Gaunt

The Gaunt show up all across the galaxy, but especially in the Umbral Rim, the Galactic Core, and the Arkhaian Spiral. These pallid, ugly ghouls lurk in back alleys, and in the sewers and tunnels beneath larger cities. Their inhuman resilience lets them survive almost anywhere, and with ghoulish appetites and a corpse-like appearance and odor, they tend to prefer to avoid contact with others who might judge them harshly. Still, a Gaunt companion is a hardy and loyal companion, if one can endure the stink.

When the Ranathim first faced the great armies of the Eldoth, they despaired, for they would never be able to gather an army great enough to defeat them, until one of their great science-mystics stole Thanatokinesis from the Eldoth and created the Dead Art. Using her newly crafted synthetic flesh, the Ranathim were able to forge numerous monstrosities to hurl against the armies of the Eldothic empire and, eventually, triumph.

One of these monstrous warmachines were the Gaunt, or “Tarvathim” in the Lithian language. This race served as the disposable foot soldiers and servants of the Ranathim. The have a pallid, pasty appearance from their unliving “synthetic flesh,” though older gaunts have a leathery appearance as exposure to various suns toughens the upper layer of their synthetic flesh. They have milky eyes, holes where their nose and ears should be, and their lipless faces expose sharp, jagged, black teeth; similarly black claws extend from their hands at feet. The Gaunts are born via a mass-production process called “Flesh Vats,” and inconsistencies in the creation process leaves numerous discolorations, boils and deformities upon the Gaunt, which do little to inhibit their functionality, but make them a most unpleasant race to look upon.

The Gaunt have fantastic strength and durability, being functionally living “machines.” They can shrug off blows that would kill a human, and their synthetic metabolism makes them virtually immune to metabolic hazards like disease, poison, even vacuum. They do not eat food, but instead, must consume more synthetic flesh or, barring that, the flesh of the dead (preferably the flesh of sapients, as their inherent necrokinetic nature responds better to that than the flesh of animals, but that will do in a pinch). On the other hand, they lack the originality or ingenuity of natural races (or even robots) and they tend to be slightly clumsy or slow. Their synthetic metabolism works badly with most drugs, requiring them to have uniquely crafted serums for their metabolism, and while most diseases find it difficult to harm a Gaunt, they can still infect a Gaunt, and many Gaunts carry insidious diseases. They may appear humanoid, but they are not: they cannot breed, they’re born from their vats “fully grown” and they die after a few decades: few Gaunts live more than 40 years. Finally, these were designed to be the servile minions of the Ranathim and, as such, are susceptible to psionic powers.

With the fall of the Ranathim Empire, most flesh industries collapsed, but the Gaunts did what they could to collect the last few and continue to replace their numbers with old, run-down machinery. They’re a surprisingly common specious, and their disgusting features can be found frequenting underworld cantinas or lurking in the bowels of some arcology where only the dead lurk. They tend to take on the culture of whatever civilization they live in, though some remember the old Ranathim ways and speak Lithian or practice the Divine masks (especially Chivare, Zathare and, of course, the Dead Art).

Gaunt-pair-small.png

Gaunt Template

Other names: Ghouls, Stiffs, Tarvathim, the Vat-Born
21 points

Attributes: ST +4 [20]; DX -1 [-20]; IQ -1 [-20]; HT +2 [20]

Secondary Traits: HP +6 [12], Base Speed -0.5 [-10]

Advantages: Injury Tolerance (Unliving) [20], Hard to Kill +4 [8], High Pain Threshold [10], Night Vision 2 [2], Pestilent [1]; Protected Smell/Taste [5]; Reduced Consumption 1 (Cast-Iron Stomach -50%) [1], Regeneration (Regular) [25]; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +8 (Standard Biology Only -20%) [12], Sharp Claws [2]

Features: Affected by powers that affect corpses [0]; Hairless [0]; No Fatigue [0]; Short Lifespan 1 [0]; Sterile [0]; Sharp Teeth (Reduced in price due to presence of Sharp Claws) [0]

Disadvantages: Appearance (Ugly) [-8]; Dread (Sigils; Rare, 1 yard) [-5]; Odious Personal Habit (Smelly) [-5]; Psi Susceptibility 4 [-12]; Restricted Diet (Dead flesh of other sapients or “synthetic flesh,” Very Common) [-10]; Social Stigma (Inferior Race) [-10]; Susceptible (Death Serums, Rare, -4) [-2]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerable (Death Serums; Rare, x2) [-10];

Gaunt Traits

Injury Tolerance (Unliving): For the purposes of Injury Tolerance, treat all blasters (but not plasma weapons, flamers, lasers, etc) as piercing incendiary attacks. That is, the Gaunt divide by three all damage from blaster attacks.

Pestilent: Pestilent applies a -2 to HT rolls to resist infection from an attack by a Gaunt's teeth or claws. Psi-Wars uses a more action-oriented framework, so rather than worry about infection, if the Gaunt inflicts an injury with teeth or claws and the GM deems the environment to be the sort where infection is a danger (such as in a swamp) or the Gaunt carries a disease of some kind that the target needs to resist, apply a -2 to HT rolls to resist disease.

Psi-Susceptibility: Treat this as Magic Susceptibility (B143) only apply the bonus to skill and the penalty to resistance to all psi rolls.

Gaunt Worlds

Homeworld: Tarvagant (the Umbral Rim)
Other worlds: The Gaunt can be found almost everywhere in the Umbral Rim and wherever aliens can be found in the Galactic Core, but tend to be especially common in Moros, Wilwatikta, Samsara, Kronos and Grist.

Gaunt Names

The Gaunt have little culture of their own, though enclaves attempt to change that. Instead, they draw their names from local cultures, usually just first names or nicknames, like "Old Ironsides," or "Fester." Gaunt traditionalists will use the same names as the Ranathim. Some Gaunt "Tribes" which sprang from the same flesh vats and work together to maintain them and their "brothers" might have a tribal name, which is usually appended, like a surname.

Gaunt Notes

The Gaunt lack both IQ and DX, meaning they perform poorly wherever skill is necessary, and they obviously have abominable reaction modifiers. Thus, they tend to perform best in highly physical activities where sheer durability is a prime asset. Preferred Templates include the Commando, the Bounty Hunter and the Scavenger. For background lenses, most Gaunts grow up as Outcasts, though Slaves and Survivors are also very common. For power-ups, their synthetic biology and natural toughness make them a natural fit for cybernetics. While they have a psi-susceptibility, this doesn’t prevent them from having psionic powers, nor from learning a psionic philosophy, and the Divine Masks is a common one. Most Gaunts lack the years to gain Experienced Power-Ups and few become Heroic. They may gain power-ups based on their biology, noted below.

True Tarvathim have fewer of the drawbacks that Gaunts have, but on the other hand, they’re beyond the point budget of most PCs, though a player who really wants one can either play in a higher point-total game (350 points is barely enough to play one), or they can take the provided template below as a starting point. If playing with an existing template, they make good use of the same templates as Gaunts, but their higher IQ means they perform well with templates like the Officer, the Spy, the Assassin or the Mystic. True Tarvathim tend to be outcasts, slaves and survivors, like the Gaunt, but if there’s any form or Gaunt leadership, they take up those positions, so one can find Tarvathim Aristocrats. For power-ups, the True Tarvathim are more likely than Gaunts to develop psionic powers, or to become Heroic or Experienced, and given enough time, can even become Magnates. They have access to the same power-ups that Gaunts have, and the unique Ancient power-up.

Many Tarvathim have Lithian as their native language, though this is by no means universal, and tend to also pick up the local language. They’ve largely lost their old relationship with the Ranathim, but some still remember it. At the GM’s discretion, any Tarvathim may take the following disadvantages as part of his -50 point disadvantage budget.

Common Disadvantages: replace Appearance (Ugly) with Appearance (Hideous) [-8]; Replace Musk with Bad Smell [-9]; Disturbing Voice [-10], Sense of Duty (Ranathim), Skinny [-5].

Gaunt Power-Ups

The process of Gaunt creation, the Flesh Vats, lack the factory precision of robot manufacturing, and instead spawns living beings with organically unique traits. Certain vats and vatting processes are more likely to produce certain traits than others, and many Gaunt align themselves tribally around a particular vat and its process, sometimes taking that vat on as a tribal name or a surname. These variations typically manifest as unique power-ups.

Baleful Gaze

7 points

Most Gaunts have milky white eyes, but some have gleaming red eyes that seem to shine or glow in the dark. Such Gaunts have the ability to see heat, but it makes them easier to see as well.

Advantages: Replace Night Vision 2 with Infravision [10] for 8 points; Bright (+2 to see; Eyes only, only when open) [-1]

Blue Gaunt

5 points

Some Gaunt were designed specifically to tolerate the cold. These Gaunt have a blue-grey skin-tone and can tolerate temperatures well below freezing. If it grows too cold, they will “seize up” and hibernate, but survive the frost and wake after they have been thawed.

Advantages: Metabolism Control (Hibernation; Extreme Cold) [2]; Temperature Tolerance (Cold) 4 [4]; Unnatural Feature (Blue-grey Skin) [-1]

Boneless

11 points

The vatting process of the Gaunts doesn’t allow for graceful creations, but some Gaunts have loosely connected joints that allow them to bend at odd angles, or even seem to “ooze” into smaller areas than one might normally expect.

Advantages: Double-Jointed [10], Compact Form [1]

Dessicated

8 points

Some Gaunt were designed specifically to tolerate the heat of the desert. They can endure far longer without water (and given their resilience, drink tainted water with little trouble) than other Gaunt can, and have less problems dealing with heat. In conditions of extreme drought, they enter a form of aestivation to wait out the dry spell, falling into a dust-covered slumber, only to slowly rouse once it rains.

Advantages: Metabolism Control (Aestivation, Drought) [2]; Reduced Consumption 2 (Water Only -50%) [2]; Temperature Tolerance (Hot) 4 [4];.

Ghoulish Memories

37 points

Gaunts must consume dead flesh to survive, but how they integrate that dead flesh into their bodies allows them to acquire information from that flesh. Not every Tarvathim can do this, but some can eat the brains of the dead and learn what they learned. This requires an IQ roll and, if successful, stores those memories in the mind of the Tarvathim, though he can suffer flashbacks from those whose brain he has eaten, and takes on some of their personality traits (eating the brain of a thief makes one likely to pocket knick-knacks, eating the brain of a gambler makes one prone to making bets, etc), though this is typically no worse than a -5 point disadvantage. Roll a 15 or less to resist this. The Tarvathim can store up to his IQ in specific brains eaten, after which he must discard a “memory set.” He may also discard a memory set if he finds the personality traits or flashbacks too onerous.

Advantages: Mind Probe (Cosmic, Works on the Dead +50%; Memory Bank, up to IQ memories +100%; Requires Eating the Brain -50%; Temporary Disadvantage, Severe Flashbacks -10%; Nuisance, take on some personality traits of those whose memory you have -5%) [37]

Hulk

37 points

While the stereotypical Gaunt is skeleton-thin and small, lurking in corners, not all of them are. Some “Hulks” tower over humans with thick, ugly, veiny muscles and heavy jaws. These Tarvathim are even stronger, nearly five times as strong as a human, and able to take an enormous amount of punishment.

Attributes: ST +8 (Size -10%) [34]

Secondary Characteristics: HP +2 (Size -10%) [3]; SM +1 [0];

Leatherskin

3 or 6 points

As a Gaunt’s skin is exposed to sunlight, it can toughen, taking a waxy or leathery appearance. In extreme cases, this forms a tough armor that protects the Tarvathim.

Advantages: DR 5 (Tough Skin -40%) [3] or DR 10 (Tough Skin -40%) [6]

Plague Bearer

5 points

A Gaunt’s synthetic biology protects him from many of the dangers that face natural organics, but it also provides a potential haven for germs and bacteria, which gives them a reputation as plague bearers. Plague Bearer Tarvathim, when exposed to a disease (that is, they must make an HT roll to resist it, whether or not they succeed) may choose to “keep” that disease by taking an Carrier perk. The disease retains its previous contagiousness, but it interacts with the Pestilence perk: anytime the Plague Bearer damages an opponent with its claws or teeth, that target must roll at an additional -2 penalty to resist the disease. The Tarvathim can trade out this Carrier perk for another Carrier perk when exposed to a new disease and may drop the Carrier perk to any disease he has successfully resisted; this requires no roll and is immediate.

Advantages: Modular Ability (Single 1-point slot; Limited slot; instant change; Limited to Carrier perk -50%; Physical +50%; Requires exposure to disease -50%) [5]

Razor Talons

4 points

Most Gaunt have relatively small claws that do little more than scratch their opponent, but some have long, curving claws with sufficient durability to carve though light armor.

Razor Talons deal thr+1 (3) cut or thr+1 (3) imp. Parries with claws are still considered unarmed parries.

Advantages: Replace Sharp Claws with Natural Weapons (Impaling; Additional damage type, Cutting +20%; Armor Divisor 3 +100%: Cannot Parry -40%; Increased Damage +1 +30%;) [6] for +4 points

Designer Notes: The Natural Weapon rules can be found on page 24 of Pyramid #3/65.

Rubber Neck

5 points

The body parts of a Gaunt often have a tenuous connection with one another and this is most obvious with the rubber-neck Gaunts, who have the ability to extend their neck, or to turn it completely backwards.

Advantages: Double Jointed (Neck Only -80%) [3]; Stretching 1 (Neck only -80%) [2];

Scuttler

33 points

The synthetic flesh of a Gaunt can sometimes flow just a little, giving him a certain “stickiness” that allows him to cling to walls. Gaunts with this ability tend to be called “scuttlers” and move surprisingly quickly, and can use their hands as easily as their feet for movement.

Secondary Characteristics: Basic Move +2 [10]

Advantages: Clinging [20]; Extra Legs (4 legs; Temporary Modifier, No Fine Manipulators -40%) [3]

Sloughing Flesh

5 points

The flow and give of synthetic flesh can allow pieces of it to simply “come off,” as the character molts of sheds easily. This makes the gaunt very hard to hold onto, but has the downside that his constant shedding leaves disgusting, slimy droppings wherever he goes.

Advantages: Slippery 5 [10]; Odious Personal Habit (leaves bits of flesh everywhere) [-5]

Stench

15 or 18 points

The Gaunt already have a fairly potent odor. With this mutation, becomes truly foul to smell, causing those around them to gag. This comes in two levels. Either the stink is always on, or the Gaunt is able to release the stench at will, but must wait 15 seconds before unleashing their stench again.
In both cases, everyone within 4 yards of the Gaunt that can smell the Gaunt must roll HT at a bonus equal to the distance between themselves and the Gaunt or be Nauseated. In the case of the “released” stenth, the “stink” lingers for up to 10 seconds and it drifts on winds, but still apply a bonus equal to the distance from the gaunt to the target to HT rolls to resist. In all cases, the Gaunt itself is unaffected by its own wretched odor.
The Always On version costs [15] points; the releasable version costs [18] points.

Advantages: Affliction (Nauseated +30%; Always On -20%; Area Effect, 4 yards +100%; Dissipating -50%; Emanation -20%; Sense Based (Smell) +150%) [15] or Affliction (Nauseated +30%; Area Effect, 4 yards +100%; Dissipating -50%; Drifting +20%; Emanation -20%; Persistent +40%; Requires Recharge, 15 seconds, -20%; Sense Based (Smell) +150%) [18]

Toothy Maw

5 points

Gaunt flexibility can sometimes extend to their jaws, which may have needle-like teeth to allow for the terrifying, bone-crunching devouring of corpses.

Toothy Maws deal thr (3) imp. Treat the Gaunt as one SM larger for the purposes of what they may bite (see Pyramid #3/77 page 5 or GURPS Martial Arts page 115 for more).

Advantages: Extendable Jaw [1]; Replace the Sharp Teeth feature with Natural Weapons (Impaling; Armor Divisor 3 +100%; Cannot Parry -40%; Singular Weapon (Teeth) -20%;) [4],

Designer Notes: The Natural Weapon rules can be found on page 24 of Pyramid #3/65.

Aging and Gaunt Degradation

The system below details specific rules for Gaunt aging, but an optional system of Gaunt Degradation as Mutations allows the GM and PCs to track a Gaunt's descent into monstrosity. For more, see Gaunt Degradation as Mutations.

The Gaunt age different than the other organics of the galaxy. The synthetic flesh from which they are crafted is, itself, ageless, but the “coding” built into the synthetic flesh cells can break down over time. This usually results in carefully engineered safeguards triggering and the Gaunt begins to disintegrate into a puddle of flesh, ready to return to the flesh vats once more. This generally takes place between 30 and 50 years after the creation of a Gaunt. Because aging rules are beyond the scope of Psi-Wars, this aging process is a feature.

Even so, the ancient Ranathim necrocrafters of the tyranny that created the Gaunt and the process by which more could be created were far from perfect. The synthetic flesh found in the flesh vats is self-organizing, and creates new Gaunt as directed by the necrocrafter or automated processes in the vat. After this process is finished, this self-organization manufacturing process is switched off within the Gaunt, except for their ability to regenerate, which is the last vestige of this process, until such time as the synthetic flesh is returned to a flesh vat to create a new Gaunt. But sometimes this self-organizing process doesn’t shut off completely, or it can spontaneously reactivate. In this case, isolated sections of the Gaunt begin to grow, or attempt to create a new Gaunt within the Gaunt, in a process called Gaunt Degradation. This is analogous to cancer in other organics, except where cancerous cells simply form masses of cells, Gaunt degradation begins to break apart a Gaunt’s control over its own flesh, or create new Gaunt, or dissolves the gaunt into a slime-like mass that may or may not retain sapience.

The horrors of Gaunt degradation extend beyond a horrific, monstrous death for aged gaunt. The degradation process by which synthetic flesh cells “go rogue” is, itself, contagious. If the synthetic cells of a healthy Gaunt are infected by the corrupted cells of a degrading Gaunt, it’s possible for the Gaunt to start to degrade as well! If left unchecked, degradation not only results in the creation of strange monsters, or vat-like pools of flesh that continue to spawn more monsters, but it can race through a community, infecting, mutating and melding entire groups of Gaunt together. During the Monolith War, the Tyranny saw this as more of a feature than a bug, as corrupted Gaunt would overrun invaded worlds and make life there very difficult for the Eldoth and their forces, but after the war, The Saruthim and Domen Khemet took up the task of preventing these sorts of “synthetic flesh blooms.”

Gaunt Degradation as Disease

Gaunt Degradation is mostly a narrative feature of the Gaunt. It explains where certain Gaunt monsters come from, and what happens when the Gaunt die of “old age.” It also explains why very old communities of gaunt tend to be somewhat self-policing. But if a GM wants to include Gaunt Degradation as a major element for a PC or named-NPC gaunt to deal with, consider treating it as a disease.

Gaunt Degradation occurs in one of several ways. First, it can happen spontaneously in older Gaunt. It should be noted that most Gaunt never develop Gaunt Degradation symptoms: it’s far from guaranteed that Gaunt die of degradation, and in a community with regular access to necrocrafters and healthy policies, such as sending Gaunt with even the slightest hint of degradation to the vats will have almost no degradation in their community. Second, it can happen as a result of Broken Communion corruption. Consider using the Corruption as Disease rules, and give corrupted Gaunt an appropriate degradation disease when they become too corrupted. Third, gaunt degradation is contagious, so if one gaunt begins to degrade, it’s possible they’ll infect others with it. Finally, some rumors suggest that Domen Tarvagant can inflict it on the Gaunt as a miracle.

Gaunt who suffer degradation typically have a consistent set of symptoms. Treat each symptom as a Distinctive Feature, and a Gaunt with at least one symptom suffers a -1 Reaction from members of Domen Khemet, Saruthim, other Gaunt or anyone else knowledgeable in what these symptoms mean.

Examples of Gaunt Degradation Symptoms include:

  • Spontaneous black, tarry tears
  • Spontaneous black “nosebleeds”
  • Subcutaneous micro-contractions (“bugs beneath the skin”)
  • Sores, cysts, boils or “buds” of synthetic flesh.
  • Involuntary eye-movement, twitches or utterances
  • Translucent or absent skin with visible patches of muscle

Trivial Gaunt Degradation Syndrome

Vector: Corruption or aging; Mildly Contagious; roll HT+1 (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply) after consuming infected Flesh, or after being struck/bitten by infected Gaunt claws or teeth, or a failed “aging” roll.

Treatment: Daily HT+1 roll to recover (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply); necrocrafter care offers a of +1, with further modifiers depending on available facilities (to a maximum of +4). Psychic Healing is at +1 and requires 1 fatigue and counts as Xeno-healing (With the additional -6 penalty).

Penalties: -1 to resist any other Gaunt Degradation Diseases.

Dramatic Penalty: One Gaunt Degradation Syndrome Symptom for a -1 Reaction modifier

On a critical failure on the recovery roll, or if the Gaunt suffers additional corruption, elevate their syndrome to Minor Gaunt Degradation Syndrome.

Minor Gaunt Degradation Syndrome

Vector: Corruption or aging; Mildly Contagious; roll HT-1 (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply) after consuming infected Flesh, or after being struck/bitten by infected Gaunt claws or teeth, or a failed “aging” roll.

Treatment: Daily HT-1 roll to recover (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply); necrocrafter care offers a of +1, with further modifiers depending on available facilities (to a maximum of +4). Psychic Healing is at -4 and requires 8 fatigue and counts as Xeno-healing (With the additional -6 penalty).

Penalties: -2 to resist any other Gaunt Degradation Diseases, and one Gaunt Degredation Syndrome Symptom for a -1 Reaction modifier.

Dramatic Penalty: -2 to DX or -2 to IQ for 1d minutes, or Dazed for 1d minutes.

On a critical failure on the recovery roll, or if the Gaunt suffers additional corruption, elevate their syndrome to Major Gaunt Degradation Syndrome.

Major Gaunt Degradation Syndrome

Vector: Corruption or aging; Highly Contagious; roll HT-3 (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply) after consuming infected Flesh, or after being struck/bitten by infected Gaunt claws or teeth.

Treatment: Daily HT-3 roll to recover (Gaunt Metabolic Hazard Resistance does not apply); necrocrafter care offers a minimum of +1, with further modifiers depending on available facilities (to a maximum of +4). Psychic Healing is at -8 and requires 16 fatigue and counts as Xeno-healing (With the additional -6 penalty).

Penalties: -1 IQ; -2d HP (Minimum 1 HP);

Dramatic Penalty: One of Alien Hand Syndrome (9) for 1d minutes or Neurological Disease (Mild) for 1d minutes or Monstrous Atavism (9) for 1d minutes.

When the synthetic flesh cells begin to break down their core “programming” and reproduce uncontrollably or behave independently, it’s usually just a matter of time until the Gaunt’s cohesion fails fails. On a critical failure of a recovery roll, the Gaunt should either die suddenly and disgustingly or, worse, degrade into a monstrous NPC. Note that this assumes the Gaunt is a PC or named NPC. For minor NPCs, a messy death or transformation into a monster is usually assured within a week.

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