 January 17, 2018 - 6:13pm | Working on a dralasite PC loosely based on Jesse Ventura's obnoxious character in Predator. Chewing and spitting tobacco was easily 1/2 of his obnoxiousness. So what would make a suitable bad habit/ vice for a dralasire? Or any of the core four for that matter I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 17, 2018 - 9:25pm | Jesse Ventura's character wasn't obnoxious, that was just Jesse being Jesse.  Considering how odor is a big thing among dral communication etc I would posit the intentional mass consumption of foods that induce "toxic outgassing" (AKA farting), as that would be both obnoxious as well as promoting the Drals' warped sense of humor...after all many comedic films & TV shows alike resort to cheap fart humor. |
January 18, 2018 - 5:30am | I use to take spitting for granted. Its like a guy thing, you can do it, you do it well and you even use to take pride in junior high over how far you could huck a loogie. That was until a girl friend in the 90s tried to spit out the window of my car and totally did the inside of the window and top of the door panel on the inside to complete and utter laughter from me for 30 seconds till I told her she had to clean it up. Do dralasite's spit? I suppose if you have the control to make a limb with fingers then you could very well have the control to spit. I'm thinking that they have to practice it to avoid the dribble down the front. Bacca spice: comes naturally as a tightly rolled stick of bacca stem leaf that one bites off a small amount and masticates to produce juice which produces a tingling sensation (if fresh) and mild euphoria. The juice and associated saliva is typically spit out of the mouth oriface. Some users prefer to clench the bacca spice stick in their lips or teeth like a cigar continuously chewing at the for hours. It is habit forming leading to withdrawl symtoms of irritability. The surgeon general of the MSO has determined that the mastication of bacca spice causes cancer of the mouth in humans and yazirians and of the epidermus in dralasites. Pregnant or budding beings should acoid the use of bacca spice during gestation. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 18, 2018 - 9:31am | Drals don't actually have mouths, they absorb their food through their skin...but spitting could effectively be done at any point of their body. For maximum obnoxiousness: extend a "finger" from the psuedopod and release, AKA "point and shoot." |
January 18, 2018 - 9:31am | Drals don't actually have mouths, they absorb their food through their skin...but spitting could effectively be done at any point of their body. For maximum obnoxiousness: extend a "finger" from the psuedopod and release, AKA "point and shoot." |
January 18, 2018 - 10:06am | I think drals actually form the hint of a mouth on their face at least for communication. Forming a bit of a puffy lip that turns up or down as per the emotion fo the moment. I believe the dral on the inside cover of the basic book has this in the artwork too. I can see a dral forming a digestive pocket behind a lip formation and going with the affectation of a "cigar" in his lip. Plus their voice box which works as a bellows must have an openning, it would makes some sense to simply combine this with the lip formation on the face. I like the idea of extending a finger and "spitting" a wad of chew from it. so I dont think a dral really wants to introduce digestive fluids to this voice box so I guess they have a "mouth" openning connected to their voice box and could for show clench a cigar type item in it. if this mouth formation is on the face then they tear or rip off a bit of chew and stuff it into a forming pocket somewhere. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 18, 2018 - 3:09pm | Dralasites absorb food slowly. Nothing is really said about waste elimination but would have to go with also being a slow process so "spitting" would be ruled out. Flicking on the other hand would not. Dralasites who do this reverse the absorbtion process and bring out a small amount of undigestiable matter and then hurl it. Extra points for bringing it out on a shoulder or limb and swatting it away. Vrusk are on the other end of the spectrum. There extremely complex rules of ettique mean being rude and committing social faux pas is pretty common and forgiveness is often sought. Humans vary way to much to figure out what is rude in general. Using the mythical planet Earth as an example. Every felony on the books in the 20th Century was an acceptable and often encouraged behavior in other societies past and/or present. Yazirian are rude. The other races just accept it. What you thought a race that goes into battle rage when they get mad was acceptable to the other races? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 January 19, 2018 - 1:43pm | The last SF adventure I ran featured a 'drug' used by Vrusks. It isn't illegal as such, but it's use (it's a stimulant of sorts) is a huge no-no as far as Vrusks are concerned and thus the social stigma attached to it's use was something a Vrusk NPC was particularly keen to keep hidden. The problem for that NPC was that getting hold of the drug meant him having to deal with some rather shady individuals - who then started to blackmail him... |
January 19, 2018 - 5:27pm | See that works very well with the Vrusk and their attitude of maintaining your proper standing in society. I take it the other races did not use it or at least in proper society. Did that have any effect on the game? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
January 21, 2018 - 4:19am | It only affects Vrusks. Basically, it enhances their ability to learn and thus allows them to cheat on the various exams they need before joining their company. The NPC in question was using it for his work in robotics programming whilst at a CDC training college, which put him in contact with the aforementioned shady types. They in turn found that they had a use for this Vrusk, who was a programming prodigy and had come up with some rather revolutionary new stuff for the world of robotics... Anyway, this was all part of a larger adventure I someday hope to write up for Star Frontiersman  The drug itself is seen by Vrusk as a major crossing of certain societal lines, but it's not yet illegal. Any Vrusk who is revealed as a user is pretty much doomed as far as career choices and their company choice is concerned. |
January 21, 2018 - 11:26am | It only affects Vrusks. Basically, it enhances their ability to learn and thus allows them to cheat on the various exams they need before joining their company. The NPC in question was using it for his work in robotics programming whilst at a CDC training college, which put him in contact with the aforementioned shady types. They in turn found that they had a use for this Vrusk, who was a programming prodigy and had come up with some rather revolutionary new stuff for the world of robotics... Anyway, this was all part of a larger adventure I someday hope to write up for Star Frontiersman The drug itself is seen by Vrusk as a major crossing of certain societal lines, but it's not yet illegal. Any Vrusk who is revealed as a user is pretty much doomed as far as career choices and their company choice is concerned.I like it. nice piece of setting fluff. whats it called? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 23, 2018 - 1:29pm | Um... the name is in my notes but I'm not sure where they are. I moved to a different country back in June and a lot of my stuff is still in various folders  |
January 23, 2018 - 2:02pm | Let's just call it "Vroids" (Vruskan steROIDS). |
January 23, 2018 - 2:28pm | Let's just call it "Vroids" (Vruskan steROIDS).
No doubt Vroids is either slang or Pan Gal translation, the actual vrusk word will be unpronouncable. :) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 24, 2018 - 9:16am | Well, it's not really a steroid. I'll see if I can dig out my notes, if I can remember where they are... |
January 24, 2018 - 10:42am | Okay, how about "mental steroid": V-Mroids? With the obvious dral jest being "hem-roids". |
January 25, 2018 - 1:21am | I think I just gave it a street name, i.e. some sort of slang. I'll have to find those notes. |
January 25, 2018 - 9:10am | Like most drugs it probably had an official name and when its use for the purpose it was designed for was deemed inappropriate and it became a street drug the name changed. Heroine, cocaine, marijuana, MDMA, opium and GHB are all examples of this. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
