Chiron Corso, Thetur Spheres & the Hound

Handler Chiron, Handler Kane, Pouncer & Skulker

Chiron Corso is a rather tall, well-dressed Thetian with their classic unsettling orc-like front teeth and otherwise fairly human appearance. He wears shades to hide his eyes, the irises of which look like rolling cylindrical clouds of red electricity. In each of his temples are a small metal implant which taps into his frontal lobes to get probabilistic complete-readings of the entire brain's activity, and which emit a high-pitched whistle depending on Chiron's mood and intentional states. Over the course of a long rest and wielding his electric screwdriver and his trusty Futuretech PC, Chiron can write new code for the whistling outputs which correspond to his intentional/emotional inputs. These whistling commands correspond to outputs in Hound behavior. Any inputs he does have written he can swap between using audio commands Chiron is prone to fits of maniac homicidal anger, in which the whistling can become unbearable and the Hound extremely aggressive.

At his side is the Hound, a 500-pound cybernetic dog with hydraulic piston legs. Its jaws are pneumatic and close exceptionally hard. It can make enormous leaps and fuck. you. up. if it gets its teeth into you. Chiron constructed him and powered him with a Thetur Sphere (more on those later...). The Thetur Sphere also powers Chiron's neural headset. Chiron calls his hound Pouncer.

Chiron is one of the miniscule-and-dwindling Handlers on the planet. Handlers came about when military contractors constructed hounds that would home onto and kill creatures which made whistling-pitch noises. This was used in a colonization effort of Thetis, the homeworld of the Thetian people, whose main language consisted of whistling in that audio range. 

The Handlers were a mercenary group which stole those military blueprints and wrote new code for it, allowing them to issue a variety of commands using whistling outputs relayed through their WolfWhistle (the neural headset with speakers in their forehead). Hounds and WolfWhistles are powered by Thetur orbs, powerful sources of electric energy that also attract and capture lightning while conducting. All the handlers took the last name Corso, in honor of the Roman war dog. The Thetur orb's connection to the Handler also gives them enhanced senses.

Each handler has a mod or two for their Hound or their Hound. Chiron's is a Handler's Failsafe, which implants a speaker in the hound and turns it on when connection to the neural headset is disabled, allowing the Hound to continue to act independent of its Handler. Chiron's protocol is kill (except don't kill him) and administer aid using a hypodermic needle filled with new-aged enhanced sci-fi-universe medicine.

Chiron's biggest problem right now is that he's being hunted down by fellow Thetian Handler Kane Corso. His hound, Skulker, is slightly larger than Chiron's, with different programming and mods. Skulker comes equipped with an Skulk Cloak, which mostly hides him from traditional sight and silences the area around him in any pitch lower than the whistling range. It also has a Scenter, which can track scents. Skulker has Chiron's scent, and Kane hopes to hunt Chiron down for a bounty.

Thetur Orbs

Thetur orbs are the most valuable product of Thetis. Connecting to one digitally enhances the human brain so much so that the person generally wastes away from the calorie expenditure. Vials of Thetur Fuel are handed out and basically function like super-scifi-Aderol, creating incredible mental clarity and acuity. They also expend huge amounts of calories.

Handler Chiron

HD 2 AC +1 Leather Move 30ft Attacks Shotgun or AR

Wolfwhistle. Chiron can change Pouncer's protocol for the next turn with an action on his turn. Each Pouncer Protocol corresponds to a different Whistle Save Modifier. Every turn the Wolfwhistle is active, players have to save constitution or will or whatever or lose their action. Succeeding the save grants advantage on subsequent saves. Range: 60ft.

Thetur-Enhanced Brain. Chiron gets an additional action to use for mental activity every turn, and has advantages on all checks to use his senses. He must consume twice as much food and drink every day, and can breathe half as long underwater, and takes twice as much damage in the vacuum of space.

Pouncer

HD 5 AC Plate Move 50ft Attacks d10

Pouncer Protocol. Pouncer has a few distinct protocol sets, that determine what she does on her turn.

  • Subdue. Pounce, Bite Attack, Grapple on hit. Keep target ineffectual. Target designated by Handler. WSM: advantage
  • Slaughter. Pounce, Bite Attack, Tear on hit. Kill as fast as possible. Target smallest first unless override given, then target largest. WSM: -1.
  • Protect. Cover Handler, Subdue if target too close, make sure to be able to Cover by end of turn (range-wise). WSM: -4
  • Avenger. Slaughter, but administer aid at 2 failed Death saving throws. This brings Handler back to life at 1 HD. WSM: Disadvantage
Pounce. Pouncer spends the last 20ft of her movement on a 30ft jump, pouncing on the target. Roll an extra 2d3 damage on a hit.
Tear. save strength/fortitude or lose a limb.
Cover. provide half cover if Handler is standing, 3/4 if handler is crawling. Upgrade cover by 1 if Pouncer has moved the same distance Handler has moved.
Handler's Failsafe. Pouncer enters Avenger mode immediately if Handler's connection to Pouncer is disabled, or if Handler falls unconscious.

Handler Kane

HD 2 AC +1 Leather Move 30ft Attacks AR or DMR/marksman's rifle thing

Wolfwhistle. Kane can change Skulker's protocol for the next turn with an action on his turn. Each Skulker Protocol corresponds to a different Whistle Save Modifier. Every turn the Wolfwhistle is active, players have to save constitution or will or whatever or lose their action. Succeeding the save gives advantage on subsequent saves. Range: 120ft.

Thetur-Enhanced Brain. Kane gets an additional action to use for mental activity every turn, and has advantages on all checks to use his senses. He must consume twice as much food and drink every day, and can breathe half as long underwater, and takes twice as much damage in the vacuum of space.

Skulker

HD 5 AC plate Move 60ft Attack d8+1

Skulker Protocol. Skulker has a few distinct protocol sets, that determine what he does on his turn.

  • Skulk. Veil, await future commands. WSM: no threat.
  • Ambush. Can only be commanded while Skulker is skulking. Pounce on a target chosen by Handler, Bite attack, Tear on a hit. WSM: -3
  • Bargainer's Chip. Can only be commanded while Skulker is skulking. Pounce on a target, Grapple for head grab, which will pretty much instakill any bare head it chomps down on. WSM: no threat.
  • Shift. Ambush, then Skulk. Repeat on future commands. WSM: -3.
  • Suppress. Move to make the least people possible able to hear. Make an attack if in range. WSM: -1
  • Cover. Cover. WSM: disadvantage.
Skulk Cloak. everything except the sound of the whistle is silent within 20ft of Skulker.

Pounce. Skulker spends the last 20ft of his movement on a jump, pouncing on the target. Roll an extra d3 damage on a hit.

Tear. Save strength/fortitude or lose a limb.

Cover. provide half cover if Handler is standing, 3/4 if handler is crawling. Upgrade cover by 1 if Skulker has moved the same distance Handler has moved.

cool art I found online teehee

___________________________________________________________________________________

Future project: write up the a few more Handlers and a GLoG template for being a Handler!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The West, the Waste

Image
There’s definitely alternative forms of knowing, alternative things to know, which the force of law has prevented us from accessing. There’s kinds of ways we could transform peoples’ perspective if they were open to it. Poetic powers, to grant hopelessness and red-fire courage to others. The rule of law imposes itself on us, and these avenues are closed. The city is a place of things that cannot move, can only crumble. When people crumble in those cities on the east, they flee to the rocks and shrub-wastes of the west, where the wicked sun picks the sweat from their skin for itself to drink. The cities are choked with people and within the miasma of the infernal industry. Babies drink in the demon smoke before they’ve learned to stop crying; it shuts them up real quick. Kids these days don’t have a light in their eyes, the shivering folk who’ve made it out will tell you.  The west is full of broken people too. Bandits haunt these roads. The only surefire way to break a bandit’s curse i
Read more

Derelict-Crawl Ideas: Piloted Asteroids + Wildcatter Class

 I'm reading the book The Sparrow  by Mary Doria Russell right now. It's pretty decent, though I have some bones to pick when it comes to pacing, incorporating themes and background knowledge (in a way that doesn't feel forced) and the general hesitancy I feel of the author in writing it, but maybe she was just chomping at the bit to get to the extremely meaningful part of the book and I'm in for a hell of a turn. Either way, there's a  concept that gets introduced about 100-150 pages into the book-- the idea that asteroids are piloted as ships of their own and are self-sufficient, providing their own fuel. I'm not particularly interested in the actual  scientific possibility of this, just in converting the method detailed in the text to gameable material for Archon's Court's derelict-crawling game ( Orbiters Local 519 ). There's a few different places they mention the procedures involved for achieving this: Massdrivers, Lifepods, Miner's Quarte
Read more

How to See Spirits / d5x5 intimations of the Spirit of Pyre-Shadows

Image
This post is for the That We Are So Much More Setting . But it's also for the setting outlined by Magic as Radiation: Enter the Spirit-World , and a new setting I'm creating which incorporates the Spirit-World into it. How do we see spirits? In order to see spirits, you must be a talented semiologist, who believes her signs to be symbols. When the rams raise their heads at a wolf's cry, it is the Epimeliad raising their heads; they pay attention, and the Epimeliad watches too, because when they attend to that which the Epimeliad attends to, the Spirit abides in them. When the sheep encircle the lambs as the wolves circle, the Epimeliad guides their steps and inheres in their geometry; the instinct to protect the young is the motivation of the Epimeliad, and the geometry of the circled flock is a manifestation of that protective spirit, and thus of the Epimeliad. In those ramblings, I named a few signs of the Epimeliad. I'll add a few more at the end of this list: The a
Read more