | I think West is probably the universally recognized direction for the clikks since Star Mist is on the extreme west of the map. since they abandoned the heliopes on Star Mist 700 years ago and the sathar attacked the eorna on Volturnus 900 years ago I tend to presume that the clikk and the sathar have been competitors/enemies I also think that the clikks must have had a reason for building the big tank- that they face an enemie that dictated a need for a weapon of war that big. Perhaps a barely functioning jump gate of the tetrarchs is what brought humans to the Frontier? EDIT: one final thought- I didn't get one detail exactly right in my timeline project and perhaps I should rehab that- i believe the WoWL module states there has been a monarchy on Clarion for 900 or 700 years I was thinking to push back the arrival of the humans in the Frontier to match that and state that the human colonist dismantled their ships and because the colony expedition had its ships spread over 3 system (by accident) that they fell backward technology wise and took 500-600 years to recover space flight to the point of interstellar travel. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 28, 2012 - 2:34am | I agree, although I never pitted them against each other in my own game. There was always someone else to fight, and so they always put each other on the list to deal with later. |
October 28, 2012 - 3:07am | I like the clikk for an ancient enemy of the sathar since the sathar were active in space a millenium before the UPF or Rim coalition ever existed. Without some deadly enemy to prune back the sathar it makes no sense or perhaps little sense that races of the Rim or the Frontier could establish themselves without sathar interference. Its just one possible explanation for the setting as we have it that there must have been a huge threat and a race that builds tanks on the scale that the clikk do should constitute a huge threat- so since we have such a threat that coexists with the sathar at the same time I figure go with what you got. It doesn't really change much and explains a lot. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 28, 2012 - 3:15am | There is an excellent piece of fiction in SFman 17 called "Bug Hunt" which features the clikks and there was an article in issue 16 on them as well. I felt that the story Bug Hunt was really good and it presents a view of their society. Billygoat did an awesome job with that story. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 13, 2012 - 9:47am | I'm putting together a pre frontier timeline to make sense of the Tetrarchs, the Clikks and the Sathar. As well as squeezing in some pre frontier empires for the PCs to discover. I am using the Clikks as the reason the Tetrarchs are gone, the one time masters of the Sathar (and the place they learn their tricks from) and an extremely dangerous race that fortunately for civilization is almost extinct. I thought I'd throw in the thumbnail sketch I put together. It's still a WIP. The "Fallen Empire" is a series of planets I plan to use as a Gamma World setting using the plague worlds. Frontier Time Line: <- Before 10,000 pf: Tetrarchs rule for thousands of years Ultra tech ancient race. They seed various planets with life Advanced jump drives and Jump Gates to quickly travel the galaxy. Infertile? Thinning gene pool? SG-1 Asgard? <- Before 10,000 pf: Ancient Species Alternity - room for future expansion of setting. Possibly in a war with the Clikks. Clikks the Clikks were an experiment of the Tetrarchs that ended up going wrong. The insectoid genetic code for them made them prone to violence. Once their innate ‘fear’ of the Tetrarchs wore off, they began to plot their ascent to power. Eorna the Eorna did not evolve as quickly as the other Tetrarch projects - being more artistic than high tech. Which is probably what saved them when the Clikks came to power. The ‘assisted manipulation’ of species that they did on Volturnus was not a new concept to them, but an old one. When faced with extinction they took a play from the old playbook. Fallen Empire (working title) - these guys were a further advanced and earlier than the Eorna. They were a strong, humanoid species that spread through their region rather quickly and were in favor with the Tetrarchs. There power was a threat to the Clikks who wiped them out as soon as they were done with the Tetrarchs. <- circa 10,000 pf: The Young Species After the Ancient species, the Younger species were on the rise. Perhaps these species were not tampered with genetically as were the Ancient ones. Perhaps they were all planted at the same time. The Frontier and Rim races, plus the others fall into this category. They were banging rocks when the Ancient Species were flying around the stars. 10,000 pf: Clikks rise up against Tetrarchs-driving them out of power Tetrarchs shut off access to parts of the galaxy in order to check the expansion of the Clikks throughout the entire galaxy. 10,000 to 9800 pf: Clikks consolidate power The Clikks wipe out the fallen empire - in absence of the Tetrarchs and the Jump Gates out of the region, they dominate the Frontier and the sectors around it. 9800 to 2000 pf: Clikks in decline The Clikks, unable to replace or repair the technology of the Tetrarchs, lose their technological advantage and begin to lose control of the other races they dominate: The Sathar, Zuraqqor, and any other baddies with them. 2000 to 1700 pf: Rise of the Worms In the vacuum of the Clikks, the Sathar begin to rise to power - and taking a page from the parent’s playbook, begin a policy of destroying direct threats and enslaving those who are of use. 1700 to 350 pf: Sathar Expansion The Sathar begin to expand around the frontier. They plan on taking it at some point, but their base of power is centered around the two jump gates they are able to control and use. this puts them on both sides of the frontier. In the absence of any interstellar species threatening them, the Sathar turn their attention to the Zuraqqor, the Eorna and the Mhemne (and others if wanted) and their subjugation/detruction. 350 of to present: Sathar and the Frontier As the Sathar established their dominion over the species on the periphery of the Frontier, races on the Rim, in and out of the Frontier rose to power in a startling manner. Not willing to give up their future plans for expansion, and unwilling to allow hostile species to reside between their two gates, the Sathar work to drive them off. |
November 13, 2012 - 11:14am | you should consider using the vrusk as a Tetrarch project- basically the clikks done right and seeded in more than one location with the prior vrusk like civilization wiped out by the clikks. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 13, 2012 - 1:53pm | Good idea. I'm actually turning this whole thing over in my head. I'm thinking the Tetrarchs used genetic manipulation with the older races - which is where the Eorna got the idea for their not-so-great mission. I'm thinking they are some uber advanced tinkers and looked at helping species as a long term science project. Perhaps they lived long, like hundreds of years or something and wanted to see the effect of genetic manipulation vs. stock. The Clikks were the fast-tracked uplifted insectoid race, the Vrusk were left to slow cook and turned out significantly less psychotic. |
