The Martian overlords

These strange and alien beings originated on the red world of Mars. It is believed by some that in the distant past they looked similar to humans, and that over the millennia they have deliberately modified their own forms and physiology until their bodies are no more than vessels for their prodigious intellects. Their bodies are a large, rounded bulk, perhaps four feet across, with sixteen slender, whiplike tentacles and skin that glistens like wet leather. They build and use mechanical bodies according to their needs. Their world is dying, parched and cold, and so they attempted an invasion of Earth.

ATTACKS:

Martians have sixteen slender, whiplike tentacles, arranged in two bunches either side of the mouth. In combat a Martian can use these tentacles to pin down a victim before draining his blood. If the Martian successfully grapples an opponent, in subsequent combat rounds the victim can be hit by the Martian's feeding pipette with a 99% chance of success. Several Martians may combine STR to subdue a victim.

The Martian's feeding pipette causes the victim to lose 1D4 hit points and 1D3 STR (blood) each round. An Impale result means that the Martian has struck a vein or artery, and the victim loses 2D4 hit points and 1D6 STR that round. A single Martian can consume a STR value in blood up to one half of its SIZ. On being reduced to zero STR or zero hit points, the victim is drained of blood, and dies. A victim may escape by making a successful STR against STR roll on the Resistance Table.

STR lost due to blood loss returns naturally at a nominal rate of 1D3 points per game week, 1D4 points per game week if the victim is given iron rations or similar medical treatment. In an emergency, a blood transfusion may be attempted. It takes about an hour, and requires a successful Medicine roll, a Luck roll on behalf of the patient for the donor to have a compatible blood type. If both rolls are successful, it allows up to 1D6 points of STR to be transferred immediately from the donor to the recipient. If the Medicine roll is failed, only 1D3 points of STR may be transferred. If the Luck roll is failed, the donor's blood type is not compatible, the donor losing 1 point of STR due to blood loss, and the recipient losing 1D3 hit points due to the adverse reaction.

Av. Damage Bonus: +1D4

Weapons: Tentacle 60%, damage Grapple.

Feeding Pipette 50%, damage 1D4 hit points+1D3 STR (blood).

Fighting Machine Tentacle 30%, damage 4D6 or 1D8+stun

Heat-Ray 40%, damage 3D10.

Armour: 7-point skin and cartilage.

Skills: Spot Hidden 50%, Operate Fighting Machine 70%, Operate Handling Machine 65%, Listen 15%.

Spells: Cloud Memory, Dominate, Mesmerise, Read Mind*, Telepathy**.

Sanity Loss: 1/1D8

*READ MIND: Allows the caster to read the thoughts of a target by temporarily linking his mind to that of the target. Casting the spell costs 5 magic points and 1D6 Sanity points. It is possible to resist the effects of Read Mind by concentrating on something irrelevant - reciting nonsense, multiplication tables, nursery rhymes, and so on - or by blocking the caster's attempts at mind reading. This requires a successful POWx4 roll, as it takes a good degree of willpower to accomplish. If the attempt to resist is successful then the caster must roll his POW against the target's POWx2 on the Resistance Table. If the caster succeeds despite the target's resistance, it costs the target 0/1D3 Sanity points, as having one's mind picked for information against one's will is a thoroughly unpleasant and disturbing experience.

If the target does not resist then the caster must simply overcome their POW on the Resistance Table.

If the target tries to help the mind reader by concentrating on the information required then the target makes a POWx4 roll which, if successful, allows the caster to roll POWx2 against the target's POW on the Resistance Table.

The roll is made by the GM in a similar way to the Psychology roll: the result of the roll is kept secret, only the information gained, true or otherwise, is revealed to the caster. Depending on the level of success, the information retrieved by the caster may be accurate to varying degrees.

For example, succeeding by a couple of points might tell the user the target's general intent or mood. About ten points' worth of success might allow the caster to read the target's surface thoughts. Thirty or more might allow the caster access to the target's innermost thoughts and memories. For deeper or less accessible thoughts, such as specific memories, subconscious thoughts, information and suchlike, decrease the caster's chances by various amounts. Conversely, failure might yield incorrect or misleading information, or spectacular failure might allow the target to obtain some nugget of information from the caster during the time that the two minds are linked, while the caster gets nothing.

**TELEPATHY: Allows the user to project thoughts into the mind of another. Assume that there is no difficulty in communication - the target is able to grasp the intent of the telepathic message even if he or she does not understand the language of the sender. The spell has a maximum range equal to one tenth of the caster's POW in miles, rounding fractions up. If the target is resisting the projection of thoughts into his mind, match magic points on the Resistance Table.

Martians have evolved the use of this spell to such a degree that it is their primary mode of communication, and they may use it with other Martians without expending magic points. When used on humans it requires the expenditure of one magic point.

Humans may have this spell, but to use it they must expend one magic point, regardless of the species of the target.

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last updated and validated May 1, 1999. SHD