From: Manuel Haendler <Haend@worldnet.att.net> 
Subject: <NEW> <NPC> <PW> Dr. Talman Derrer
"I used to be one of the CCW's highest-ranking archeologists. Whenever
some colonist or explorer stumbled over something really old or really big, I
was the first one sent in. The science division really trusted my skills, my
initiative, and my loyalty. They thought that I could handle just about
anything. Damn fools didn't know that some things are just too frightening for
any sane man to handle."
"The dig site was back on Colus VII. It was an unbelievably inhospitable
planet. Searing hot clouds of gas rolled over the landscape during the
eighteen hour day, and during the twenty hour night the temperature got
awfully close to absolute zero. The indigenous lifeforms were few and far
between, and let me tell you, they were nasty bastards indeed. In terms of
pure horror, though, they didn't beat the dig. Not by a long shot. Y'see,
some miner looking for underground pockets of oxygen happened to come across
an underground structure with his scanners. The structure was as big as a
small city, and by the depth of rock it was buried in, it must have been
hundreds of thousands of years old. He reported it, of course, and me and my
team were sent in to investigate."
"It took us a week to dig down to the structure, and another week to
carve through the hull. It was made of this weird metal, and was slimy and
sticky somehow. Nothing could make much of a dent in it, so we just decided
to keep on drilling away with the laser cutters until the thing gave in.
Then, when we finally got inside, we saw the insides of the place. You've seen
a rift before, right? Some people think that the things are beautiful, but I
think they're abominations. You look at them, and it looks like they're taunting
you, saying, "Here I am, a rip in the fabric of space and time and I'm here to
tell you that every rule of physics and science you ever knew is wrong! Don't
trust me, well just jump in through and see what kind of hellish fantasy world
you wind up in! Everything is real through me, boyo!" Anyway, there were glass
tubes running along all of the walls, and rifts were just flowing through the
tubes like water going through a pipe."
"I was staring at the rift-tubes like a damn fool, when suddenly I heard
Zoju screaming. He was a noro, but was made of pretty stern stuff. I never
thought I'd hear him scream. But then I turned around, and saw that some sort
of a claw had grown right out of the wall and was digging into his throat right
through his armor. He shrivelled up like a raisin, right inside his vacuum suit,
and slumped to the ground. Then, the claw stretched over to another tube of
some sort. I saw...something horrible in the tube. It was like a spider or
something, except that it had well over a hundred legs. And its face...its face
was too human for me to feel comfortable. The claw shoved itself into an
opening at the bottom of the tube, and suddenly the tube filled up with light.
And suddenly, the thing opened up its eyes. And it smiled at me."
"I looked around, and saw that there were hundreds, maybe thousands more
of those monsters sleeping safely in their capsules. Suddenly, a few dozen
more of those claws grew out of the walls and started snapping at me and my
men. A few of my friends were taken by surprise and died instantly, their
life energy going to wake up the monsters. A few of my friends tried to fight
them. But seeing as how it had taken our laser cutter a full week to make a
hole in their wall, you can guess that our laser pistols didn't do much. I
ran. I'm not proud of it, but if I hadn't panicked and ran, I'd have been
killed for sure. I got out of the place, up to our camp. I thought it would
be safe there, that the monsters were trapped down a thousand feet under
the surface. But then I saw one of the claws peeking its way out of the hole
we had made. I ran to our shuttle and lifted off, never more to set foot on
Colus VII. Oh, and before I left I set our camp's portable nuclear energy
generator to explode. The blast wouldn't destroy the bastards, but at least it
belched up enough radiation to keep other people away. I didn't fancy the idea
of anyone else getting close enough to get their souls sucked out."
"Ever since then, I've been thinking about what those things might have
been. And based on how old they were and how advanced their technology was and
the fact that lots of holy books with unpronounceable names say that Colus VII
was a stronghold of the ancient gods, I think it's a safe bet to say that I ran
into a pack of the First Ones. They're not dead. They never died. They just
went into hiding. Why? I've been thinking about that, too."
"If the First Race need to suck out the life energy of other sentient
beings
for sustenance, then their great culture would have needed constant conquest
in order to stay alive. I think that countless millenia ago, they overfished
the universe. Killed so many people that they didn't have enough left to eat
anymore. So, they decided to go into hibernation. They created the Cosmic Forge
and the Cosmo-Knights to keep their universe in line until they could return.
The Forge would prevent any other races from becoming powerful enough to
resist the First Race. Remember the Star-Killers? They became too powerful, and
every last one of them was wiped out by the Cosmo-Knights. Genocide. Remember
the Machinists? Well, I've got no proof, but I think that the Knights may've had
something to do with the Star-Killers going after them. Take care of two
threats for the price of one. Convenient, eh?"
"Anyway, I think that once the Three Galaxies are full of life again,
the First will return. Once there's enough of us to sustain their damn hunger
for another 'Golden Age', they're going to come back in force. And the way
that everyone sucks up to them due to the poncey myths of benevolence which
the Forge probably created (and which its Knights enforce), I wouldn't be
surprised in the least if about 90% of the population offered their lives for
the great priviledge of being lunch."
"Think about it, though. Why does every myth gloss over any faults
of the First Race? Why does the Forge take so many pains to conceal its
location? And why would a super-advanced race not realize that something as
potent as the Forge could be turned into a weapon that would destroy them
all? It doesn't add up, my friend. It doesn't add up at all."
Dr. Talman Derrer was one of the greatest archaeologists of the CCW.
He was considered to be the greatest living expert in ancient cultures, and
his merest opinions were taken as inconvertible fact by hundreds of his
students and colleagues. He had a zest for his work, and liked nothing better
than the discovery of some extinct culture. Derrer saw himself as a caretaker
of the past, whose duty was to determine the truth about past events. In some
cases, this drew heat, when his findings contradicted the holy books or
state-approved histories of many races. More often, his view of duty drew
him acclaim and awards.
On an inhospitable mining planet called Colus VII, Derrer found himself
confronted with the most controversial piece of ancient lore that he had
ever discovered. He unearthed the wreckage of an ancient, underground base
which may have once belonged to the mythical First Race. The age of the base
and the levels of technology that he found there ruled out the possibility of
any other known civilization creating it. Only the First Ones could have
constructed such a wonder.
Unfortunately, the contents of the base were as horrific as any creation
of the Old Ones. The walls themselves came alive and attacked Derrer's co-
workers, killing them and using their life energy to rejuvenate cryogenically
stored creatures. Those creatures were obscene, alien, and reeked of ancient
evil. Derrer panicked and fled, with the monsters hot on his heels. He
exploded a thermonuclear device to keep others away from the site (and hopefully
to damage his tormentors a bit) and then flew away as fast as his ship could
carry him.
Later, Derrer decided that the beings must have been the First Ones
themselves. He also concluded that if they had been First Ones, that the
mythic race must have been a society of unfeeling, murderous monsters.
Everything began to fall into place! If the beings required life energy to
sustain themselves, it was quite possible that they would run out of beings
to devour during their first 'Golden Age'. The sensible solution to this
problem would be to hibernate until sentients repopulated the Three Galaxies.
Until then, they left the Cosmic Forge as a babysitter, to make sure that none
of the new races attained enough power to challenge the First upon their return.
It would even ensure that the ancient evil ones were loved and worshipped, so
that collecting the harvest of souls would be even easier. Derrer was disturbed
by what he deduced, but it seemed too logical to ignore. He recommended in his
report that Colus VII and all places of suspected First One activity be placed
off limits, that all Cosmo-Knights be expelled from CCW space, and that steps
were taken to prepare for a war of cosmic proportions.
These recommendations were laughed at. Many people hinted that the
tragedy of losing his team had unhinged Derrer's mind. Some religious groups
demanded that the archaeologist be removed from his position for insulting
their faith. Others suggested that he be jailed as a possible traitor to the
CCW, for spreading libel about the Cosmo-Knights. Derrer lost his career,
his reputation, and his funding because he refused to stop warning people
about something which he saw as a danger. One day, he simply disappeared from
his house, leaving behind a note saying that he would keep on fighting 'the
conspiracy of the Forge-born monsters' until the day that he died. All of his
finest possessions had been sold off, and his bank accounts were empty. As
Derrer was quite wealthy, the local authorities cautioned that he might attempt
to buy weapons in order to pursue his jihad. A bounty was put out for the arrest
of the archaeologist, and his name was added to a list of suspected CCW
traitors, radicals, and terrorists.
Ever since then, Derrer has been travelling around the Three Galaxies,
visiting sights of suspected First Ones activities and investigating cults
devoted to the First Ones or the Cosmic Forge. His studies have turned up many
such religious organizations performing illegal operations, ranging from
simple embezzlement by church leaders to human sacrifices! He has always kept
one step ahead of the authorities and tracers, and has so far managed to
remain out of prison. The man is very wiley, and can change his identity at the
drop of a hat. He always keeps moving, because a peipatetic lifestyle is
required to avoid capture and to spread the word against the First Race.
So far, Derrer has managed to make a lot of friends. He is a convincing
speaker, and has plenty of evidence to back his wild claims up. There is a loose
network of his supporters, called 'The Vigilant'. The Vigiliant trade
information
and rumors about Cosmo-Knights, the Forge, and the First Ones. They are expected
to offer shelter and aid to each other in times of trouble, and to always keep
their eyes and ears open for signs of trouble. The membership of this
organization is a very diverse bunch. It ranges from wealthy industrialists to
disillusioned street kids, from educated intellectuals to xenophobic, anti-
supernatural bigots. Despite their differences, they will generally come to
each other's aid and are quite supportive of each other in their joint effort
to prepare for the upcoming war. Paranoia is their way of life, and they are
very distrustful of strangers. The fact that most governments are so supportive
of the Cosmo-Knights causes them to fear a conspiracy that may have been
thousands of years in the making.
The Vigilant is considered to be a criminal organization by the CCW. Being
found guilty of membership is punishable by 1-5 years in prison. Of course, in
regions containing many First Ones worshippers, proven Vigilant members may
meet with a speedy lynching before they ever get to trial. Cosmo-Knights are
known to have a grudge against the secret society (for good reason), and some
of them love it when The Vigilant give them excuse to exercise lethal force.
The UWW as a whole remains impartial to the group, although some member worlds
which revere the Forge and the First Ones have outlawed them. The Transgalactic
Empire actually supports The Vigilant, and has made Derrer an honorary agent.
When the archaeologist is in TE space, he has all of the rights of an Imperial
lawman. The often hides out under Kreeghor protection when the bounty hunters
on his tail start getting too close.
Dr. Derrer is a very charismatic and intelligent individual. He has a
cybernetic disguise kit which he uses to disguise his appearance, and rarely
keeps the same face for more than a week or two. He is also extremely elusive.
If a lawman, Cosmo-Knight, or bounty hunter turns away for a moment, Derrer
will be gone, with no trace of ever having been there. The scientist tries to
keep a low profile, and generally remains very quiet and nondescript. The only
times he will usually wax eloquent are when discussing his opinions of the
First Race and their conspiracy.
Notes to the GM: Depending on what you choose, Derrer can be either a
lunatic whose mind has turned an encounter with an ancient defense grid into a
cosmic conspiracy, or a legitimate scholar who is trying to expose a genuine
danger. Either way, he should come off as slick and brilliant in his constant
evasion of the law. Think of the old TV show or movie The Fugitive, add in
galactic intrigue and cosmic-powered adversaries, and you've got a pretty good
idea of what Derrer's life is like.
Alignment: Unprincipled, with some abberant leanings
Experience Level: 11th Level Rogue Scholar OCC
Attributes: PS: 11, PE: 14, PP: 13, PB: 11, IQ: 23, MA: 22, ME: 23,
Spd: 11.
Hit Points: 41 SDC: 16 PPE: 4
Attacks per Melee: 4
Cybernetics/Bionics: Gyro-Compass, Clock Calendar, Amplified Hearing with
Sound Filtration System, Multi-Optic Eye, Climb Cord, Cyber-Disguise AA-1.
Magic Powers: None
Psionics: None
Bonuses: +4 pull punch, +4 roll w/blow, +3 parry, +3 dodge, +1 strike,
Critical Strike on 19 or 20, +2 damage.
OCC Skills OCC Related Skills Secondary Skills
Literacy: 98% All Trade Tongues: 98% Basic Electronics: 94%
Dragonese: 98% CCW Law: 98% Automotive
Mechanics: 89%
Trade One: 98% Galactic Lore: 98% Computer Hacking: 79%
Basic Math: 98% Xenology: 98% Prowl: 89%
Computer Operation: 98% Pilot Small Spacecraft: 98% Swimming: 98%
Pilot Hovercraft: 98% Anthropology: 94% Detect Concealment: 89%
WP Energy Rifle Archaeology: 94% Concealment: 73%
WP Energy Pistol Astronomy: 98% Pick Locks: 94%
Biology: 98%
Writing: 98%
Demon Lore: 98%
Hand to Hand: Basic
Laser Communication: 84%
Radio Scramblers: 89%
Detect Ambush: 64%
Intelligence: 61%
Forgery: 39%
Pick Pockets: 44%
Weapons: In times of trouble, Derrer carries about an EPR-8 Energy Pulse
Rifle (a gift from his Kreeghor friends). At all times he keeps an NE-6 Plasma
Cartridge Revolver in a shoulder holster, and a vibro-knife in his boot. Plus,
he has a habit of carrying around smoke or gas grenades.
Armor: N-20A Medium Force Field.
Equipment: Palmtop Computer, Encrypted Telephone, Gas Mask, First Aid
Kit, Dozens of Fake Identicards, Archaeology Library on CDs, Stim Pills,
Nondescript Hovercar.
Money: He has 750,000 credits in a bank account in the Transgalactic
Empire, but can only access the money when in TE territory or embassies.
Derrer carries around about 70,000 credits at all times, and can get more by
stopping to visit a Transgalactic Empire agent or fellow Vigilant member.
Personally, I'd say that he's telling the truth. I've been itching to
do a campaign in which the Three Galaxies goes to war, and the reappearance
of the First Ones would be the perfect trigger for it. I've got it all
figured out...a planetoid-sized starship of the First appears out of a
massive rift, and suddenly every communications channel in the Three
Galaxies is interrupted by the ancient beings, announcing that they have
returned to lead the universe into a new golden age.
The CCW instantly dispatches ambassadors to the First One mothership,
who sign a treaty of mutual aid. The CCW agrees to help the First Ones in
their plans, in exchange for safety and salvation. The UWW tries to make a
similar move, only to have certain factions start decrying the First Ones
as evil alien intelligences. Civil war erupts in UWW space, as some worlds
dedicate themselves to the aid of the First Ones, and others dedicate
themselves to their destruction. The Transgalactic Empire and the Splugorth
declare war against the CCW and the First Ones immediately. Even the mega
corporations wish to stand against the ancient race, offering massive bounties
for their destruction. Universal peace will really hurt those weapons sales.
Pretty much the only people who remain neutral are the Prometheans.
At first, the war goes in favor of the First Ones. Any enemy vessels
which manage to punch through the CCW/UWW/Cosmo-Knight blockade are
slaughtered by ultra-powerful First One ships. The First Ones then announce
that they are going to start liberating the inhabitants of the Three
Galaxies, to bring them to an extradimensional realm of peace and knowledge.
They start sending slaver expeditions into TE and Splugorth worlds, capturing
the populations and bringing them back to the mothership in huge transports.
Unsurprisingly, those taken are never seen again. The ground wars go a
lot better for the Kreeghor and Splugorth, but any time they do too well, they
just get beaten down by the First Ones.
The characters have to ensure the destruction of the First Ones by
finding relics from civilizations that the Forge has destroyed, since only
those civilizations possessed the power to go against the First Ones. The
greatest weapon which they find is an old Star-Killer vessel! With that
and the other ancient weapons which they found, they and everyone who
stands against the First will make a massive assault on the mothership,
using the Star-Killer's weapon to cause the mothership's fusion core to
explode! Of course, there will be many obstacles to this goal, in the face
of CCW agents, First One cultists, and ancient security systems guarding
the relics. Plus, even after the First Ones have been vanquished, there will
be a war which may continue for hundreds of years.
---Ghoull
_______________________________________________________________________________
Proud to be the Honorary Joseph Prosek II.
"Scooby-Doo can doo-doo, but Jimmy Carter is smarter." ---Homer Simpson
Siege Against Tolkeen is currently freeloading at:
http://www.oocities.org/TimesSquare/8976/
The Israel Netbook is currently hanging out at:
http://www.missouri.edu/~c675123/page100.html
The Eylor Netbook is currently spending some time at:
http://www.paonline.com/Jaults/atlantis/econt.htm
An assortment of my stuff is chillin' at:
http://members.aol.com/ShawnM011/ShawnM011/rifts.html
Subject: <NEW> <NPC> <PW> Dr. Talman Derrer
"I used to be one of the CCW's highest-ranking archeologists. Whenever
some colonist or explorer stumbled over something really old or really big, I
was the first one sent in. The science division really trusted my skills, my
initiative, and my loyalty. They thought that I could handle just about
anything. Damn fools didn't know that some things are just too frightening for
any sane man to handle."
"The dig site was back on Colus VII. It was an unbelievably inhospitable
planet. Searing hot clouds of gas rolled over the landscape during the
eighteen hour day, and during the twenty hour night the temperature got
awfully close to absolute zero. The indigenous lifeforms were few and far
between, and let me tell you, they were nasty bastards indeed. In terms of
pure horror, though, they didn't beat the dig. Not by a long shot. Y'see,
some miner looking for underground pockets of oxygen happened to come across
an underground structure with his scanners. The structure was as big as a
small city, and by the depth of rock it was buried in, it must have been
hundreds of thousands of years old. He reported it, of course, and me and my
team were sent in to investigate."
"It took us a week to dig down to the structure, and another week to
carve through the hull. It was made of this weird metal, and was slimy and
sticky somehow. Nothing could make much of a dent in it, so we just decided
to keep on drilling away with the laser cutters until the thing gave in.
Then, when we finally got inside, we saw the insides of the place. You've seen
a rift before, right? Some people think that the things are beautiful, but I
think they're abominations. You look at them, and it looks like they're taunting
you, saying, "Here I am, a rip in the fabric of space and time and I'm here to
tell you that every rule of physics and science you ever knew is wrong! Don't
trust me, well just jump in through and see what kind of hellish fantasy world
you wind up in! Everything is real through me, boyo!" Anyway, there were glass
tubes running along all of the walls, and rifts were just flowing through the
tubes like water going through a pipe."
"I was staring at the rift-tubes like a damn fool, when suddenly I heard
Zoju screaming. He was a noro, but was made of pretty stern stuff. I never
thought I'd hear him scream. But then I turned around, and saw that some sort
of a claw had grown right out of the wall and was digging into his throat right
through his armor. He shrivelled up like a raisin, right inside his vacuum suit,
and slumped to the ground. Then, the claw stretched over to another tube of
some sort. I saw...something horrible in the tube. It was like a spider or
something, except that it had well over a hundred legs. And its face...its face
was too human for me to feel comfortable. The claw shoved itself into an
opening at the bottom of the tube, and suddenly the tube filled up with light.
And suddenly, the thing opened up its eyes. And it smiled at me."
"I looked around, and saw that there were hundreds, maybe thousands more
of those monsters sleeping safely in their capsules. Suddenly, a few dozen
more of those claws grew out of the walls and started snapping at me and my
men. A few of my friends were taken by surprise and died instantly, their
life energy going to wake up the monsters. A few of my friends tried to fight
them. But seeing as how it had taken our laser cutter a full week to make a
hole in their wall, you can guess that our laser pistols didn't do much. I
ran. I'm not proud of it, but if I hadn't panicked and ran, I'd have been
killed for sure. I got out of the place, up to our camp. I thought it would
be safe there, that the monsters were trapped down a thousand feet under
the surface. But then I saw one of the claws peeking its way out of the hole
we had made. I ran to our shuttle and lifted off, never more to set foot on
Colus VII. Oh, and before I left I set our camp's portable nuclear energy
generator to explode. The blast wouldn't destroy the bastards, but at least it
belched up enough radiation to keep other people away. I didn't fancy the idea
of anyone else getting close enough to get their souls sucked out."
"Ever since then, I've been thinking about what those things might have
been. And based on how old they were and how advanced their technology was and
the fact that lots of holy books with unpronounceable names say that Colus VII
was a stronghold of the ancient gods, I think it's a safe bet to say that I ran
into a pack of the First Ones. They're not dead. They never died. They just
went into hiding. Why? I've been thinking about that, too."
"If the First Race need to suck out the life energy of other sentient
beings
for sustenance, then their great culture would have needed constant conquest
in order to stay alive. I think that countless millenia ago, they overfished
the universe. Killed so many people that they didn't have enough left to eat
anymore. So, they decided to go into hibernation. They created the Cosmic Forge
and the Cosmo-Knights to keep their universe in line until they could return.
The Forge would prevent any other races from becoming powerful enough to
resist the First Race. Remember the Star-Killers? They became too powerful, and
every last one of them was wiped out by the Cosmo-Knights. Genocide. Remember
the Machinists? Well, I've got no proof, but I think that the Knights may've had
something to do with the Star-Killers going after them. Take care of two
threats for the price of one. Convenient, eh?"
"Anyway, I think that once the Three Galaxies are full of life again,
the First will return. Once there's enough of us to sustain their damn hunger
for another 'Golden Age', they're going to come back in force. And the way
that everyone sucks up to them due to the poncey myths of benevolence which
the Forge probably created (and which its Knights enforce), I wouldn't be
surprised in the least if about 90% of the population offered their lives for
the great priviledge of being lunch."
"Think about it, though. Why does every myth gloss over any faults
of the First Race? Why does the Forge take so many pains to conceal its
location? And why would a super-advanced race not realize that something as
potent as the Forge could be turned into a weapon that would destroy them
all? It doesn't add up, my friend. It doesn't add up at all."
Dr. Talman Derrer was one of the greatest archaeologists of the CCW.
He was considered to be the greatest living expert in ancient cultures, and
his merest opinions were taken as inconvertible fact by hundreds of his
students and colleagues. He had a zest for his work, and liked nothing better
than the discovery of some extinct culture. Derrer saw himself as a caretaker
of the past, whose duty was to determine the truth about past events. In some
cases, this drew heat, when his findings contradicted the holy books or
state-approved histories of many races. More often, his view of duty drew
him acclaim and awards.
On an inhospitable mining planet called Colus VII, Derrer found himself
confronted with the most controversial piece of ancient lore that he had
ever discovered. He unearthed the wreckage of an ancient, underground base
which may have once belonged to the mythical First Race. The age of the base
and the levels of technology that he found there ruled out the possibility of
any other known civilization creating it. Only the First Ones could have
constructed such a wonder.
Unfortunately, the contents of the base were as horrific as any creation
of the Old Ones. The walls themselves came alive and attacked Derrer's co-
workers, killing them and using their life energy to rejuvenate cryogenically
stored creatures. Those creatures were obscene, alien, and reeked of ancient
evil. Derrer panicked and fled, with the monsters hot on his heels. He
exploded a thermonuclear device to keep others away from the site (and hopefully
to damage his tormentors a bit) and then flew away as fast as his ship could
carry him.
Later, Derrer decided that the beings must have been the First Ones
themselves. He also concluded that if they had been First Ones, that the
mythic race must have been a society of unfeeling, murderous monsters.
Everything began to fall into place! If the beings required life energy to
sustain themselves, it was quite possible that they would run out of beings
to devour during their first 'Golden Age'. The sensible solution to this
problem would be to hibernate until sentients repopulated the Three Galaxies.
Until then, they left the Cosmic Forge as a babysitter, to make sure that none
of the new races attained enough power to challenge the First upon their return.
It would even ensure that the ancient evil ones were loved and worshipped, so
that collecting the harvest of souls would be even easier. Derrer was disturbed
by what he deduced, but it seemed too logical to ignore. He recommended in his
report that Colus VII and all places of suspected First One activity be placed
off limits, that all Cosmo-Knights be expelled from CCW space, and that steps
were taken to prepare for a war of cosmic proportions.
These recommendations were laughed at. Many people hinted that the
tragedy of losing his team had unhinged Derrer's mind. Some religious groups
demanded that the archaeologist be removed from his position for insulting
their faith. Others suggested that he be jailed as a possible traitor to the
CCW, for spreading libel about the Cosmo-Knights. Derrer lost his career,
his reputation, and his funding because he refused to stop warning people
about something which he saw as a danger. One day, he simply disappeared from
his house, leaving behind a note saying that he would keep on fighting 'the
conspiracy of the Forge-born monsters' until the day that he died. All of his
finest possessions had been sold off, and his bank accounts were empty. As
Derrer was quite wealthy, the local authorities cautioned that he might attempt
to buy weapons in order to pursue his jihad. A bounty was put out for the arrest
of the archaeologist, and his name was added to a list of suspected CCW
traitors, radicals, and terrorists.
Ever since then, Derrer has been travelling around the Three Galaxies,
visiting sights of suspected First Ones activities and investigating cults
devoted to the First Ones or the Cosmic Forge. His studies have turned up many
such religious organizations performing illegal operations, ranging from
simple embezzlement by church leaders to human sacrifices! He has always kept
one step ahead of the authorities and tracers, and has so far managed to
remain out of prison. The man is very wiley, and can change his identity at the
drop of a hat. He always keeps moving, because a peipatetic lifestyle is
required to avoid capture and to spread the word against the First Race.
So far, Derrer has managed to make a lot of friends. He is a convincing
speaker, and has plenty of evidence to back his wild claims up. There is a loose
network of his supporters, called 'The Vigilant'. The Vigiliant trade
information
and rumors about Cosmo-Knights, the Forge, and the First Ones. They are expected
to offer shelter and aid to each other in times of trouble, and to always keep
their eyes and ears open for signs of trouble. The membership of this
organization is a very diverse bunch. It ranges from wealthy industrialists to
disillusioned street kids, from educated intellectuals to xenophobic, anti-
supernatural bigots. Despite their differences, they will generally come to
each other's aid and are quite supportive of each other in their joint effort
to prepare for the upcoming war. Paranoia is their way of life, and they are
very distrustful of strangers. The fact that most governments are so supportive
of the Cosmo-Knights causes them to fear a conspiracy that may have been
thousands of years in the making.
The Vigilant is considered to be a criminal organization by the CCW. Being
found guilty of membership is punishable by 1-5 years in prison. Of course, in
regions containing many First Ones worshippers, proven Vigilant members may
meet with a speedy lynching before they ever get to trial. Cosmo-Knights are
known to have a grudge against the secret society (for good reason), and some
of them love it when The Vigilant give them excuse to exercise lethal force.
The UWW as a whole remains impartial to the group, although some member worlds
which revere the Forge and the First Ones have outlawed them. The Transgalactic
Empire actually supports The Vigilant, and has made Derrer an honorary agent.
When the archaeologist is in TE space, he has all of the rights of an Imperial
lawman. The often hides out under Kreeghor protection when the bounty hunters
on his tail start getting too close.
Dr. Derrer is a very charismatic and intelligent individual. He has a
cybernetic disguise kit which he uses to disguise his appearance, and rarely
keeps the same face for more than a week or two. He is also extremely elusive.
If a lawman, Cosmo-Knight, or bounty hunter turns away for a moment, Derrer
will be gone, with no trace of ever having been there. The scientist tries to
keep a low profile, and generally remains very quiet and nondescript. The only
times he will usually wax eloquent are when discussing his opinions of the
First Race and their conspiracy.
Notes to the GM: Depending on what you choose, Derrer can be either a
lunatic whose mind has turned an encounter with an ancient defense grid into a
cosmic conspiracy, or a legitimate scholar who is trying to expose a genuine
danger. Either way, he should come off as slick and brilliant in his constant
evasion of the law. Think of the old TV show or movie The Fugitive, add in
galactic intrigue and cosmic-powered adversaries, and you've got a pretty good
idea of what Derrer's life is like.
Alignment: Unprincipled, with some abberant leanings
Experience Level: 11th Level Rogue Scholar OCC
Attributes: PS: 11, PE: 14, PP: 13, PB: 11, IQ: 23, MA: 22, ME: 23,
Spd: 11.
Hit Points: 41 SDC: 16 PPE: 4
Attacks per Melee: 4
Cybernetics/Bionics: Gyro-Compass, Clock Calendar, Amplified Hearing with
Sound Filtration System, Multi-Optic Eye, Climb Cord, Cyber-Disguise AA-1.
Magic Powers: None
Psionics: None
Bonuses: +4 pull punch, +4 roll w/blow, +3 parry, +3 dodge, +1 strike,
Critical Strike on 19 or 20, +2 damage.
OCC Skills OCC Related Skills Secondary Skills
Literacy: 98% All Trade Tongues: 98% Basic Electronics: 94%
Dragonese: 98% CCW Law: 98% Automotive
Mechanics: 89%
Trade One: 98% Galactic Lore: 98% Computer Hacking: 79%
Basic Math: 98% Xenology: 98% Prowl: 89%
Computer Operation: 98% Pilot Small Spacecraft: 98% Swimming: 98%
Pilot Hovercraft: 98% Anthropology: 94% Detect Concealment: 89%
WP Energy Rifle Archaeology: 94% Concealment: 73%
WP Energy Pistol Astronomy: 98% Pick Locks: 94%
Biology: 98%
Writing: 98%
Demon Lore: 98%
Hand to Hand: Basic
Laser Communication: 84%
Radio Scramblers: 89%
Detect Ambush: 64%
Intelligence: 61%
Forgery: 39%
Pick Pockets: 44%
Weapons: In times of trouble, Derrer carries about an EPR-8 Energy Pulse
Rifle (a gift from his Kreeghor friends). At all times he keeps an NE-6 Plasma
Cartridge Revolver in a shoulder holster, and a vibro-knife in his boot. Plus,
he has a habit of carrying around smoke or gas grenades.
Armor: N-20A Medium Force Field.
Equipment: Palmtop Computer, Encrypted Telephone, Gas Mask, First Aid
Kit, Dozens of Fake Identicards, Archaeology Library on CDs, Stim Pills,
Nondescript Hovercar.
Money: He has 750,000 credits in a bank account in the Transgalactic
Empire, but can only access the money when in TE territory or embassies.
Derrer carries around about 70,000 credits at all times, and can get more by
stopping to visit a Transgalactic Empire agent or fellow Vigilant member.
Personally, I'd say that he's telling the truth. I've been itching to
do a campaign in which the Three Galaxies goes to war, and the reappearance
of the First Ones would be the perfect trigger for it. I've got it all
figured out...a planetoid-sized starship of the First appears out of a
massive rift, and suddenly every communications channel in the Three
Galaxies is interrupted by the ancient beings, announcing that they have
returned to lead the universe into a new golden age.
The CCW instantly dispatches ambassadors to the First One mothership,
who sign a treaty of mutual aid. The CCW agrees to help the First Ones in
their plans, in exchange for safety and salvation. The UWW tries to make a
similar move, only to have certain factions start decrying the First Ones
as evil alien intelligences. Civil war erupts in UWW space, as some worlds
dedicate themselves to the aid of the First Ones, and others dedicate
themselves to their destruction. The Transgalactic Empire and the Splugorth
declare war against the CCW and the First Ones immediately. Even the mega
corporations wish to stand against the ancient race, offering massive bounties
for their destruction. Universal peace will really hurt those weapons sales.
Pretty much the only people who remain neutral are the Prometheans.
At first, the war goes in favor of the First Ones. Any enemy vessels
which manage to punch through the CCW/UWW/Cosmo-Knight blockade are
slaughtered by ultra-powerful First One ships. The First Ones then announce
that they are going to start liberating the inhabitants of the Three
Galaxies, to bring them to an extradimensional realm of peace and knowledge.
They start sending slaver expeditions into TE and Splugorth worlds, capturing
the populations and bringing them back to the mothership in huge transports.
Unsurprisingly, those taken are never seen again. The ground wars go a
lot better for the Kreeghor and Splugorth, but any time they do too well, they
just get beaten down by the First Ones.
The characters have to ensure the destruction of the First Ones by
finding relics from civilizations that the Forge has destroyed, since only
those civilizations possessed the power to go against the First Ones. The
greatest weapon which they find is an old Star-Killer vessel! With that
and the other ancient weapons which they found, they and everyone who
stands against the First will make a massive assault on the mothership,
using the Star-Killer's weapon to cause the mothership's fusion core to
explode! Of course, there will be many obstacles to this goal, in the face
of CCW agents, First One cultists, and ancient security systems guarding
the relics. Plus, even after the First Ones have been vanquished, there will
be a war which may continue for hundreds of years.
---Ghoull
_______________________________________________________________________________
Proud to be the Honorary Joseph Prosek II.
"Scooby-Doo can doo-doo, but Jimmy Carter is smarter." ---Homer Simpson
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