Fursona Unleashed Preview: First Wave Colonizers

I wanted to provide a second preview of some new content from Fursona Unleashed. As I have with my other campaign settings, I'm including cultural templates your Anthros can take to further customize themselves and their place in society. Some templates are based around common furry tropes or game play elements: there's a Neo-Animalist template that basically turns you into that fucker Snowball from Animal Farm, for instance, and the sexy Eroticized template works great for social interaction/espionage experts like bards and rogues.

The First Wave Colonizer owes its genesis to the fairly obscure Justifiers RPG, an indy game from the early 90s featuring a hardbitten crew of Anthro explorers. I actually downloaded the game a couple years ago, and it's pretty nice. Even though it wasn't a specifically 'furry' work, I think the excellent sci-fi comic, Alien Legion was an influence- the two works had a very similar feel. Systemwise, Justifiers had a lot in common with the Palladium house system, and had similarly high quality (though badly scanned) art. The Colonizer template is my homage to this classic furry game, while the War Rover armor, below, is a tip of the hat to the shortlived and almost completely forgotten 90s toon, Road Rovers.

The pics accompanying this post are the cover for the Justifiers RPG, and a John Picot image I'll likely use to illustrate the Colonizers in Fursona Unleashed.   

Enjoy,
CHRIS

First Wave Colonizer

Especially tough, self-reliant and bold Anthros make excellent first wave colonists, taming hostile worlds so less rugged Anthros and non-genetically engineered humanoids can then follow. First Wave Colonizers are often genetically engineered by terraforming and aerospace mega-corps, custom grown for the mission at hand. Often, these bold Anthro explorers are not free- their creation, early development and specialized technical training are all debts they must repay to their makers, leaving them in near-perpetual indenture.

Ability Score Modifiers

+2 CON, +2 WIS, -2 CHA

First Wave Colonizers are tough and blessed with a degree of common sense and environmental awareness that other Anthros can’t match, but they’re more comfortable out on the rugged frontier than in the cities.

Colonizer Training (EX)

First Wave Colonizers are given a top-notch technical education, which gives them the diverse skill set needed by a growing colony. The First Wave Colonizer receives a +2 template bonus on the following skills: Craft (mechanical and structural), Heal, Pilot, Survival.

When making Survival checks to find sustenance in the wild, the First Wave Colonizer’s minimum die result is 10. Treat results of 1-9 as 10 instead.

Colonizer Proficiencies (EX)

First Wave Colonizers are proficient with simple and martial firearms, and gain Personal and Advanced Firearms proficiency. They are also proficient with all armor with the Space Suit property.

Indenture Contract (EX)
First Wave Colonizers are considered indentured to the mega-corp that created them. They gain the Hunted and Traceable disadvantages, without gaining additional Gifts of Nature for them, and are considered employees of their creator mega-corp, and must undertake potentially hazardous missions on the company’s behalf. The First Wave Colonizer can buy off their contract, by repaying the company the cost of their creation (plus interest and fees), removing these disadvantages and becoming a fully free sentient.

The total cost of the Anthro’s indenture is 25,000 gp plus 1,000 gp x the sum total of all the Anthro’s ability score modifiers. Add 5,000 gp if the Anthro has spellcaster or psionic manifester levels. If the Anthro takes actions that cost their creator money, such as by destroying or damaging corporate facilities or equipment during a mission, the associated costs are added to his indenture.

Planetary Adaptation (EX)
First Wave Colonizers gain the Planetary Adaptation feat.

Size Restriction (EX)
First Wave Colonizers are always size Medium, though Colonizers with the Quadruped racial trait can instead be size Large. This standardization of size and body morphology saves the megacorps’ some money when creating and equipping their Anthro explorers.

Some New Magic Items

These magic items are excerpted from the appropriate sections of the text, and are just some of many you’ll find in the sourcebook. All of them reference the Colonizer cultural template in some way.

Collar, Purpose-Giving

Aura strong transmutation CL 9^th         

Slot neck Price 18,000 gp (DC 28) Weight negligible

A variety of Purpose-Giving Collars exist, all designed to bend an Anthro’s body, mind and soul towards a particular way of life. Sometimes these items are marks of slavery, forced onto an Anthro against their will in order to transform that creature into something he or she is not. In other times and places, Purpose-Giving Collars are badges of office, willingly donned by Anthros of a particular caste. Style and coloration vary wildly.

All Purpose-Giving Collars function in the same manner. Once donned by a creature of the Anthro subtype, the wearer gains a specific Anthro Template encoded in the Collar, immediately losing existing Anthro Templates, if any, and applying the Template’s ability score modifiers and gaining its traits. Once donned, the Purpose-Giving Collar effectively fuses into the creature’s body, and cannot be removed without remove curse or similar magic.

The appearance of a particular Collar is usually a clue to which Anthro Template the Collar will apply. Some templates are rarely, if ever offered as a Collar.

·         Anthroid: Segmented silvery-grey metal links with circuit components on the underside.

·         Eroticized: A tight choker of black lace.

·         Extreme: Heavy day-glo nylon with a big lock, safety pin-studs or similar decorations.

·         First Wave Colonizer: Breathable nylon in camo patterns with a military style dog-tag.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Items, creator must be an Anthro with the appropriate template, polymorph

Cost 9,000 gp (DC 25)

Colonizer Armor

Aura moderate conjuration CL 9^th        

Slot armor Price 28,000 gp (DC 29) Weight 12 lbs

Most First Wave Colonizers are issued standardized field uniforms that contain everything they might need when venturing into unknown, hostile ecosystems. Colonizer Armor is a deep navy coverall reinforced with silvery-grey hardened polymer plating. The Anthro’s megacorporate patron has their crest emblazoned on the breast plate or spinal plating, along with an identifier code unique to each Anthro. The Colonizer Armor allows the Anthro wearer to farther indenture themselves to their megacorp by taking advantage of nano-tech enhanced ‘company store’.

                             

Colonizer Armor is +1 scout armor.

Special: When Colonizer Armor is worn by an Anthro with the First Wave Colonizer template, its true abilities awaken. At any time, the Anthro can access a ‘company store’ nano-factory built into the right gauntlet’s control panel to conjure a variety of small items. It requires one minute for the armor to produce a small item.

Company Store Features

The armor can produce any of the following

·         An MRE sufficient to sustain a Medium creature for one day.

·         Small, non-restricted technological items weighing less than 5 lbs (such as a flashlight, multitool, wrench, smartphone, ect). The items cannot be magical, unique or not available to the general public. 

·         Ammunition clips or energy cells for weapons provided by the Anthro’s megacorp.

Each time the Anthro accesses the ‘company store’ the Anthro’s indenture total is increased by 50 gp + twice the gp value of the item conjured. Conjured technology bears the creating megacorp’s logo and branding. Occasionally the sponsoring megacorp will run ‘specials’ on particular items, charging significantly less indenture on specific items (particular flavors of MREs, specific hygiene items, toys or luxuries) to encourage additional spending.

Company Protective Features
The Anthro can increase their indenture by +100 gp as an immediate action. Doing so allows the Colonizer Armor to act as +4 scout armor for one minute.

Company Life Support Features
The Anthro can increase their indenture by +120 gp in order to grant the Colonizer Armor the space suit mundane armor property for four hours.

Construction

Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, emergency spacesuit, fabricate

Cost 14,000 gp (DC 27)

War Rover Armor

Aura faint enchantment CL 5^th 

Slot armor Price 7,500 gp (DC 25) Weight 25 lbs

Once genetic engineering is weaponized, every nation-state and NGO that can afford it begins custom-breeding Anthro super-soldiers. War Rover Armor is an American armor system fairly typical of the gear provided to trusted, battle-tested Anthro operatives. War Rover is a matte gunmetal grey hardsuit with a burst of patriotic red, white and blue detailing painted on the left pauldron. The modular armor is designed to be worn by a variety of Anthros of different sizes and breeds, though the armor is especially prized by uplifted canids.

War Rover Amor is a set of +1 Anthro-adaptive, benevolent MP tactical armor. Special occult-tech systems built into the armor allow an Anthro wearer with the scent special quality to retain use of this ability even when the armor is fully environmentally sealed without compromising its protective space suit armor quality.

                     

Construction

Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, aid, Anthro adaptation, instant armor or make whole, creator must be an Anthro 

Cost 3,750 gp (DC 22)

Colonizer’s Rifle

Aura faint conjuration CL 5^th   

Slot weapon Price 6,500 gp (DC 24) Weight 10 lbs

Veteran, trusted First Wave Colonizers are usually issued these superior weapons. A Colonizer’s Rifle is a modern derivative of the venerable and dependable AK-47 identified as a mega-corporate weapon by the logo and ID tag built into the butt-stock.

The Colonizer’s Rifle is a +1 AK-47 of infinite ammunition.

As a swift action, a wielder with the First Wave Colonizer Anthro template can choose to increase their indenture to their patron megacorp by +300 gp to gain an additional +3 enhancement bonus (making the weapon a +4 AK-47 of infinite ammunition) for one round.

Similar Items

The mega-corps that create Colonizer-tech sometimes issue enchanted sidearms to their genetically engineered troops. A Colonizer’s Pistol might be built on a Colt M1911, Desert Eagle .50 or Glock 17 action, with no major reduction in cost, nor change in capabilities.

Construction        

Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, infinite ammunition

Cost 3,250 gp (DC 22)