I always had a liking for the old Paranoia Press Mal'Gnar, despite them not being the most "biologically feasible" species. But I decided to do my own take on them for 2E (For my own Traveller universe of course.)
First of all I kept the non-flying Mal'Gnar as written in spinward extents. But the group of priests who have the gliding suits are not emulating the Chirpers, they are emulating the "Ascended Mal'Gnar", who are basically as described in the original PP products with a few exceptions. These being:
1: They can generally glide in certain atmosphere types if the gravity field is below .7G. To actually fly they need a gravitic assist harness for their wings.
2: They are shorter then the canon "new" Mal'Gnar, maybe 5'4" tops. I made them closer to Droyne in height, figuring the Ancient that modified them based their flight capability on those of the Droyne.
The Ascended do not show themselves. Actually they are all in stasis, inside a pocket universe (small one, nothing like Yaskoydray's) where they wait for their creator to call upon them. The pocket universe is basically inside Mal'Gnar-El.
There is no "Primarchic", just this little ticking time bomb. Why do I say they are a ticking time bomb?
Their creator is Seven.
It's entirely possible nothing will ever come of this in my campaign, but Travellers being Travellers you know what usually happens
If I ever decide to run Wrath of the Ancients they might be awakened if Seven actually ends up getting killed by Tsamoykyo. A kind of "emergency procedure" for revenge that Seven set up. Not sure on that yet since Seven does not seem to be the kind of being who would let this little runt rig his pocket universe to self-destruct. (Same applies to Yaskoydray.) I could see both Seven and Yaskoydray being trapped somehow though. Opens up more possibilities for adventure if the Travellers serve either Ancient.
The "Common" Mal'Gnar on the surface are basically a genetic pool for use by the Ascended or Seven if needed. All in all it's set up so both "old" and "new" Mal'Gnar can exist without (Initially at least) changing the geopolitical balance. Interesting note is the Mal'Gnar priests subconsciously do not want the Ascended to return, which is the original reason they froze their technological development. They fear what might happen if they return. Seven actually had nothing to do with the technological freeze at all.
What do people think?
First of all I kept the non-flying Mal'Gnar as written in spinward extents. But the group of priests who have the gliding suits are not emulating the Chirpers, they are emulating the "Ascended Mal'Gnar", who are basically as described in the original PP products with a few exceptions. These being:
1: They can generally glide in certain atmosphere types if the gravity field is below .7G. To actually fly they need a gravitic assist harness for their wings.
2: They are shorter then the canon "new" Mal'Gnar, maybe 5'4" tops. I made them closer to Droyne in height, figuring the Ancient that modified them based their flight capability on those of the Droyne.
The Ascended do not show themselves. Actually they are all in stasis, inside a pocket universe (small one, nothing like Yaskoydray's) where they wait for their creator to call upon them. The pocket universe is basically inside Mal'Gnar-El.
There is no "Primarchic", just this little ticking time bomb. Why do I say they are a ticking time bomb?
Their creator is Seven.
It's entirely possible nothing will ever come of this in my campaign, but Travellers being Travellers you know what usually happens

If I ever decide to run Wrath of the Ancients they might be awakened if Seven actually ends up getting killed by Tsamoykyo. A kind of "emergency procedure" for revenge that Seven set up. Not sure on that yet since Seven does not seem to be the kind of being who would let this little runt rig his pocket universe to self-destruct. (Same applies to Yaskoydray.) I could see both Seven and Yaskoydray being trapped somehow though. Opens up more possibilities for adventure if the Travellers serve either Ancient.
The "Common" Mal'Gnar on the surface are basically a genetic pool for use by the Ascended or Seven if needed. All in all it's set up so both "old" and "new" Mal'Gnar can exist without (Initially at least) changing the geopolitical balance. Interesting note is the Mal'Gnar priests subconsciously do not want the Ascended to return, which is the original reason they froze their technological development. They fear what might happen if they return. Seven actually had nothing to do with the technological freeze at all.
What do people think?