HinterWelt Fora

So, work progresses on the Neb front. I have some art done by Mark Brooks. I am not sur eit matches my description for the Trigs well. Opinions?





Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Its very nice artwork
but I dont think it matches (or gives off the correct impression) the race perfectly

The first thing that comes to mind is "I cant see their body armour"
all the clothes they are wearing makes me think they are unarmored

"They have a banded armadillo like armor that covers their body that ranges from grey to brown to black mottling. "

you cant see any sign that they have natural body armor at all
I would want to emphasise this point as ti would make them look so much more formidable to PC/s

"Small black eyes are deep set on a diamond shaped head. They have a short snout with small but sharp teeth. Their ears are hardly noticeable and almost always covered. "

Again, good art but the head makes me think "gorilla"
not of a species descended from desert burrowers, you really want to make the most of that exotic diamond (wedge?) shaped head and emphasise it too, I also think the snouts are too long in the picture

I would perhaps make their "wide" feet a little more prominent too

but I dont want to knock the artist, it is a great bit of work

Best wishes

Alan Hume

Not a problem Allan. Mark is a great guy. What I will most likely do is adjust the description to fit the art.

Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

After reading the description, my first impression when I looked at the picture was that they were too upright. My second thought was, maybe they are in an "alert" pose, like prairie dogs or bears, and when they move they are more slumped over. So this picture can be accurate with maybe only a slight tweak to your description.

Yep, you're right,
they do look waay too upright there as well

Personally, (and I do realise that it is far more economical to just continue to use the art as is rahter than have a new piece commisioned) my feelings would be to retain the illustration but create an entirely NEW race around it, one that is a better fit for the art and either not have a picture for the Trigs or get a new one done based around folks points here

alan Hume

To me they look more like they are descended from gorillas, or even
Baboons (the snouts do it ) so that could be a very good starting point for creating a new race to fit the picture

(and if they were based on Baboon society that gives a pretty complex, and aggressive, culture I guess, all good viable gaming stuff )

Alan Hume

personally, I'd love to see if I could come up with something
there for you
(although i need to find my Neb book to check other alien race
descriptions, my flat is a mess right now and I cant find anything
and what I do find the cat seems to have mauled )

Alan Hume

Alan, if you are interested go for it. I am going to keep the art with the Trigs and rewrite the description but if you want to give it a go feel free. I have a lot about the Trigs in Rehendi and the Tern System supplement I have been working on.Their social structure is fairly complex.

Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Oh most definetly

I figure the basics should be that they are a tribal society
having only recently (in galactic terms) discovered space flight
thus their ancient cultural values and customs are still inherantly strong and revered within their society even as they set strike out for the stars

this may make them sound somewhat primitive but in reality, this should be more in an anthropological kind of way rather than in reality, their science and technology should be feasibly futuristic
(although their technology will not be of the highest levels compared with most other cultures)

As I say, I envision a tribal society (influenced loosely by Baboon society) where everything and everyone has its place
the leaders only lead by force of charisma or strength,
females are (unfortunately, as I am all for equality)in a
secondary status to males (and often,once married/mated, confined to the family territory/home, maybe they could have multiple wives and keep a harem!! - I'm basing this in part on the treatment of women in ancient Greece/athens where citizens wives were
only let out the family home for such important annual events as
religious festivals and such like, although lowerclass women did what they wanted- I think my history is accurate here but I havent checked my classics in awhile)

I would make them a particularly potent reaver/raider style threat (and so far this is very Traveller Vargr in flavor I know but still sufficiently different to be possibly worthwhile I think) with
a caste system inherant to their society (so as to explain just how a bunch of warrior types created and built starships and weapons etc. not saying warriors couldnt but you need more than just fighters to make a world work)

I figure you would want to make this caste system based upon
function (although wealth could perhaps come into it too, hence why they all go out raiding so much:.)

So I guess you would have the warriors dominant
closely followed by the intelligentsia (or the other way round?)
then you would have the farmers and the merchants and then, finally, at the bottom of the pile you would have the workers

It would not be possible unless under exceptional circumstances to change castes(ie. a group of workers rebelled and ran off to plunder a colony ship, they won their freedom and a rise in caste status to warriors by returning laden with goodies - equally, old or infirm warriors might drop in level, although the intelligent ones would not drop far)

OK, I did just check out the Indian Caste system on wikipedia here

I would like to see them worship a pantheon of gods (one of whom
being for wealth, one of whom would be for war) that would be something to think about for sure

Needs a lot of work to be done (and, as I say, I need to find that darn Neb book so I can get an idea of how the race descriptions are written) but I think they could make a great "bad guy" race

I think they would fit the illustration pretty well
(although you might want to givethem BIG canine teeth, something they could show off and decorate maybe (tipped with silver perhaps)

What do you reckon, is this worht pursuing?

Hmm, this might help. Here is the full text from Rehendi on the Trigs.


Trigannitaroes (Trigs)
This is a race originally native to Galatria in the Tern System. They were a rather primitive race of desert dwellers who lived in communities ruled by a dominant female who had borne the most live young. She had power over food dispensation, land grants and marriages. She would assign the next most fertile female to manage farming, administration and judicial rulings. Their society was on the verge of developing simple engineering, agricultural improvements and medicinal advances when a Gren scout ship discovered Galatria.

The Trigs were surprised to discover they were not alone in the universe but far from disturbed about it. When they began to fall ill, it turned in to a full blown plague that they call the Ritigaturiosee, Time of the Failing Sight that Kills Swiftly.

Their belief structure was based on a strong faith in the head female. A social crisis developed that turned into an all out civil war as one tribe turned on the other. The Trigs fell into a dark period where they looked to the old ways. Some turned to ritualistic consumption of fallen enemies. The Gren profited greatly as vast tracks of land were freed up for colonies.
The chaos settled over the years only to rise again as it as discovered that the Gren were terra-forming Galatria. It was too dry for their species and the adjustments were easily made. Copious amounts of ice could be drawn from the asteroid belts around Tern and funneled to Galatria. The climate and environment began to change. The old crops did not grow and the old herd animals began to die. With some reluctance the Trigs entered into a war with the Gren. The Empire, at this time, had a very aggressive expansion policy and did not tolerate the aggression of the Trigs lightly. The war that followed was brutal and resulted in the total subjugation of the remaining Trigs on Galatria.

Today the Trigs who do not serve Gren in the Tern System either fight a battle against the Empire or have sunk to the less noble profession of criminal, raider or pirate. The Hunters of Light, often just called the Hunters, fight in the only manner they can, strikes against soft military targets or civilian industry. The Hunters are not very feared nor particularly successful. The Trigs concept of war was extremely limited before the Gren came. It amounted to a rather bloodless affair where contests of bravery against the enemy were exhibited until one side surrendered.

To a far greater extent, the raiders and smugglers of the Trigs are much more intimidating. The Trigs seem to have an innate understanding of deception and concealment. They also have a very cold view of what must be done in these situations. A Trig raider will not hesitate to kill the young of another species nor resort to torture to find out what they need to know. They have also returned to the old ways and often devour their enemy in hopes of gaining their strength. All this combines to make the “less civilized” Trig raider and much greater threat.

The largest percentage of Trigs live as servants and slaves to the Gren of the Tern System. They have a reasonably comfortable life and this is often the rationale that the local Gren give for their enslavement of the Trigs, the lack of a truly unified and successful Trig rebellion and the relatively small numbers of Hunters.

Tribes on Rehendi I
If the party interacts with the Trigs in any fashion it will be very important that they keep track of the different tribes they encounter. There are three main tribes operating as raider/traders on the planet’s surface. The Prison Authority knows about them but allow their operating as a release valve. It is understood the consequences if they should transport prisoners out of the prison. To date, none of the tribes have broke any prisoner out of prison.

Rigostatopona
The Rigostatopona have a particularly rough history at the claws of the gren. Their tribe was moved from reservation to government housing to internment camp throughout the early history of the settlement of Galatria, their home planet in the Tern system. After the internment camps, the Rigostatopona found there was no place for them on Galatria and they pooled what wealth they had been able to hide or steal and made for the stars. For the past century they have wandered the systems around Tern trading salvage and raw ore. When times are tough they resort to raiding but this is becoming less and less often as their business has improved under the new Mother.

Mother Erastogathis has led the tribe to new levels of prosperity with a keen business sense and acute evaluation of risk vs. profit. She is a middle aged Trig and still quite vital. She will listen to outsiders and sell information at a price but will not involve herself or her tribe directly.

The tribe may have knowledge of the Warden, the Fini attackers and the hidden ship but will require trade in equal value for the information.

Wakasatagosa
The Wakasatagosa are one of the Trig tribes who hail from the planets equatorial region and love the heat. Their culture is free wheeling for the Trigs and they embrace all manner of risks. The other tribes of Rehendi are there by implicit agreement to how things are done but the Wakasatagosa are new comers and play by no ones rules. They have not transported any prisoners but they have only been on planet for the past year. They are being watched very closely by the Prison Authority and it is even rumored they have a spy in their ranks.

The Wakasatagosa are lead by Mother Watamomata who has only led them for four years and it has been a wildly up an down ride. She has successfully planned and executed the now famous raid on the distant Confederation of Five Redosa shipyards capturing four light transports. The following three years have been less successful. On the run from agents of the Confederation, the Wakasatagosa have had barely week in one place without having to run for their lives. There arrival at Rehendi has offered them the unofficial shield of the Empire. This has let them catch their breath and do some trading with the other tribes and, to a very limited extent, the prisoners.

Should the part approach them, the Wakasatagosa will wary but willing to deal. Mother Watamomata is getting bored with Rehendi and is considering making a run for it. If the party can do so, the Wakasatagosa will give them passage. They will have to beware of the spies who will not want anyone to get off Rehendi.

Renotoganoto
Almost respectable, the Renotoganoto are far more traders than raiders. They were dome of the first tribes to leave Galatria in search of something better than indentured servitude to the gren. They began as traders of low cost computer components in the Tern system then expanded to nearby systems in search of new suppliers and markets. This soon became a multi-million credit operation. Then they encountered the gren Imperial Commerce Commission. The ICC began investigation that eventually led to indictments that ended up with the Fini syndicate gaining all the assets of the Renotoganoto. The Dogar in charge of the operation, Jodan.

The Mother Firatonogat led her tribe to Rehendi to wait out the Fini attack and it turned out to be a perfect refuge for them. For the past 12 years they have been administering the mining operations for the prison. Normally, they would have no interest in helping people who could be potential prisoners. However, if the party still has Jodan then the Mother will be willing to negotiate.

Jodan would mean the potential clearing of the Renotoganoto reputation and the return of their property.

Appearance
The Trigs a descendant from desert burrowers. The are squat and powerfully built, standing only 1.3 m on average. They have a banded armadillo like armor that covers their body that ranges from grey to brown to black mottling. Small black eyes are deep set on a diamond shaped head. They have a short snout with small but sharp teeth. Their ears are hardly noticeable and almost covered by a thick strip of spikes sunning down their back. Their arms end in a formidable array of claws which are normally kept clean and neatly trimmed. When standing their lack of prominent shoulders makes them appear to be slumping. Their legs are as stout as the rest of them and their wide feet aid them when moving through loose sands of a desert.

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Oh yeah, I remember that now,
very well done ther ei think

I think we could be at cross purposes here though,
as I wasnt trying to do the Trigs but another, completely new race that could fit the illustration

are you looking for the Trigs to be reworked slightly so that they fit the illustration
not too sure what you are looking for here

Why don't you work on a different one entirely and I will see about getting an artist to come up with something. I think with some minor changes to the description I can keep the Trigs and are associated with it. I have some for Tern as well that would be a pain to replace.

Sound good?

Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Sounds great

what do you reckon then, should I build on what I have
above (taking the Baboon as a start, or at least the
type of animal they are as a start) and go that route

or would you rather I think again and come up with something else?

Alan

Since we will be using the art for the Trigs, going too baboon would be a problem. So, let's think something else up. Got any ideas for a physiology? That is what I usually start.

Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Idea: How about basing it on the star fish or some of the sea spiders?

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365