Sunday, February 10, 2013

Hwuru


Hwuru are bipedal sophonts bearing some physical resemblance to Terran apes and sloths. They are shorter than humans but powerfully built with arms longer than their legs, and digits with claw-like structures (actually bony projections covered with horn) on their dorsal surface. They're covered with shaggy fur except on the anterior surface of their torsos, which are covered with leathery plates.

The hwuru evolved from arboreal insectivores. They have small, beak-like snouts (like the Terran echidna) and extendable tongues to aid in snatching up arthopods or their larvae in hard to reach places. Hwuru can’t swallow anything very large and must have bulkier foodstuffs made into a mash before they can consume it. Most hwuru have a mild dependence on chaoofsh a chemical attractant released by the trees native to their world. When off-world, they tend to wear a breathing apparatus to deliver this chemical.

On their native world, no hwuru have advanced beyond the Iron Age, and most live in tribal societies that use stone tools. Interaction with starfaring civilizations has afforded hwuru the chance to leave their planet, and they are sometimes found among the stars where their physical traits make them useful as hired muscle.

Stats for Starships & Spacemen:


Encountered: 2d4 (5d10)
Movement: 120' (40')
Intelligence: Average
Psionic Potential: 2d4, inactive
Hits: 1d8+1
Armor: -1
Combat Skill: 12
Save: L1
Attacks: 1 weapon or 2 claws
Damage: by weapon or 1d3/1d3
Morale: 9
XP: 15

Notes: This is an alien species of my own devising, inspired by an unnamed character in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series.

7 comments:

Aos said...

Nice. I like the way you laid out the description. I was going to guess Ben10 as the origin of the art though.

Trey said...

Thanks. The art does look rather Ben 10-ish, doesn't it?

I did have to hold back my desire to give more "speculative exobiology" detail. There's always that bachelor's degree in biology wanting to get out.

Aos said...

I did a good bit physical anth and bio as an undergrad, so I get you.

Gothridge Manor said...

He reminds me of a cross between Bane and that orange monster from the bugs bunny cartoon. Not ure what his name it.

Trey said...

Gossamer. Yeah, I though of that guy, too. Not Bane, though.

Tallgeese said...

I could totally see this alien as one of Em3Green's colleagues on the quest to recover The Soul of Alar!

Trey said...

Heh! Except for the fact he's bit better animated, he'd fit right in.