Magog - Traveller

[Exarx]

Hi, i´ve been a longtime lurker here. I really enjoy this forum with its mature posters.

However i wonder if someone have done Magogs in traveller setting? If not, could you help me?

Im currently GM:ing traveller but i do want to incorporate some stuff from The Andromeda world.
It hasnt been any problem until i started to think how to do the Magog. They are more resilent, can get in some sort of "rage-mode" but still so intelligent that they can fly a ship.
Coming to their ships - thats the next problem as well.. so if someone would like to help me with designing the Magogs as well as their attackships i would be extremely happy.

Regards
Exarx

 

[rust]

For the Magogs, you could give them a slightly higher Endurance and mo-
del their "rage mode" by temporarily increasing their Strength while at
the same time reducing their armour protection a bit - but this is just
what comes to my mind as a first thought, there may well be much bet-
ter ways to do it.

As for the Magogs' ships, it would help if you would describe exactly what
properties you would like to model with the Traveller system.

 

[Exarx]

Well, their ship looks like well.. darts.

they use their ships to ram other ships with their dartformed forward creating a bordingsession that is interesting to say the least.

after they "ram" their opponents they pour out of their dartship and wreck havoc.

The thing is that their ships is usually of poorer armor but that doesnt bother them since they literally swarm their opponents. Strenght in number.
Their "dart-part" of their ship is of course of really hard material and made to drill as well as pierce through almost any material.

furthermore about the Magog, they breed through laying their eggs into their victims which will spawn quite a lot of magogs in not to long time.

 

[Exarx]

The best idea i have had so far for Magog (and its still incomplete) is:

Magog have notable Strenght (+2) and weak dexterity (-2).
They are considered to have 1 point of armor and works just as subdermal armor.
Magog do not breed normally but do lay their eggs into their (dead or alive) victims, spawning dozens of new Magogs.

Rage - not sure yet.

 

[rust]

they use their ships to ram other ships with their dartformed forward creating a bordingsession that is interesting to say the least.
after they "ram" their opponents they pour out of their dartship and wreck havoc.

Ah, I see, somewhat like an assault shuttle from the Honorverse ...

Unfortunately some "technology purists" are likely to tell you that this is
very close to impossible. On the other hand, it is not impossible to de-
sign with Traveller's system, I think.

In the end all you need is a needle-shaped (= streamlined) small craft
with lots of superdense armour at the "tip", a reinforced hull and a rein-
forced structure (both High Guard, page 41), and excellent grav com-
pensators to avoid the crew from being killed during the "hit". And a po-
werful computer and an equally powerful drive would also be helpful. I
do not remember whether these Magog boats were armed, but it would
not be a problem to add the weapons, I think.

furthermore about the Magog, they breed through laying their eggs into their victims which will spawn quite a lot of magogs in not to long time.

No problem here, as far as I can see. In my view you do not need any
mechanics for this, it would be sufficient to describe it in your setting's
"fluff text", although you could of course also invent some "natural wea-
pon" of the Magogs for the process to get the eggs into the victim.

 

[Exarx]

Thanks a lot Rust,

i think i will go with your ideas regarding the ship and their ragemode.

how much would be prudent to raise their strenght while decreasing their armor of 1 point?
I was thinking in the line of raising it with 2-3 points but that might be out of the line?

 

[rust]

An easy way to handle it could be to raise their success roll for all close
combat attacks by 1 (= 2D6 + weapon skill + Strength mod + 1 for
all melee attacks), this should be sufficient to make them more dange-
rous than average humans, I think.

However, you have a good chance that someone with more experience
with Mongoose Traveller combat (my settings are of the more peaceful
kind) will post a better idea on this thread. :wink:

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

You can also give them natural weapons (like the Aslan have), such as claws or fangs that do extra damage. That can make them more dangerous too.

For the DartRam ship - You could design something that is unique to their race using the guidelines of HG. I agree that it requires Hull and Structural strengthening, but maybe just make it a 10 or 20-ton device that they can add to the front of their ship.

A successful Ram roll allows them to penetrate unarmored hulls and a chance to penetrate armor (Armor acts as a negative DM). If they are successfull, the Magog can board the ship next turn and swarm the enemy.

 

[BP]

Not sure what a Magog is (comic? varient of maggot?)

As for a ship that 'rams' and penetrates:
- HG provides for smaller ships of >6G drives - for larger ships just make the 'ram' a 'small ship' projectile attached with umbilical - boarder can come thru or ram can be retracted (or cause other problems for both sides )
- Unless the role of these Magog is to fight military battles - one could presume most civilian and light military vessels would not have enough armour to protect from high G pointed 'rams' of decent mass - and ram would be ineffective/less effective against armoured vessels (if they can stop a kinetic missle, they will likely stop a small ship...)

 

[Rex]

The Andromeda background makes for a rich setting.

Got to watch the stat bumps though. Remember, Nietzscheans had issues in hand to hand combat with the Magog, and a Nietzschean, is 5x stronger and 2x Faster, then a normal human.

Magog don't have Any issues duking it out with anyone really, and that's before the claws, teeth, paralytic venom, and their method of reproduction, heightend senses etc.

They pretty much define Apex Perdator. This is before you get into the fact that their repoductive set up, swipes genetic material from the host, allowing for some rather interesting Magog (Like Rev Bem for example).

Be a fun setting for the guys at Mongoose to snag if they felt up to it. Had a good run I'm sure there are more then a few fans out there.

~Rex

 

[CosmicGamer]

In the end all you need is a needle-shaped (= streamlined) small craft with lots of superdense armour at the "tip", a reinforced hull and a rein- forced structure (both High Guard, page 41), and excellent grav com-
pensators to avoid the crew from being killed during the "hit". And a po-
werful computer and an equally powerful drive would also be helpful. I
do not remember whether these Magog boats were armed, but it would
not be a problem to add the weapons, I think.

Good start.

Might also need to consider how not just the crew, but the equipment handles the impact. I'm thinking some tables will eventually need to be created.

Off the top of my head, something like: if a piloting/ram roll fails then roll once on a table for each point of negative effect. Possible items on table:

Bridge crew
Other crew
Passengers
Cargo
Jump drive
Maneuver drive
Power plant
Life support
Sensors
Communication
Hull
Fuel
Helm control
Navigation
Computer

One hit is damage, still works but reduced functionality. (people can roll against endurance to see if they stumble and fall)
Two hits is damaged but easily repairable. (people sustain 1d6 additional damage)
Three hits is seriously damaged beyond damage control repair but can be repaired with time. (people receive an additional 1d6 damage and need medical attention before they can return to duty)
Four hits on the same system and its down without the ability to be repaired without...

Ok, I could do more but my fiance just walked in the door.

 

[locarno24]

The Swarmship was a nippy little so-and-so, as noted.

It's not suggested as being slipstream (jump) capable, although SOMETHING must have carried them to Kingfisher and the other worlds that got....eaten.

Note that the swarmship's breaching attack happens in two stages - stage one, the swarmship extends four rather insectile jointed forward legs, which are the things which take the impact (not the crew compartment).

Once secure, the legs then lift the main body of the ship up and then drive it down into the hull (accompanied by whatever sort of breaching charge or drill technology you want to ascribe to them). There's a several second (almost half a minute) delay between this and the point that there are sparks and flame inside and the Magog start dropping into your corridors.

Also note that there is a distinct strata in the species - the generic Magog are little more than animals, but their leaders are perfectly intelligent - what's-his-name with the grey muzzle at the end of season 1 turning up in body armour with a rather unpleasant looking assault rifle - but they're very much the exception (Rev Bem referred to as 'great one' whilst impersonating one). I'd suggest these are the ones who'd be operating the ships and weapons, whilst the others are pretty much cargo; ram, breach hull, open door, they go eat stuff. The same advanced skills are true for the ones that drop down the time bridge.


Some of the swarmships are armed, and with something that outclasses TL15, too. It's referred to as the 'Point Singularity Projector' - essentially a gun which generates and fires a volley of small black holes, which will (by simple application of the law of physics) punch through almost anything without slowing from their initial velocity.

It's initially shown on the worldship, but one or two swarmships fire them over the course of the show. It's not a pretty weapon.

Not convinced by natural armour; the Magog are fast and strong but die in droves to small arms just as fast as anyone else.

The paralytic poison spray is something to remember. Note that it has to get into the body (mouth/nose/eyes are favourites - hence Harper's ballistic eyewear) not just hit the skin.

Teeth and claws as natural weapons, as noted. There doesn't need to be a natural weapon to implant the larvae - it's done in 'slow time'. That's what the paralytic poison is for.

Definitely noteable strength. Anything that can pull down Nietzcheans deserves respect.

Also note how Rev Bem goes into the Andromeda in the initial show; everyone else is in spacesuits, he's in goggles and a breathing mask. Therefore he's protecting soft tissues (so he'd be vulnerable to depressurisation), and needs to breath, but isn't affected by the cold and lack of pressure on the rest of his skin. Some sort of environmental resistance is definitely in order....

 

[Exarx]

Wow, i was so happy when i went here today and saw tons of replies!

yeah, i forgot about their venom it was some time since i watched it last time.

I agree that the armorpart may be over the top and is willing to remove it, but how should i treat their strenght?

maybe it could look like this?

Magog have extraordinary Strenght (+4) and weak dexterity (-2).
Natural weapon (bite)
Natural weapon (claw)
Natural weapon (Paralytical venom - sprayed) only personal range Also must hit in a wound or a vulnerable area such as the eyes, into the mouth or nose.
Natural resistant (is not affected by cold nor lack of pressure)
Magog do not breed normally but do lay their eggs into their (dead or alive) victims, spawning dozens of new Magogs.


How do it look like?
And the Magogs are not intended for my players but rather as NPC´s but i do prefer to have guidelines when i create the various magog-npc´s.


how to do the ships im not sure of, but i was really, really hoping that you guys could help me.

 

[rust]

Strength +4 seems a bit much for a 2D6 system like Traveller, where
7 is the average strength of a human. With 2d6 +4 you get an average
magog strength of 11, which is almost sufficient to wrestle a TL 12 com-
bat drone (Strength 12).

 

[BP]

...Note that the swarmship's breaching attack happens in two stages - stage one, the swarmship extends four rather insectile jointed forward legs, which are the things which take the impact (not the crew compartment).

Once secure, the legs then lift the main body of the ship up and then drive it down into the hull (accompanied by whatever sort of breaching charge or drill technology you want to ascribe to them). There's a several second (almost half a minute) delay between this and the point that there are sparks and flame inside and the Magog start dropping into your corridors...

Extrapolating from HG (pg 45) this could be taken as 4 Grappling arms (2 tons each?) and a nose mounted (ring of plasma torches) Breaching Tube (w/o the tube).

Game Mechanics (adjacent/docking manuever/turns to breach) are covered - minus the 'tube' attacks.

Modify to suit from there...

 

[BP]

Again - not sure who magog are - but are they clumsy/lack coordination?
- or instead of weak Dex would it be better to lower End?

 

[rust]

Again - not sure who magog are - but are they clumsy/lack coordination?

Here they are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magog_(Andromeda)

You could imagine them as "Space Orcs", I think.

 

[BP]

Oh - thanks rust! They are antagonists from a TV show - Andromeda - since I stopped watching TV around 2000, never caught this! Sounds intersting, though the cast shot doesn't look promising (acting wise)...

Seeing the description - I would definitely nix the weak Dex - in fact it sounds like they should have high Dex and high End.

Plus a DM for initiative in most environs (keen senses).

They also are armed with gauss guns

 

[Exarx]

maybe like this then?

Magog have notable Strenght (+2), notable dexterity (+2) and notable endurance (+2).
Magog have weak intelligence (-2)
Natural weapon (bite)
Natural weapon (claw)
Natural weapon (Paralytical venom - sprayed) only personal range Also must hit in a wound or a vulnerable area such as the eyes, into the mouth or nose.
Keen senses. A Magog is alert and receives a +1 initiative.
Natural resistant (is not affected by cold nor lack of pressure)
Magog do not breed normally but do lay their eggs into their (dead or alive) victims, spawning dozens of new Magogs.

 

[rust]

Looks good to me, just make sure that no player convinces you to let
him play a Magog. :wink: