Ranathim

The Ranathim are a sultry and seductive race of psychic vampires. Their four horns, pointed ears, lashing tails and pointed teeth give them a somewhat demonic appearance, but displays an appealing physique that the other races of the galaxy find quite desirable. They use their display of flesh to draw others close so that they can feed on their psychic energy. The Ranathim once ruled the galaxy until their own selfish passions and sins tore their empire apart when their star went supernova in an event known as the Dark Cataclysm. Now, many of them are slaves, the dancing girls and gladiators of the Umbral Rim, and those who retain a fraction of their former power guard that power and independence jealously. They founded some of the most influential philosophies of the galaxy, including the Divine Masks and the Cult of the Mystical Tyrant. Their culture and language, the Lithian culture, remains dominant in the Umbral Rim and is the single largest collective alien culture in the galaxy.

Ranathim have a devilish appearance, with subtle horns, the teeth of a predator, a lashing tail, skin of a pale white, red and violet hue, and black eyes with cat-like golden or red irises. Despite their sinister appearance, the sapient species of the galaxy find them to be exceptionally attractive, with their robust men sporting rugged features and broad shoulders, and their delicate women defined by their soft curves. Given their beauty and their robustness, they make for highly sought-after slaves, but they hide a dangerous power and an unruly temperament. All Ranathim are psionic vampires, able to draw energy from others with but a touch of skin to skin, whether it be a warm handshake or a tempting kiss. They hunger for this energy, and when empowered by it, they become fantastically strong, quick and dangerous. Powerful passions rule them, and those passions drive their innate psionic power, making them dangerously powerful when they’re at their most passionate and unpredictable. Nonetheless, slavers will pay a premium for the careful capture of one, and collar them with psionic inhibitors, forever depriving them of that sweet energy they so crave.

Ranathim once hailed from a great Empire, and a few of them have an Aristocratic background, but most have lived a life as slaves or outcasts, and a precious few have been sufficiently cloistered away by cults to have a Sequestered background. The Ranathim enjoy superior health and attractiveness, and if they can exploit that attractiveness to siphon off some energy from others, have the possibility of prodigious physical feats, at least temporarily. This makes them well suited to social and physical roles, such as Assassin, Bounty Hunter or, to a more limited extent, the Con-Artist. They also make decent Diplomats, Security Agents and Commandos. They have a long tradition of Space Knights and Mystics, however, given their innate psionic power, and given their reserves of psionic energy, they definitely benefit from expanding their psionic power with a Psionic Power-Up.

Ranathim-pair.png

Ranathim

30 points

Attributes: HT +1 [10]
Advantages: Attractive [4]; Godlike Extra Effort [5]; Night Vision 2 [2]; Passionate Psi [1]; Psychic Vampirism Talent 1 [5]; Ranathim Energy Vampirism [5]; Ranathim Energy Reserve 5 [8]; Ranathim Skull [2].
Feature: Tail [0]; May increase their disadvantage limit by taking one passion disadvantage (see Ranathim Passion below) [0]. May increase Psychic Vampirism Talent to 5 [0].
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Alien Outsider) [-5]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Psionic Energy) (15 or less) [-7];

Ranathim Worlds

Homeworld: Styx (Destroyed), the Umbral Rim
Other Worlds: Sarai, Samsara, Covenant, Moros, the Blood Moon of Charybdis, Kronos

Ranathim Names

The Ranathim use a language called Lithian, a powerful ancient language that has become a lingua franca of the Umbral Rim. Their names begin with a given name and end with a surname, like human names.

Male Names: Anithan ("Garden" or "Gardener"), Anor ("Master"), Anthara ("Great;" often a name associated with kings), Aten ("Twilight"), Derin ("Flower"), Galeku ("Wealth"), Gedra ("Mountain"), Hanir ("One" or "First"), Kithe ("Explorer"), Metra ("Amethyst"), Mikon ("Lightning"), Milathum ("Son of Stone") Natharam ("The Sun"), Raitha ("Star"), Revalis ("Birdlike"), Satra ("Iron"), Shan ("Wind"), Sutra ("Iron" or "South"), Viga ("Peace" "Satisfied").

Female Names: Astra (Great), Athura (Master), Atrin ("Great"), Delia ("Flower"), Hana ("One" or "First"), Kafri ("Pearl"), Karin ("River"), Maishen ("Lightning"), Melia ("Beauty"), Merethe ("Ruby"), Mirne ("To succeed" or "Victorious"), Natlenie ("the Sun"), Nidia ("Light"), Phaira ("Water"), Pika ("Peace" or "Calm"), Rita ("Star"), Sheni ("Wind"), Sutra ("Iron" or "South"), Vivila ("White"), Zarie ("high")

Surnames: Ashathim, Embanet, Hananet, Heshethim, Kethim, Lenthitria, Metria, Midakhet, Minathim, Nentri, Rahat, Shafathim, Shatra, Temos, Thalom,

Ranathim Traits

Ranathim have normal builds for their ST, though they tend to be robust. Skinny and Fat are both uncommon, but exceptions do exist. Ranathim generally have red or purple skin, though white or a light greyish blue or vaguely human skin-tones, such as a deep tan, can happen too (and may be the result of crossbreeding with humanity or Keleni). Their hair tends to be red, black, white or silvery-grey; silken and straight hair is more common than thick or curly.

Ranathim are hot. They almost universally have superior levels of appearance, and rarely go below “Normal” appearance. Their attractiveness tends to be sexual, however. They tend to have very distinctly “gendered” appearances: their men are manly and their women feminine. Males often have broad shoulders, rugged jaws, chiseled musculature, and narrow hips, while Ranathim females tend be curvaceous, with broad hips and notable busts, and they tend to have delicate facial features, large eyes and long eyelashes. Those Ranathim who are extremely dimorphic have the Extreme Sexual Dimorphism perk, though it represents more than just primary or secondary sexual characteristics and goes into tertiary as well. Unlike the Keleni, though, Ranathim cap out at Very Beautiful rather than Transcendent. Androgynous Ranathim are rare (but not unheard of). Older Ranathim often retain their beauty, but sometimes they might shift to Impressive. A side effect of the nature of their beauty, Ranathim are more likely to be Salacious than other races are. Finally, those who are Unattractive or worse usually have additional deformities as well, such as Hunchback or Lame or Distinctive Feature (Misshaped Horns).

Ranathim have pointed ears and two sets of horns: two horns atop the head and two horns on the temples. The horns can vary in length and shape from small, diamond-shaped stubs to great, antler-like racks, but the most common configuration is short and flowing back, away from the face, along the lines of the skull. The horns reinforce the skull; Ranathim have skull DR of 6 rather than 2, and deal +1 crushing damage when attacking with a headbutt.

Ranathim have distinctive eyes with black sclera and gold, blue or red irises. Their eyes function very well in the dark, and they operate as well by streetlights or torches as a human would in full daylight. As a result, Ranathim often keep their abodes and temples dimly lit by human standards. They’re not necessarily overly sensitive to light, but some Ranathim might be Photosensitive and complain about how brightly lit humans keep their ships.

Ranathim psychology is driven by their vampiric hunger. They yearn for close contact with others, both social and physical. This drives their immodesty, as it invites others to touch them. It drives their desire to control others, or to be at the center of attention. They suffer no harm when their psychic energy reserves have dropped to nothing, but they feel great hunger to restore it. At the GM’s discretion, a Ranathim with a full energy reserve gains +2 to resist; one with less than half of their reserves resists at -1, those no energy reserves remaining resist at -2. Ranathim with Gluttony often overindulge in psychic energy, rather than food. Ranathim also tend to have preferences for types of psychic energy as quirks. The most common ones are the energy of particular races (the most common preferences being human, Keleni or fellow Ranathim), attractive members of the opposite sex, or of psychics with a particular power. The GM might allow Connoisseur (Psychic Energy) to allow a Ranathim to articulate well what he likes about a particular person’s energy, and to know to whom he would recommend a particular “flavor” of energy.

“All Ranathim are Hot”


The Ranathim template has Appearance (Attractive) which strongly implies that most Ranathim are good looking. In general, this simplification is fine for a single PC or NPC: the character is Attractive by default because Ranathim tend to be good looking. But if a game has several PCs or NPCs, or involves players going to worlds brimming with Ranathim, everything from Ranathim cops to Ranathim shop clerks, the characters might start to blur together in the minds of players into a generically attractive mush. This sidebar seeks to offer some ideas on how to vary Ranathim beauty, and how to approach Ranathim who aren’t especially beautiful.

The stereotypical male Ranathim is often tall, strong and noticeably well muscled. Such a character might have higher ST, Fit or better, higher HT, and possibly Classical Features (Muscular). While Ranathim tend to be too gender dimorphic to plausibly have Passing Appearance (Androgynous), they might have the Androgynous modifier on their appearance, or otherwise masculine Ranathim with a certain feminine cast to their beauty (long eye lashes, full lips, silken hair, etc) might have Classical Features (Pretty Boy). As noted in the main text, older Ranathim tend to be Impressive, and may have one of several Influence Schticks, especially Fearsome Stare or Haughty Sneer. While not technically part of the Psychic Vampirism power set, the GM might allow Ranathim to take the Presence perk from Pyramid #3/69 (page 7) as an element of their particular brand of Psychic Vampirism.

The stereotypical female Ranathim is shorter than male Ranathim, curvaceous and pretty, and needs no modification to their Appearance trait. When female Ranathim put on additional weight, they tend to it in a way optimized for attractiveness (hips, thigh and bust rather than the belly), and may see improved appearance with increased weight: consider giving an Overweight female Ranathim Classical Features (Curvaceous). More muscular Ranathim women tend not sacrifice much of their feminine appeal with the addition of strength; a high ST, Fit and high HT Ranathim woman might have Classical Features (Amazonian). Finally, smaller and more girlish Ranathim women still typically retain strong markers of their feminine maturity and wouldn’t be mistaken for a child, but might have Pitiable or at least Honest Face.

It should be noted that Ranathim do have slightly different appearance standards than humans do. While both races might wide hips and narrow waists in women or strong jaws in men, the Ranathim tend to admire a shapely or large rack of horns. Ranathim with Classical Features (Pure Ranathim) (such as the Mithanna) have pronounced “Ranathim” features, such as longer tails, more complex or more robust sets of horns, longer fangs, etc. Non-Ranathim with the Preference (Exotic Aliens) quirk should have that quirk triggered by Ranathim with the Classical Features (Pure Ranathim) perk!

Contrary to the title, not all Ranathim are hot. Like humans, Ranathim have a bell curve of beauty, theirs just happens to tilt more strongly towards attractiveness. Note that even Attractive Ranathim can still take Forgettable Face. A “painfully generic” Ranathim beauty might take a variation of the Stereotype (Ranathim) quirk. But Ranathim can have lower appearance levels. Ranathim can take Appearance (Normal) as a -4 point disadvantage or Appearance (Unattractive) as a -8 point disadvantage. Such characters are more likely to have unusual Ranathim builds, such as Skinny or Fat.

Rather than take Appearance (Unattractive) [-8], encourage Appearance (Ugly) [-12] or Appearance (Hideous) [-20]. Ranathim tend to be gorgeous or generic and uninterestingly attractive or they start to look demonic and monstrous. Those with unpleasant appearances might be dramatically unpleasant often have deformities, such as Distinctive Feature (Gnarled horns, Misshapen Teeth, Patchy Coloration, Wall Eye) or disadvantages like Hunchback or Lame.

It's Just Fatigue

Ranathim Energy Reserves and Ranathim Energy Vampirism have an intended synergy: the first encourages player characters to expend prodigious amounts of energy engaging in heroic acts of psychic or physical prowess, and the second lets them draw energy from someone else, which poses questions such as "from whom?"

The most obvious answer is to just drain fatigue from one another. After all, it’s only fatigue. The average Ranathim cannot carry more than 8 extra points, which takes a single person 80 minutes to recover from. This is fine and works as far as GURPS rules are concerned, and nothing in this sidebar is intended to say that sort of approach is necessarily inappropriate.

However, a setting conceit is that the Ranathim hunger drives drama. It is a metaphor for certain intimate acts. It offers a family-friendly explanation for why Ranathim take slaves, and what they do with pleading dancing girls behind closed curtains. It creates situations where soldiers may revolt unless their “appetites” are fed. It causes romantic tension among young Ranathim as they squabble over who feeds from who. Given all of this, the notion Ranathim energy reserves are just fatigue seems to undermine a lot of this drama. This isn’t necessarily a problem, especially for less story-driven Psi-Wars games (a “Saturday Morning Psi-Wars” doesn’t really care from whom the Ranathim hero gets his energy reserves), but the following observations and optional rules may help GMs who want to emphasize the metaphorical nature of Ranathim energy vampirism and ramp up its potential for social drama.

  • It’s Intimate: Just because players see fatigue exchange as an accounting game doesn’t mean the characters do. Ranathim culturally and psychologically see vampirism as analogous to intimate acts like deeply kissing especially if things like Pleasurable Theft are involved. Sure, two Ranathim guys could drain from one another, but they might shy away from it as much as a straight human male might shy away from kissing another male. GMs who want to emphasize this aspect can apply a +1 to resist Uncontrollable Appetite (or not even require the roll) when it involves romantically incompatible target and apply a -1 to resist Uncontrollable Apptite (or only require rolls) when it involves a romantically compatible target. Furthermore, the GM can apply a -1 to any Ranathim Energy Vampirism rolls that don’t involve kissing or other very close and personal acts (this brings it down from +4 to +3, which is equivalent to normal Steal Energy with “unnecessary skin-to-skin contact”)
  • It’s Exhausting: A player character may not view the loss of a fatigue point as a particularly critical issue, after all, he has many more, but the loss of a single point of fatigue should be qualitatively palpable to the character. One fatigue is the equivalent sprinting for 15 to 30 seconds or missing a meal. Two fatigue feels like hiking for an hour or staying up late. Three fatigue feels like missing a full night of sleep, or missing all meals for a day. 8 fatigue, on average reduces a character to being unable to move normally, and 10+ fatigue will knock the average character unconscious. Characters aren’t always willing to give up that amount of fatigue! GMs who want to emphasize his can make fatigue taken this way recover more slowly and require something like a meal or sleep to recover. The Last Gasp’s recovery times synergizes well with Ranathim Vampirism, making the cost worse, and the benefits greater in comparison! Another relatively simple option is to address energy lost to Ranathim energy vampirism as "Long Term Fatigue Points" from GURPS After the End, which recover at a rate of 4 per day.
  • It’s Dangerous: Worse, it’s always possible that a Ranathim will lose control while draining and take too much. Some Ranathim have huge energy reserves and even when they don’t, Uncontrollable Appetite might result in them taking more than they have in reserves! Remember, if a character loses more than their FP totals, they start taking damage. You can even kill someone with sufficient energy drain! If that’s not bad enough, psychic contact can spread psychic diseases. Psi-Wars has quite a few, but Lithian Fever is explicitly spread this way. Energy vampirism is a bit like unprotected intimate acts and can spread unwanted illnesses around! If PCs get too cavalier, the GM can hit them with a disease, or give someone else a disease.
  • It’s Invasive: The target of Energy Vampirism rolls Will to resist for a reason. It is a direct and undesired invasion of the target’s mind. Unless it involves Pleasurable Theft, it is likely an unpleasant experience, and even if the target doesn’t notice, they might have an instinctive distaste for someone poking around in their head. Psychic Vampirism also gives the vampire some of the target’s personality traits. A GM who wants to emphasize its invasive nature might expand those rules to include other traits temporarily gained (such as obsession with or addiction to the target of the drain) or give the target some traits depending on how much energy is drained.

Slave masters who keep a Ranathim slave often use their Uncontrollable Appetite against them. Anti-Psi collars prevent Ranathim from indulging in their appetites and this can drive them crazy. A slave who obeys his master and earns their indulgence might be allowed enough time off of their collar to feed. But a wise slave-owner is careful about this tactic, because this stolen energy feeds into their psychic energy reserves. If a Ranathim cannot drain psionic energy for extended periods of time (for example, they’re a slave wearing a psi-restraint collar), the GM may temporarily give them a disadvantage worth at least -7; common examples include Bad Temper, Compulsive Behaviors associated with eating (such as eating chalk or dirt), Chronic Depression, Chronic Pain, Nightmares or On the Edge.

Beyond this singular hunger, the Ranathim aren’t so different from the other races of the Galaxy. To be sure, they are a passionate race, driven by their id. But despite their depictions in action holovids, this does not necessarily make them monsters. Ranathim passions run hot: they love, hate and hunger with greater intensity than humans do, but they still feel the same emotions that humans do. And while these passions are common, they’re not universal: many Ranathim practice strict self-control, or indulge in their vice only in carefully controlled ways, lest their enemies gain power over them. And even when they are passionate, it tends to be excessive in only one direction: a Ranathim might be particularly lusty, or particularly greedy, or particularly arrogant, but rarely all three at once. A general rule of thumb for Ranathim psychology is not that it’s especially different from human psychology, just that the Ranathim are more prone to drama than humans are.

Ranathim have an ancient culture and are the progenitors of the Lithian culture, but they are no longer its masters. In the majority of the galaxy, where humanity or other races dominate, they tend to form ethnic enclaves where they live as outsiders. Within the Umbral Rim, they mingle with other Lithian cultures, though they still face some chauvinism from what Imperial presence has managed to penetrate so far into the Umbral Rim, and they tend to be popular targets for slave raids. In a game set entirely in the Umbral Rim, the GM might dispense with Social Stigma (Alien Outsider).

Common Advantage: Acute Smell/Taste +1 to +4 [2/level], Appearance (Beautiful, Very Beautiful) [8 or 12], Extreme Sexual Dimorphism [1], Ranathim Blood-Scent 1-3 [4, 11 or 17], Ranathim Energy Reserves 6 to 20 [1.5/level], Pleasurable Theft [1], Prehensile Tail [8], Psychic Vampirism Talent +2 to +5 [5/level], Weak Psi Latency (Telepathy or Psychokinesis) [1]

Common Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10*], Bully [-5*], Compulsive Carousing [-5*], Gluttony [-5*], Greed [-15*], Impulsiveness [-10], Jealousy [-10], Lecherousness [-15*], Overconfidence [-5*], Photosensitive [-1], Psychic Energy Preference [-1], Reduced Energy Reserves [-1.5/level], Salacious [-1], Selfish [-5*], or Trickster [-15], or reduce self-control rating of Uncontrollable Appetite (12, 9 or 6) [-8, -15 or -23]

Godlike Extra-Effort

Ranathim may use Godlike Extra-Effort (GURPS Powers p 160) on physical effort rolls, including improving their BL, their running speed and their jumping distance. They may not use Godlike Extra-Effort when using Extra-Effort in Combat (B357), but may in some cases double up their FP expenditure for additional benefits. They may still only use one offensive and one defensive option per turn. The following options may be "doubled up" with the following rules:

  • Feverish Defense: The second FP adds +1 to defense, not +2, for a total of +3 defense for 2 FP.
  • Flurry of Blows: The second FP halves the rapid strike penalty a second time down to -1. It is not compatible with Trained by a Master or Weapon Master
  • Giant Step: The second FP allows a second step.
  • Mighty Blows: The second FP adds +1 damage per die or +2 damage as normal.

Passionate Psi

Whenever the character fails to resist a mental disadvantage with a self-control value (voluntarily or otherwise), the character gains +1 to his psionic rolls for every -5 points the disadvantage is worth. This works best when using the Ham Clause.

Ranathim Energy Reserves

1.5/level

All Ranathim have natural psychic energy reserves. These count as points of fatigue that can be spent on any use of a psychic power; this includes paying for any fatigue cost associated with a power, paying for Extra-Effort, or paying for techniques. They may also use these energy reserves to power their own physical extra effort, including Extra Effort in Combat. See Godlike Extra Effort above. Ranathim Energy Reserves may also pay for any fatigue penalties accrued from attacks on psychic energy: if a psychic vampire drains a Ranathim of their fatigue, or an Anti-Psi character uses a fatigue-damaging attack, the Ranathim can choose to pay the costs out of their Energy Reserves rather than their own fatigue.

Ranathim Energy Reserves do not recover naturally. They can only be refilled with stolen fatigue gained via psychic vampirism, such as Ranathim Energy Vampirism.

Ranathim Energy Reserves vary considerably from individual to individual; those with higher levels of energy reserves tend to be seen as more powerful and talented than those with less. The value listed in the template is a good default value for heroic characters. Less important, less powerful, or less psychically talented characters may have less, while more powerful characters can have substantially more. A suggested upper limit is twice the Ranathim’s own fatigue. Characters may purchase more at 1.5/level, or take Reduced Energy Reserves as a disadvantage at -1.5/level.

Statistics: Energy Reserve (Psi; Regenerate with Steal Energy Only -70%, Extended Source, Physical Extra Effort +20%) [1.5]

Ranathim Energy Vampirism

free*/2/4/6/7/9/10 for levels 1-7
Skill: Steal Energy (Will/H); Defaults to Will-6!

All Ranathim have the ability to drain “energy” from a target that they touch, skin to skin. After 1d seconds of complete skin to skin contact, the Ranathim rolls their Steal Energy skill at +4 and their target rolls Will. If the Ranathim wins, their target loses 1 point of fatigue, and the Ranathim can restore one point of energy reserves (unless the target is an animal without psionic energy reserves, in which case 3 fatigue is necessary to restore 1 energy reserves point). Additional levels decrease the time necessary for this closeness: 2 seconds at level 2, 1 second at level 3, and each level after that increases the amount of fatigue drained per second up to the Ranathim’s Energy Vampirism level-2 (so 2 points at level 4, 3 at level 5, and so on).

This is a variation on the Steal Energy psychic vampirism power. This ability still uses the Steal Energy skill, but because Ranathim have the ability naturally, they may use it as a default of Will-6, and their Talent applies, so in practice all Ranathim can use Energy Vampirism at Will-5. It benefits from Psychic Vampirism perks, including Pleasant Theft and Poison Charm. It might benefit from hypothetical Steal Energy techniques, but nothing can improve its range; Ranathim Energy Vamprism always involves close contact. Characters who want to drain targets at a range should take Steal Energy instead.

Ranathim Energy Vampirism is sufficiently different from Steal Energy that a Ranathim can take both; in such a case Ranathim Energy Vampirism becomes an alternate ability, which effectively reduces the cost of the Ranathim Template. Replace Ranathim Energy Vampirism with the following:

  • Ranathim Energy Vampirism 1 (as alternate ability) [-4]
  • Ranathim Energy Vampirism 2 or 3 (as alternate ability) [-3]
  • Ranathim Energy Vampirism 4, 5, 6 or 7 (as alternate ability) [-2]

Statistics: Leech 1 (Accelerated Healing (Accessible, only against Sapients or creatures with Psionic Energy Reserves -20%) +20%, Contact Agent -30%, Nuisance effect, Can transfer personality traits -5%; Only heals Energy Reserve -20%, Psychic Vampirism -10%, Reliable +4 +20%, Requires Will Roll (Resistable with Will) -15%, Steal FP -25%, Takes Extra Time 2 -20%) [5]; level 2 removes one level Takes Extra Time [7]; level three removes all Extra Time [9]; level 4 increases the amount drained to 1d-2; level 5 increases this to 1d-1; level 6 to 1d; level 7 to 1d+1 fatigue.

*This power is free for Ranathim, as it’s part of their racial package.

Ranathim Passion

As part of his racial template, a Ranathim may choose a Passion Disadvantage. If they take a disadvantage from that list, they may increase their disadvantage limit by the lower of the disadvantage value of that passion disadvantage, or by 10, whichever is less. For example, a Ranathim that takes Bully (12 or less) [-5] may have up to -55 points of disadvantages rather than -50, including his Bully disadvantage. A Ranathim that takes Lecherous (12 or less) [-15] may have up to -60 points of disadvantages, including his Lecherous disadvantage. Passion Disadvantages are entirely optional. Many Ranathim have them, but they can also overcome them and buy them off.

Passion Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10*], Bully [-5*], Compulsive Carousing [-5*], Gluttony [-5*], Greed [-15*], Jealousy [-10], Lecherousness [-15*], Selfish [-5*].

Ranathim Skull

This is a combined trait that bundles several advantages. In principle, a Ranathim’s teeth do normal, cutting damage for a bite, they have 6 skull DR, and they inflict +1 crushing damage with a headbutt, which counts as a weapon (that is, the horn will break before the Ranathim takes damage from the attack, and the horns can be targeted; treat them as a -5 to hit).

Statistics: Iron Skull 4 [0.8]; Natural Weapons (Sharp Teeth; Cutting; Singular -20%; Cannot Parry -40%) [1]; Striker (Horns, thr+1; Cannot Parry -40%; Crushing; limited arc, forward -40%) [0.2].

Power-Ups

Prehensile Tail

8 points

All Ranathim have tails, but some have especially long and dexterous ones. These can prove useful, if delicate. Treat them as a spare hand with half the body ST that cannot make attacks. This must be taken at character creation.

Statistics: Replace Tail [0] with Extra Arm (Extra-Flexible +50%; No Attack -50%; Weak, ½ ST -25%) [8]

Perks

Extreme Sexual Dimorphism

Ranathim tend to have exaggerated dimorphism. Ranathim men are often very masculine, with exceptionally broad shoulders, sturdy jaws, rugged features and narrow waist, while Ranathim women tend to have generous hips and busts, long legs, large eyes, and delicate faces. This may only be chosen at character creation (Note that, contrary to Bio-Tech’s description, this is not necessarily limited to “male primary sexual characteristics or female secondary characteristics", but applies to all dimorphic traits).

Latent Telepathy

Many Ranathim have a natural talent for Telepathy. This must be taken at character creation, but given how subtle psionic latency can be, at the GM’s discretion, this may be retroactively applied after character creation (the character was “always telepathic, and just didn’t know”).

Latent Psychokinesis

While less common than Telepathy, many Ranathim have latent psychokinesis. This must be taken at character creation, but may be applied retroactively at the GM’s discretion, as per Latent Telepathy.

Unique Ranathim Psychic Powers

Ranathim Blood-Scent

8/15/22 points
Skill: Ranathim Blood-Scent (Per/H)

Ranathim have a reputation for having keen noses, but this is an extension of their psychic vampirism and their predatory hunger for psychic energy. They can detect psychic energy, but many Ranathim perceive it as a scent rather than a visible aura. This scent is stronger on blood, allowing them to pick up the scent of blood easily. Those who hone their senses further can even scent emotions on the blood or psychic energy of others.

At level 1, the Ranathim can reflexively smell that blood is present or that a psychic is present. They cannot determine where the “scent” comes from, only that they smell it. At level 2, they gain the ability to determine the direction from which the scent of blood or psychic energy comes from; furthermore, if their perception roll succeeds by 3 or more, they also pick up the emotions of the bleeding or psychic person. Finally, at level 3, after they have detected blood or psychic energy, they automatically detect the psychic or bleeding target’s emotions, and can roll an IQ-based Blood-Scent roll to analyze what they smell further: success will tell them the blood-type of the target, or what powers they have, or what their psychic power level is and what sorts of powers they might have.

In all cases, if the target is both psychic and bleeding, add +2 to the Perception or Analysis roll. If the Ranathim can taste the blood, they gain a +2 to analyze it or sense the emotions of the target. Acute Sense of Smell/Taste adds its bonus to perception, as normal.

Statistics: The first level is Detect Psis (Occasional; Psychic Vampirism -10%; Reliable +2 (Blood Agent -40%) +6%; Reflexive +40%; Smell-Based, Reversed -20%; Vague -50%) [7] and Detect Blood (Rare; Psychic Vampirism -10%; Reliable +2 (Accessibility, psychic blood only -40%) +6%; Reflexive +40%; Smell-Based, Reversed -20%; Vague -50%) [1] as an alternate ability; the second level replaces Vague with No Analyzing for [+4] and adds Sensitive (Target is Psychic or Target is Bleeding -20%; Linked, Detect +10%; Psychic Vampirism -10%; Smell-Based, Reversed -20%) [3]; the third level removes No Analyzing from both and replaces Sensitive with Empathy (Target is Psychic or Target is Bleeding -20%; Linked, Detect +10%; Psychic Vampirism -10%; Smell-Based, Reversed -20%) for [+7]

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