place, they are extraordinarily sensitive to fire, taking
twice as much damage as one ordinarily might. That
i s, where others would lose 15 points of Stamina, a
slathorp would lose 30.
Slathorp have unusually high Stamina. Instead of the 1/5 of Willpower plus Reflexes that most species in The Galactos Barrier have, the slathorp haveZ/3Will- power plus Reflexes. However, where these other species have Body Points, the slathorp have none. When their store of Stamina points has expired, the slathorp die. Lethality of a weapon has no bearing to a slathorp; they are all lethal in the case of this species. Still, slathorp recover Stamina at the same
rate as any other species.
Finally, the slathorp cannot maintain other forms i ndefinitely. A slathorp must make a Willpower check every five hours to maintain its borrowed form. It can divert this check by resting for one hour after every five. There is a cumulative -10 modifier to this check every five hours, until the slathorp slips into its nat- ural form. When it reverts, it must spend 1/5 of the time spent in other-form in its own shape. It cannot shapechange during this time, even though that might spell the difference between life and death for the creature.
I f none of these aliens grabs your fancy as a GM or player, feel free to design your own. Below are several suggestions and guidelines for designing your own alien species. Just make sure to make a believable explanation for each species; a furry creature evolving on a water world doesn't make much sense.
The suggestions listed below are not set in stone, and are not absolute limits for alien design. If there is a characteristic not included in one of the lists below, feel free to add it to your own aliens. The list is pro- vided only to spark your imagination; there are a great number more possibilities for aliens.
When designing NPC aliens who might cause a serious threat to the Domain, it is perfectly accept- able not to worry about balancing them as a species. There might be many of whom the players and their characters know nothing, who are far more powerful
i ndividually than the PCs might have imagined for themselves.
Suggested Base Species
Avian (bird), delphinid (dolphin), ichthyoid (fish), mammalian (any of the wide variety of mammals), reptilian (snakes, alligators, lizards, etc.).
Various Appearances
Antennae, claws, colored, extra limbs (list the number and the function), fangs, feathers, fur, posture (does the creature go upright, on all fours, walk slumped?), pseudopods, scales, snout, spines, tails (either prehen- sile or for balancing), tentacles.
Suggested Abilities
Enhanced senses (sight/sound/taste/touch/smell), entirely different sense, better attributes, increased sensitivity to certain phenomena, fearsome appear- ance, poison.
Suggested Drawbacks
Reduced attributes, reduced senses, psychological and philosophical differences from the norm (human- i ty being the norm).
Though most of the existing robots, computers, and robot factories were destroyed in the wars, there are still a few relics of that time which have continued functioning even into this era. Some of them are even tolerated. These are robots that have been built with a Passive Restraint Modifier to prevent them from run- ning amok as they did years ago. There are some robots who have removed their modifiers, and who can therefore harm people without fear of overload- i ng their systems.
I n The Galactos Barrier game, robots are treated as people in metal bodies. Though they can find attach- ments for their limbs, and can modify and upgrade themselves, these advantages are cancelled by the fact that they can draw no abilities from the Spirit
Ability Pool. Still, robots can be built with expanded memory cells, greater strength, faster reflexes, and so forth. Most robots are simply functional creatures, without any special attributes. Those presented here are exceptional robots, the ones only barely allowed by the laws of the Domain. Still, these are common enough that few are surprised to see one.
Again, like the sample aliens, the robots listed below are not the definitive list of available robot characters. The GM and players can invent new ones, if they so desire. Remember that there are few multiform robots; most of them have been designed with a single pur- pose in mind, and their appearance tends to coincide with their function. Though this is not true of all robots, the majority conform to this logic.
Name/Model: This includes both the individual and the model name of the robot in question.
Height: All robots of a given model are exactly the same height. Some models are designed to be ex- tremely tall, while others are built smaller for tasks closer to the ground.
Weight: Likewise, similar robots weigh similar amounts. However, certain robots have been rebuilt tougher and heavier, while others have added func- tions and appendages to themselves. The weight given is the base weight for the unadorned model.
Appearance: The standard appearance of this variety
of robot.
Modifiers: The adjustments to the robot's attributes.
Remember: No robot has any Spirit Ability.
PRM: This indicates whether the robot has been fitted with a Passive Restraint Modifier. Those that have are i ncapable of harming a sentient being directly. Any robot PCs that wish to wander freely must have at l east a facsimile of a PRM attached to them some- place; otherwise, they will be destroyed on sight. Of course, there are some manufacturers who have i mposed very strict definitions of what sentient life consists of. Some robots can literally get away with the murder of an alien species because they do not recognize it as sentient. Naturally, these robots are
destroyed by the proper authorities, but not before the damage has been done.
Available Skills: Many robots are created with spe-
cific tasks in mind. This, of necessity, limits the choices they have in skills at the beginning of the campaign. Though the robot can learn new skills throughout the campaign, it is given only these skill pools to choose from at the beginning of its adventur- i ng career. Some robots are created with exact skills. When this is the case, they are listed in alphabetical order with its origin pool abbreviated in parentheses.
Name/Model: Cyberoid X-J5
Height: 1.75 meters. Weight: 85 kilograms.
Appearance: The Cyberoid X-J5 i s a humaniform
robot, one which has been designed to resemble a human as closely as possible. It can resemble any sex, any skin color, with as many variations as there are in humans. Each Cyberoid is tailored to look like a dis- crete person; some of them have even been created to resemble specific powerful individuals of the Domain, creating privacy and time alone for their human coun- terparts. Underneath all the skin lie still more human- oid trappings, including blood, organs, and various human fluids. This final illusion of humanity often fools enemies who have mistaken the Cyberoid for
human into thinking that the Cyberoid is dead.
Cyberoids are, in effect, the perfect infiltration devices. Within their bodies, they can carry tracking devices, explosives, and other sabotage devices. The only obvious things that distinguish them from humans are their PRMs.
Modifiers: Cyberoids gain a bonus of +10 to each
attribute, in effect raising their base adjustment to 35. However, they are very susceptible to electrical attacks, taking double damage from these. The Lethality of these attacks also doubles; that is, an electrical attack that ordinarily had a Lethality of 3 would effectively be Lethality 6 against a Cyberoid. PRM: Yes. Though it is not essential to the day-to-day
maintenance of the robot, the Cyberoid conforms to Morione law. The PRM is easily removable (though not with the consent of the Cyberoid; robots are sup-