Energy-based / Non-corporeal Beings

[blaster219]

Are there any examples of energy-based, non-corporeal, pure psionic consciousness or other beings of an insubstantial or phased nature? In the mission the PCs in my game or on, they're about to run in to some rogue scientists meddling with things that man is not meant to meddle and who are about to inadvertently invite the transsdimensional beings that wiped out an alien culture millions of years ago back in to our reality. How do you fight a monster that bullets can pass right through?

 

[DickTurpin]

I am not aware of any non-physical beings in Traveller, but they can exist if you want. Combating such a creature would be challenging, but clues to possible methods could be found based on how the creature manifests. Energy weapons like lasers might work, or sonic weapons. A psionic creature would likely be affected by psionic attacks. These attacks may not actually damage the being but if the players make them uncomfortable enough they might just leave which is almost the same as defeating them. A powerful EMP might disrupt them. There may be hints in ancient records from the destroyed civilization that were discovered too late to save them. Certain rituals with religious or arcane trappings may banish them, provide protection from their attacks or weaken them enough to be vulnerable to attack. Maybe these creatures are the origins of myths about ghosts and demons and the supposed superstitions of our ancestors were actually garbled accounts of previous visitations by these beings.

Even if they cannot be killed, some sort of magnetic or "force" cage may be able to contain them. If destruction is required then launching the cage into a black hole might do the trick, so long as the cage is strong enough to hold together until the being is past the point where it can escape the gravity well.

 

[GamingGlen]

Traveller Cthulhu? Or Cthulhu Traveller? I can never decide which should come first.

 

[Condottiere]

You probably could borrow statistics from Star Trek, assuming that was successfully ported over to Traveller, and the authors got around to energy beings.

 

[Garran]

I'd look at it from the standpoint of: if they can't be hurt by matter, they can't meaningfully do anything to it either. If they can still manipulate energy, fine - but that means that energy can also hurt them.

So sure, bullets pass right through, but they're going to be just as messed up as anyone else when they get hit by a PGMP - and unlike corporeal beings, they can't wear armor to ablate it. Likewise, they can hurl around energy effects, but physically they're incapable of doing so much as crinkling origami paper.

That fits the sort-of-hard sci fi model that Traveller tends toward rather than the 'handwave space magic' that you see so much of in Star Trek (or Star Wars).

 

[Baldo]

Are there any examples of energy-based, non-corporeal, pure psionic consciousness or other beings of an insubstantial or phased nature?

Not in Traveller (to my knowledge), but I've seen this trope in other SF products. For example, Star Trek Adventures has the Eidolon in Remnants and Hostile gives you the Shadows in Pioneer Station. HOWEVER the best insubstantial thing I've seen in 30+ years of RPG games is the Predator Saint from Gildor Games, the *FREE* PDF is here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/275760/Predator-Saint

A single exemplar is Red Zone stuff, an entire race of these things is a menace on par with the Deepnight Entity...

 

[OrdosMalleus]

Traveller Cthulhu? Or Cthulhu Traveller? I can never decide which should come first.

Cthulhu ALWAYS gets top billing! :lol: