I finally got back to the chaktak to do a second draft and thought I’d share the results and a couple of comments on the process. Comments and feedback are welcome, but I’ll be setting this down now to work on the next race and won’t get back to it til I do the third draft of the entire book. I’m not planning on presenting any other races here, but at some point I’ll make the game available for anyone interested in looking at it.
I found that while the format I previously employed was useful for the design process, it did not do a good job of presenting the information in a clear manner. I ended up reorganizing and splitting the material into 3 sections for different parts of the game book, one for chargen, one for the setting description, and one for the narrator section. The intent is that players only need to read the chargen section, but the setting section is there for additional info if they want it.
While I still intend to use nonstandard races for my game, I’m starting to see the wisdom of using the ones everyone knows. This was kind of a lot of work and I felt like I was writing a textbook. If I was using dwarves in the game, I could just say “they’re dwarves” and add a few mechanics and be done with it.
I will really, really need some good drawings for these guys.
You’ll probably notice that I incorporated many of the comments and ideas from this thread, so thanks to those who contributed.
So before the description, here are a couple of blurbs from the rules that are necessary to understand the mechanics.
Talents
Talents reflect a character’s innate abilities. Each hero starts with seven points that can be distributed among the talents as desired, subject to the limitation that no more than five points may be put into a single talent.
The talents are
Attack - used for all physical attacks
Defense - used to defend against all attacks
Athletics - used for mobility and feats of strength
Guile - used for stealth and deception
Sense - for perception, navigation, and survival
Magic - used to perform magical arts
Races and talents
The various races have strengths and weaknesses as compared to humanity with respect to talents. If a talent is strong, then a new hero must allocate at least one point to that talent, and may allocate up to six. If a talent is weak, then no more than four points may be initially allocated to that talent.
And here is the description...
CHARGEN SECTION
Chaktak heroes (need pic)
Chaktak are amphibians with a chitinous exoskeleton, segmented into three flattened ovoids. They can breathe in air and saltwater, but not fresh water. When standing, with a height of about five feet, their segments are arranged in a “Z” shape, giving them a centauroid appearance, and when swimming, assisted by powerful fins on their back, their segments fall into a straight line. They have four legs attached to the nether segment and four arms on the center segment, while the upper segment serves as a head.
While a chaktak’s appearance is disturbing to many humans, those who get to know them find them friendly, cooperative, and helpful. Chaktaks dislike interpersonal conflict, and will often simply leave unnoticed if their social environment is uncomfortable.
A chaktak will always have a plan for what to do if a danger appears, and will assume that others do the same, even if it knows intellectually that those of other races probably won’t. While chaktak enjoy humans’ enterprise and initiative, they find them to be dangerously careless and shortsighted.
Chaktaks are the master craftsmen and artists of the new world.
Mechanics
Chaktaks are strong in the sense talent and weak in athletics.
Due to their hard shell, they have +2 natural armor, but they only recover 3 points of health per full rest.
Chaktak are strong natural swimmers, and gain +2 spaces to any swim movement. They must also place at least one point in the swimming skill.
Chaktak are vulnerable to adverse environments and take double fatigue loss from heat, cold, and exposure.
SETTING SECTION
Chaktak
Physical (really, really need pix)
Chaktak are amphibians with a chitinous exoskeleton, segmented into three flattened ovoids. They are comfortable in air and saltwater, but cannot breathe in fresh water.
When standing on a surface in air or underwater, they arrange their segments in a “Z” shape, giving them a centauroid appearance about five feet tall and three feet long. The lower segment has four legs used for locomotion, each ending in a point. The center segment has an upper pair of arms with small hands for delicate work, and a larger lower pair of arms for heavy labor. The top segment is the head, housing the mouth, sensory organs, and mandibles used both for eating and very fine physical manipulation.
When swimming, the segments are arranged in a straight line, and the arms and legs are tucked close to the body. The central and rear segments each have a pair of hard swim fins similar to a ladybug’s wings, which when extended make the chaktak strong swimmers. When the chaktak is standing, the fins are tucked in to the body and are indistinguishable from the rest of the exoskeleton.
Chaktak bodies are rough and bumpy with dull colors: grey, brown, green, and blue. Mottled combinations of two colors are not uncommon. The fins, when extended, are translucent and appear similar to stained glass windows in abstract patterns. It is very common for chaktaks to paint small images, symbols, and designs on their bodies in bright pastel colors.
On close examination, the seemingly monolithic exoskeleton can be seen to be composed of individual plates. The plates grow as the chaktak ages, and can heal or be discarded and regrown if injured. Chaktak take longer to heal if seriously injured than humans. They live to an age of about 130 years, and are fully functional until the last year.
Mental (motivations, strengths, and weaknesses)
Chaktaks are defensive minded and tend to be cautious in most matters. They always have a plan in mind to deal with potential dangers. Their settlements are fortresses, and have hidden bolt-holes leading out on both the water and land sides. They prefer to flee and hide rather than fight in dangerous situations, but are fierce if cornered. They are slightly agorophobic.
Chaktak have a drive to create beauty. Anything they make most be both functional and elegant. They generally prefer simple, elegant designs to ornateness.
Chaktaks greatly value social tranquility. They have a stronger drive to cooperate than humans, and humans find them to have warm, helpful personalities. While they will follow authority they have assented to, they will fiercely resist having another’s will imposed on them at an individual, group, or societal level. Bullies may find themselves mobbed by a group of chaktaks, and more than one warlord has attempted to conquer a chaktak settlement only to find it abandoned as its entire population relocated.
Once they have made up their mind on a subject, they resist changing it. If offended, they are slow to forgive. They tend to be more susceptible to social pressure than humans. They are judgmental of correctable ugliness of any sort and poor craftsmanship. Either will cause them to think poorly of the individual involved.
Social organization
Chaktak families consist of a male/female pair that produces offspring, their four to six eldest children, and six to ten younger children. The eldest children will remain with their parents for their entire lives and tend not to reproduce. The younger children leave their families and form their own homes once they fully physically mature, at an age of about 30 years.
Each settlement has a leading council with about 1 member per 100 adult chaktaks in the settlement. Council members are chosen by discussion and consensus among groups of chaktak, and make decisions in the same way. This works well for the chaktak, though it probably wouldn’t work at all for humans. In an emergency a single decisive leader may be chosen. Chaktak form commercial houses of three to 50 individuals for endeavors such as farming and craft production.
Each city, town, and village is independent, with no nation or larger governmental unit tying them together, though settlements commonly cooperate on projects of mutual interest.
Territory (population, settlements, environmental impact, buildings)
The chaktaks live in settlements along saltwater coasts, always half in and half out of the water. Of the estimated one hundred thousand chaktak in the new world, about twenty thousand live in human cities. The remainder inhabit four cities of about ten thousand, eleven towns of about one thousand, and numerous smaller villages and settlements ranging in size down to twenty chaktak. The old world holds chaktak cities with populations in the tens of thousands, but none of that size exist in the new world.
Chaktak settlements tend to be long and narrow, following the coast. Chaktak develop the land side of their territory only minimally, with a perimeter cleared around each settlement for defensive purposes and firewood, and possibly a few orchards. The chaktak only rarely build roads, instead relying on ships and undersea travel for transportation. On the underwater side of settlements, they create extensive farms, both of animal and plant varieties.
Buildings are made of stone and cement, and are similar in appearance to pueblos. Their exteriors are rough and painted in natural colors, similar to surrounding rocks and sand, but the interiors are painted in bright pastel colors with simple, elegant patterns. Larger towns and cities will have buildings up to five stories tall, and all chaktak buildings have multiple basements with connecting tunnels between them. All chaktak settlements have a stone and cement wall.
Recent History
Groups of chaktak accompanied Tacha humans from the old world, mostly in a support rather than adventurous role. While old world chaktak cities are spectacular places of beauty and learning, since they reproduce relatively slowly, new world settlements have grown slowly compared to those of other races. Trouble brewed when the Saeng family rose to leadership among the new world Tacha. While the previous rulers treated the chaktak as equal partners, the Saeng dynasty attempted to treat them as subjects, imposing their will upon them. Almost the entire chaktak population of the Tacha cities departed almost overnight, some creating their own settlements up and down the coast and some moving to Cosk or Solund lands. The new world Tacha economy nearly collapsed, and after extensive negotiation, some chaktak consented to return. Since this event, most rulers have tended towards a hands-off approach to chaktak within their borders.
Industry (Technology, Professions, Economy, Trade)
Chaktaks have the most advanced technology in the new world: their most advanced devices include small steam engines used to power machines in manufactories and highly accurate mechanical clocks. Chaktaks steel and cloth are highly valued because of closely held methods used to give them exceptional strength and durability, as well as a resistance to degradation from exposure to saltwater.
The chaktak are widely considered to have the best artisans and artists in the new world. They do well with their underwater farms, but are lackluster at best in raising food on land. They also tend to be less proficient in professions dealing with harvesting natural resources, such as logging and mining. Professional soldiers are very rare among the chaktak, due to both their distaste for the hierarchical organizations required and their aversion to danger.
Chaktak have a traditional monetary economy and trade extensively with other communities. They buy raw goods from other races and sell them finished goods, especially arms and armor, tools, furniture, and art.
Because wealth is shared evenly within an enterprise and within a family, their rich/poor divide tends to be much smaller than that of humans.
Relations with other races
Chaktak and humans tend to get along well together, both on a personal and societal level. Their is a mutual mistrust with the Kohbi, due to their generally lawless nature and previous conflicts. Chaktak also find the mizvete likeable, though they are confused by their stories, behavior, and humor.
Social Behavior (values and some sample customs, crime and justice)
Cooperation, peace, and tranquility are valued highly. Change and new things are treated with caution and distrust. Generosity and self improvement are encouraged.
A chaktak will always offer food when visited, even in a store or factory. Also, while food is bought and sold, any chaktak will share food with anyone in need without recompense. Every four years each settlement has a maturation festival, where children of at least 30 years old are promoted to adult status. There is a weeklong festival, at the end of which the new adults move to new homes within the settlement or depart. (about 50/50). The chaktak paint their buildings in one to three bright pastel colors, blue and white being the most common.
Crime is rare among the chaktak, and violent crime is rarer still. Those convicted of property crimes are required to make restitution and enter a period of service to the community under the direction of the council, which can range from several days to years. Violent crimes are punished by banishment, as is refusal to serve a service sentence. Banished chaktak who engage in further crimes against the community may be executed.
Culture (Language, Food, Clothing, Art, Religion, Recreation)
The chaktaks have their own language, primarily consisting of hard consonants and clicks, but all but the youngest speak patois, and proficiency in other languages is common.
Chaktak harvest fish and kelp from underwater farms. Most settlements will also have a small fishing fleet. They cultivate orchards near their towns. They enjoy vegetables but do not grow them themselves.
Chaktak have little need for covering and protection because of their tough shells but they wear vests and belts for the pockets. Small symbols and patterns painted on their bodies in bright pastel are common.
Chaktak work in every artistic medium, but are best known for metalworking and glass. They tend towards simple, elegant form and bright pastel colors in abstract patterns.
Most chaktaks are religious and regularly attend to their devotions.
Arts and crafts are both work and recreation to the chaktak. Sea turtles and dolphins are common pets and companions. Music, strategy games, and a sport akin to swimming touch football are popular pastimes.
Combat
When chaktak fight in an organized fashion, they use phalanxes with shields and spears. When this is not practical, they will use weapons that are effective against their thick shells, such as picks and axes. They have a strong preference for fighting defensively, especially from fortifications or in narrow tunnels. When swimming, they wield spears, employing their speed in the water to execute hit and run attacks.
Cultural/regional variations
The kritak are a freshwater variant of the chaktak. They control several old world regions with large inland lakes and river valleys. While similar to the chaktak, they are larger, xenophobic, and aggressive within their territory. Since they do not get along with other races and cannot cross the ocean on their own, none have made the trip to the new world.
NARRATOR SECTION
Chaktak
Rationale for encounters
There are a variety of reasons for the heroes to seek out chaktak. High quality weapons, arms, and equipment are made by the chaktak and are available for sale. They are also an attractive market for the sale of valuable raw materials, such as metal, gems, and fine wood, often willing to pay more than market price for such. Chaktak settlements are useful refuges in otherwise hostile territory. The chaktak are welcoming to visitors that behave well, and their towns are very well defended. Finally the chaktak have a history of hiring groups of other races for missions of various sorts, since they prefer to stay home themselves.
Individuals encountered
While the chaktak description in the Setting section describes most individuals the heroes will meet reasonably well, individuals can vary significantly. The further a character is from chaktak society, the greater the likely variance. Chaktak living among other races tend to take on some of their attitudes and values. Those traveling in small groups such as trade caravans and oceangoing ships will be much bolder than usual. Solo chaktaks met by the heroes are likely to be exiled criminals.
Complications
A hero who offends a chaktak through violation of his social norms may find that all of the chaktak associated with him become uncooperative: prices are raised, inns are suddenly “full,” needed craftsmen are unavailable, and so on. Heroes whom the chaktak find admirable can encounter an opposite problem: pestering by chaktak trying to be helpful. In a few cases individuals have taken advantage of chaktak culture by first ingratiating themselves, then using the chaktaks’ cooperativeness to manipulate them into activities not in their own best interest,
Racial secrets
Every race can have secrets, most known by at most a few individuals. Here are a few examples of chaktak secrets the narrator can choose for his game. One or more of these may be true in a particular game, and the narrator is free to make up his own.
• The secret of the chaktaks’ saltwater-proof weapons grade steel is a tiny amount of their own blood. Placing a drop of blood in molten metal is a chaktak tradition. Even they don’t know what it does.
• Chaktak saltwater-proof textiles come from a particular type of kelp grown in deep, hidden farms.
• Chaktak and kritak are actually the same race, with the physical and psychological differentiation brought about by incubating eggs in fresh or salt water.
• Executed criminals are eaten by the community.
• Chaktak children receive a portion of the memories of their parents.
• Hidden communities of chaktak exist in deep underwater caves. Certain plants convert seawater into breathable air.