Badder Conversion:

By Laura Mumma, Tchclinxa

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TSR first introduced the Badder in the 1978 Gamma World 1^st edition by James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet.  In the original setting of Gamma World the Badder is one of the many dangerous intelligent species. As Gamma World developed and changed many folks have actually used them as a player race option. Like the Ark there are several possibilities for this creature being in a Star Frontiers setting. In my setting they are native to Gamma III in the Gamma System.

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They could be mutated life form from human home world fauna introduced on a frontier planet and could have equally come into existence on one of the quarantined planets, the mutated descendents of zoological specimens. It is possible that the colony ships the Morden or the Warden is their origin in space. The Gamma World timeline that includes these Metamorphous Alpha ships was published in Dragon 88 (August 1984) “Before the Dark Years” by James Ward. Finally perhaps they are an alien species that just happens to look like badgers. I have fleshed out their basic culture and biology.

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Badger-like mutants average stats from Gamma Dawn:

STR/STA: 40/30

DEX/RS: 35/35

Two claw attacks for 2d10/2d10 damage. Has speed of 5m (even if bipedal). Has night vision as the mutation. Can burrow at a speed of 1 meter per minute.

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Badder: Badgeroids: Digger-Folk

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Type: Omnivore (Small 1.5 meters tall)

Number Appearing: 2-18 for a cete, cetecetes can be much larger.

Move: Slow (5 meters/25 meters)

IM/RS: 4/35

STA: 30

Attack: 65

Number of Attacks: 2

Damage: Bite 1d10, Two Claw attacks 2d10

Special Attack/Defense: Locking Jaw, Empathy, Keen Sense of Smell, Night Vision.

Native World: Gamma III (or referee’s choice)

Habitat: Mountain and Forests, Clear or Deserts, Ruins or Radioactive Zones

Also called the “Digger-folk”, these highly intelligent bipedal badgeroid species prefers to inhabit cool temperate zones. They are approximately 1.5 meters tall. The badder is a mammal with a somewhat flat or wide body, with short stout legs and arms. They have manipulative forepaws with long, sharp front claws and walk erect. They have a thick muscular neck. Their face is triangular with a long, pointed, tipped-up nose. Their lower jaws are articulated to the upper by means of transverse condyles firmly locked into long cavities of the skull, so dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badder to maintain their hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side without the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals. It has small ears on the side of its head. Badders in a post apocylpitic setting commonly employ simple armor, shields, and all sorts of weapons (each is only 10% likely to have an Artifact weapon or advanced weapon). Thus there is no reason they could not employ advanced weapons in  They can also deliver a vicious bite for 1d10 of damage.

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They are hard of hearing, but have a keen sense of smell and Night Vision. Badders has a LOG of 65 for mental resistance and possess empathy. Can burrow at a speed of 1 meter per minute.

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Night Vision:

Physical; Automatic, no SL

Is able to see well in low light conditions. With a full moon shining, a character with night vision can see as well as other characters can see during the day. On a night with no moon, he can see as well as if it were a full moon. The character's daytime, or bright light vision, is unaffected.

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Hard of hearing

Is deaf to everything outside of a 3-meter radius and, if alone, is surprised a roll of 1 through 5.

Keen sense of smell:

Physical, Plant; Permanent, no SL

Heightened smell is able to identify separate odors from a great distance (60 meters), and, because of this, cannot be ambushed (this is different from being surprised) by non-plant creatures from upwind. It can follow any trail less than a day old over any surface but water. After contact with another being, this creature will subsequently be able to identify objects and places associated with that being, such as campsite or possessions. The mutant can identify and distinguish individuals by smell. He can track creatures up to a kilometer away by smell alone. He can detect faint traces of materials or gas

Empathy

Mental; Activated, SL (The average skill level is 1 for badders but PCs and exceptional NPCs will be higher).

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The character is able to read the emotions and emotional intensity of another creature. He can also try and force an emotion upon a creature. Both of these powers require a successful mental attack (a LOG contest between the mutant and his intended victim, with a bonus of 10xSL). The Referee may apply modifiers to take into account how radically the character tries to shift his opponent's emotions. Remember, an intelligent creature is influenced by his emotions, but not ruled by them. Thus a creature could force a pack of wild dogs away in terror, or entice a food animal closer for the kill. Range: 30 meters.

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They have thick reddish, brown, grey, black (or a mix of said colors) fur white stripes on its cheeks and one stripe running from its nose to the back of its head. Albino badders are rare. Individual badders are easily recognized by the width and shape of their facial stripes, scars from fights and how much of their ears are left – the conspicuous white tufts are often lost in skirmishes making it possible for other races to identify individuals by sight.

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Badders have two sexes male (boar) and female (sow). Males can generally be distinguished from females by their broader, more domed heads, fuller cheeks and thicker necks. Tails are a less reliable guide – males typically have thinner, whiter tails; females shorter, broader ones.

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Language:

Badders communicate in their own form of snarling, growling, hisses, squeals, screams, purrs, yelps, snorts, chitters and jaw snapping language but they can approximate some limited Pan-Gal or Tradespeech.

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Attitudes Towards Other Races & Culture:

They are basically of an aggressive, tenacious, impatient, argumentative, belligerent with a xenophobic disposition and are prone to attack first. Culturally Badders always speak their mind, often start a conversation with an insult, complaint, or an accusation. Badders take pride in their ability to insult and argue and as a result other races often view them as rude, prideful, foul tempered or just evil. To Badders insults and arguing are an art form and somewhat ritualized. Badders culture values strength of body, will, and spirit. Speaking without hesitation is a sign of honesty, courage and strength to a Badder. Badders have a disdain for useless words of politeness like please and thank you. Badders do have a sense of humor usually expressed through insults or playful arguing. When a badder challenges another sentient being (without the intent to kill) they expect an equal or better response if they are satisfied with the response they may respond in a very friendly jovial manner. Badders are warriors and hunters by nature and there culture revolves around the ideals of the warrior.

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Badders live in earth burrow complexes, although they will sometimes be found inhabiting a ruined town of the Ancients. This underground housing is called sett with large communities referred to as a settsett. Badder communities are extensive den and burrow complexes that serve specialized functions for individuals and the community, such as sleeping, hunting, combat training or expedition, religious purposes, storing food, giving birth and nurseries to name just a few.

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 Four types of common setts for a cete:

Main sett: there is usually only one main sett per social group This is used continuously and may have well-used paths leading to it. It will have a number of entrances, either used or disuse. Occasionally, where conditions are relatively poor, badders may have a large territory with a scatter of smaller setts.

Annex sett: usually around 150m from the main sett (although often closer or further away), the annex sett will also have well used entrances and paths connecting it to the main sett, but may not be in use all of the time.

Subsidiary sett: these are not obviously connected to a main sett and may be some distance away. Although they may have up to five or six holes, they are, again, not always in use.

Outlying sett: these have only one or two holes with no obvious paths connecting them to other setts.

Badders live in complex social groups. Some Badders are solitary, moving from home to home (these badders are believed to have been banished or sole survivors of wiped out clans), while others belong to families called cetes. Cete size is variable from two to eighteen; the average is usually five adults per cete. These cetes are often organized into a larger feudal clan group called a Cetecete. The badders are organized into a society similar to that of the medieval period in human history.  If a burrow is discovered, there will be 10% more females in number to the males, and young equal to 50% of the females. There is usually a slight preponderance of females because of the higher mortality of males in fights. The burrow will be ruled by a very large male and 1-4 “nobles” – who make-up 5% of a Badder community.

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Only some sexual mature females breed in a Cete. Those that are fertile but do not breed are generally smaller and more likely to carry scars on their rumps from fights. Other non-breeders are past the age of combat and breeding and often act as judges in combats. It is known the females engage in some sort of unarmed ceremonial fighting amongst each other that determines who can breed. It is debated on whether the breeding status of the female is determined by only female nobles or if the male lords have some say on the suitability of a female for breeding. During these ceremonial fights female badders often bite and claw each other’s rumps, tearing off chunks of skin and flesh. Cubs of subordinate sows who have not earned the right to breed may be killed soon after birth by dominant sows and left outside the sett either dead or left to die. It is believed by some xeno-sociologists that even subordinate females that have earned the right to breed may still have their cubs killed by a more dominate female. Reasons for infanticide can include but are not limited to cubs fail to meet a nobles standards (size and vitality or has a defect), mother died in birth, some cetes only keep one or two cubs per birth (usually the most aggressive and large cubs), insufficient resources or mother challenged to combat by another mother only the winner’s cubs are allowed to live. Males fight each other ceremonially in late summer, when they are mating (during the Churr); females throughout the year.

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Average Lifespan:

In civilized settings with access to good medical care Badders can live into their 80s or 90s. In more primitive settings badders usually die in their 20s or 30s. It is exceptional for a primitive badder to make it their 40s or 50s.

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Life Cycle:

Badder females (Sow) sexually mature quicker at 10 years than the males (Boars) at 15 years.

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The Churr:

They normally mate during a specific period yearly around the 5^th Galactic Month they call this the Churr. During the Churr adult males and females may mate with more than one partner during the Churr. The Churr is a cultural practice in which the participants declare their lust and intention to mate to produce viable offspring. During this time period the females and males can and often do mate outside of their cetes. However, it is important to note Badders can mate at other times of the year but usually do not. During the Churr males will attempt to copulate with as many females as possible, fertile females may reject males by demand right to combat. Right of Mother’s Combat requires that the rejected male; if he accepts the challenge; to fight the female and dominate her into submission per the rules of combat, the male may not kill the female and such combats are regulated by other Badders, if the female dominates the male he may not breed. Males can invoke the Right to Challenge other males during the Churr to interrupt a breeding either to stop it (prevent outside males breeding to his cete’s females) or win the right to breed to a particular outside his cete’s females, even if a male wins the right to breed the female still has the right to challenge the winner. Churr combat is steeped in customs some of which clearly are to prevent too much mortality, however it is not unknown for deaths to occur during Churr.

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During the rest of the year fertile females and males usually do not breed except for the following reasons. Order of a noble (the female can challenge the order by declaring Right of Mother’s Combat or another male can interfere with Right to Challenge), Right of Conquest: a male that kills or dominates and drives out all males over the age of 2 of a cete gains immediate breeding rights to all fertile females of the conquered cete as they are now part of his cete, this Conquest Churr period lasts 1 Galactic month from the time of conquest. During this month period males of the victorious cete may breed with the females of the conquered cete, the males may challenge each other but only to non-lethal combat. The conquered cete females can still challenge the males to ceremonial combat via Right of Mother’s Combat, if she wins he may not breed with that female and any surviving cubs of her’s under 2 years may not be killed until next community Churr (usually killed by dominate cete female not the victorious males), if she continues to win at each Churr after they reach 2 years of age her cubs may not be touched and must be adopted by the cete. A mother who succeeds at protecting her cubs in such a manner is considered to bring honor to the victorious cete. Females from the victorious cete cannot interfere with male breeding rights during this 1-month period. After the 1-month breeding period the victorious cete females may test the new females per badder traditions to determine if they may breed next Churr. Finally Right to the Brothers a female or group of females from a cete that has had all it’s males killed in honorable combat with nonbadders or in hunt or because of battle on behalf of the Cetecete or the Settsett may declare Right to the Brothers. In this scenario fellow male hunter/warriors of the larger community are expected to mate with the females so the cete can continue. This last scenerio is extremely sacred and considered an act of honor to all cetes involved. The surviving males of the greater community will hold ceremonial battles and tests (meant not to be lethal) to determine the best of the male warriors. It is a huge honor to the other cetes to have one of their young males chosen. The young males that are thus volunteered to the cete that has lost their males can not be challenged with Right of Mother’s Combat but the male less cete gains community protection, including assistance with basic needs until their males cubs from this mating have become old enough to join the hunt. During the time period it takes for a male to mature no Cete group is allowed to attack the cete.  Cetes and Cetecete power structure is a complex interchange between the males and females and it is probably unwise to view it as male or female dominated.

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Badder cubs however are nearly always born in or around the 3nd Galactic Month. This is made possible by an unusual feature of the badder's reproductive system called delayed implantation. Once the badder's eggs are fertilized they develop into tiny balls of cells called a blastocysts. These remain suspended in the womb or uterus until something in the Badders metabolism causes them to implant onto the wall of the uterus, when they continue their development normally. No matter when the eggs were fertilized, implantation nearly always occurs in the last month of the Galactic year. After a further months of 'normal' gestation, most births then occur around the same time for the community in the around the end of the Tera month. This allows the community to raise the cubs in a very organized manner.

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The female gives birth to 1-5 babies with 2 to 3 being the average litter, all possibly by different fathers. Birthing is an all female affair deep in a sacred underground nests lined with grasses and plants of sacred significance. The non-breeding females of the cete assist and stand guard, usually heavily armed. The babies are blind and covered with a thin coat of fur at birth. Their eyes open when they are 1 Galactic month old, and they are weaned by the time they are 2 Galactic months old. The young males at 2 years leave their mother’s cete to begin their training in the larger Cetecete system. Males and females children are trained in gender specific groups by their own gender and kept separated.

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Juveniles often play around the sett – particularly leap-frog and king-of-the-castle.

There is frequent social grooming between cete members. They also engage in scent-marking, particularly ‘bum-pressing’, where one badder presses the scent gland under its tail onto another badder, so that the group shares a common odor. Badders enjoy in addition using variety of scented oils. Badder Aromatherapy as a healing method is an ancient and still honored medical practice amongst them. There scent mixers are suppose to be some of the best. They are experts at making essential oils and perfumes.

In spring and summer, badders dig out their setts. Setts can be used by many generations of badders. Badders are actually very clean conscious. Bedding collection as a community activity is very common, especially in spring and to a lesser extent after harvest time.

Badders are omnivores and enjoy alcohol. They do have some underground domestic livestock and food products, as well as cultivating above ground crops and beehives. They are also usually excellent gathers. They prefer hunting in underground burrows and caves, but some are expert above ground hunters as well. They are actually known to create environments for the underground game they enjoy hunting. These burrow/cave hunting grounds are carefully maintained, even game creatures bred and released. The scents of badder cooked food are often described as especially flora, fruity or pungent. They enjoy the scent of their food as much as the taste, from subtle to strong.

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