Coming up with a backstory for the Loor Scouts from CP Models got me to thinking about the Lurker/Threshold mechanic from Strange Aeons. You can check out my overview of that game here but the relevant part is, one player controls the protagonist warband, made up of Characters that develop over a campaign, while the other player controls the baddies, which are just one-off warbands written up for that particular scenario. The occasional Strange Aeons villain - called a Nemesis - can level up and otherwise develop just like the protagonists do. But for the most part, bad guys are there to fight and be fought.
In the spirit of adventure sci fi, where dashing (anti-) heroes regularly blast through scores of nameless mooks, the same kind of idea could apply to Rogue Stars. The Loor Scouts, for example, are great one-off antagonists. There are any number of reasons they might be after your squad: Did a deal with the Triad go sour? Perhaps your Space Cops have been ordered to bring them in? Or maybe it's just one of those troublesome misunderstandings that happen so frequently in busy spaceports? They can be dropped into a campaign as mysterious assassins, ruthless pursuers, or plain old thuggish nobodies. This could eventually become another scenario table for Rogue Stars - roll for which Antagonist Squad you'll be facing. But if I'm going to get to that point, I will need a few more potential entries.
Nova Troopers
"Nova" is the generic name for several branded security personnel system packages. Smaller corporations and even cash-strapped governments buy these packages to meet their paramilitary-level operational security needs. Despite a wide variety of detail-oriented brand differences, "Nova" product systems all have two features in common.
First, these systems use a tiered training regimen. Customers pack off one of their own employees for a period of training by the vendor corporation and, for a discount to the package price, a combat assignment subcontract with the vendor. If the trainee survives the subcontract assignment, he will return to instruct his original employer's other security personnel, for each of whom that employer must purchase a license from the training vendor. The vendor-trained employee is then placed in command of his own trainees.
Second, the vendor supplies arms and armor. Initial and continuing training is tailored to the vendor's branded equipment although in reality the differences across brands are fairly superficial. "Nova Troopers" are instantly recognizable throughout the galaxy thanks to their aggressive-looking blasters and distinctive combat armor. The armor itself is essentially a cheap alternative to real powered armor: a self-contained, miniaturized exoskeleton-driven battlesuit that provides solid protection but is susceptible to damage that can significantly bog down the wearer's movement.
"Nova" product systems owe their popularity to their effectiveness. Nova Troopers present an impressive and intimidating spectacle and their presence is often enough to deter violent criminal activity or quell unrest. On the other hand, Nova training does not produce leaders - perhaps by design - and their gear tends to look better than it actually is.
Nova Trooper 32XP
Combat Dress
Exoskeleton
Heavy Blaster Rifle
Six Nova Troopers make up a 200-point squad. "Promote" one to Corporal by giving him Danger Sense and Veteran. The squad uses the Militia theme and the Hive Mind tactical discipline. This write-up was inspired by the not-Storm Troopers available from Reaper in metal as well as their economical "bones" material. Search the Reaper site for "Nova." They offer six different poses.
Showing posts with label Antagonist Squads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Antagonist Squads. Show all posts
Rogue Stars - Loor Scouts
Here is another Squad for Rogue Stars, this time courtesy of the Alien Federation line from CP Models. I am unaware of any official background information, so drafted up my own.
Loor Sterile Male (Tech) 37XP
Claws
Fast 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Tech 1
Needler Rifle
Loor Sterile Male (Medic) 36XP
Claws
Fast 1
Medic 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Loor Sterile Male Runt 35XP
Claws
Reactive
Refraction Field Harness
Reptiloid
Stealth 2
Flamer
I imagine the Loor as a remarkably unified race, socially speaking, that evolved precious little capacity for interspecies empathy. As a result, they tend to understand relations with non-Loor as a predator/prey binary. This may also explain their apparent indifference to the laws and customs of other sentients. By contrast, Loor revere their own ways and severely punish infractions. Exile is the harshest sanction; Loor do not leave their homeworld by choice.
Those who survive exile (most commit suicide) always find their way into the Loor Triads. Non-Loor know practically nothing about the Triads except that, by some quirk of psychobiology, members of one Triad do not recognize any other Loor as part of the "true" Loor species. Some experts theorize this strange phenonenon, which they consider an analog to sociopathy, is related to coping with the trauma of surviving exile.
Others believe it is part of the life cycle of the Loor species as a whole: Non-Loor paleontologists have discovered extremely limited evidence of Loor evolution in the fossil record of the planet they call home. Could they have originated elsewhere and merely adopted (conquered?) the current Loor system? Perhaps the small gangs of Loor lurking around spaceports throughout the galaxy are scouting for a new homeworld.
Already perceived as xenophobic gangsters, the Loor are therfore sometimes also considered infiltrators and even potential invaders. Escalated Triad activity has triggered system-wide panics, usually resulting in pogroms and at least one small war. Perhaps the Triads are secretive because they are hated; perhaps the reverse is true. In either case, the Loor are effectively a galactic underclass - tolerated at best and never welcome.
Loor have limited control over the pigmentation of the flexible scutes covering their bodies and the scales of their hands harden into horny talons at the finger tips. All healthy, unmodified Loor have the following traits: Claws, Reptiloid, and Stealth 1. Loor disfavor most clothing and armor but are eager to trade or steal other technology, especially weapons.
The Squad detailed below reflects a typical Triad scouting party. Unlike their exiled forbears, these Loor were all born into the Triad and hatched together from the same clutch. While females are by far the more populous sex on the Loor homeworld, female offspring are the rarest in Triad broods. Sometimes, a clutch will yield no females. Females that survive to adulthood are accorded tremendous security but have little to no personal freedom.
The next rarest offspring in a given clutch are sterile male "runts" - Loor born smaller, weaker, slower, or defective in some other sense, apart from their sterility. Fertile males are more common than "runts" but less common than sterile males overall. Fertile males monopolize all positions of authority in the Triad. In any given clutch, only one fertile male may breed. How the breeding male is determined is unknown, perhaps even to Loor.
As a rule, there is little conflict among clutchmates. They appear to perceive themselves as a single genetic unit, although fertile males from the same clutch are in fact not genetically identical. Fertile males tend to consult with one another but the breeding male has final say. While sterile males are content in servile roles, no clutchmate is actually considered expendable. In this Squad, for example, the runt is slower and less stealthy than his brothers. He has been afforded a less sophisticated, noisy weapon but at the same time equipped with a refraction field generator.
Theme: Pirates
Tactical Discipline: Cool Under Fire
Loor Breeding Male 51XP
Claws
Fast 1
Leadership 2
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Veteran
Loor Fertile Male 41XP
Claws
Danger Sense
Fast 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Veteran
Others believe it is part of the life cycle of the Loor species as a whole: Non-Loor paleontologists have discovered extremely limited evidence of Loor evolution in the fossil record of the planet they call home. Could they have originated elsewhere and merely adopted (conquered?) the current Loor system? Perhaps the small gangs of Loor lurking around spaceports throughout the galaxy are scouting for a new homeworld.
Already perceived as xenophobic gangsters, the Loor are therfore sometimes also considered infiltrators and even potential invaders. Escalated Triad activity has triggered system-wide panics, usually resulting in pogroms and at least one small war. Perhaps the Triads are secretive because they are hated; perhaps the reverse is true. In either case, the Loor are effectively a galactic underclass - tolerated at best and never welcome.
Loor have limited control over the pigmentation of the flexible scutes covering their bodies and the scales of their hands harden into horny talons at the finger tips. All healthy, unmodified Loor have the following traits: Claws, Reptiloid, and Stealth 1. Loor disfavor most clothing and armor but are eager to trade or steal other technology, especially weapons.
The Squad detailed below reflects a typical Triad scouting party. Unlike their exiled forbears, these Loor were all born into the Triad and hatched together from the same clutch. While females are by far the more populous sex on the Loor homeworld, female offspring are the rarest in Triad broods. Sometimes, a clutch will yield no females. Females that survive to adulthood are accorded tremendous security but have little to no personal freedom.
The next rarest offspring in a given clutch are sterile male "runts" - Loor born smaller, weaker, slower, or defective in some other sense, apart from their sterility. Fertile males are more common than "runts" but less common than sterile males overall. Fertile males monopolize all positions of authority in the Triad. In any given clutch, only one fertile male may breed. How the breeding male is determined is unknown, perhaps even to Loor.
As a rule, there is little conflict among clutchmates. They appear to perceive themselves as a single genetic unit, although fertile males from the same clutch are in fact not genetically identical. Fertile males tend to consult with one another but the breeding male has final say. While sterile males are content in servile roles, no clutchmate is actually considered expendable. In this Squad, for example, the runt is slower and less stealthy than his brothers. He has been afforded a less sophisticated, noisy weapon but at the same time equipped with a refraction field generator.
Theme: Pirates
Tactical Discipline: Cool Under Fire
Loor Breeding Male 51XP
Claws
Fast 1
Leadership 2
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Veteran
Loor Fertile Male 41XP
Claws
Danger Sense
Fast 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Veteran
Loor Sterile Male (Tech) 37XP
Claws
Fast 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Tech 1
Needler Rifle
Loor Sterile Male (Medic) 36XP
Claws
Fast 1
Medic 1
Reptiloid
Stealth 3
Needler Rifle
Loor Sterile Male Runt 35XP
Claws
Reactive
Refraction Field Harness
Reptiloid
Stealth 2
Flamer
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