The People for GURPS
Sep. 11th, 2010 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalWrote this up quickly this evening just to get some ideas down before they fled my brain. Everything is likely subject to change once I actually start writing the book.
Myth
It is said in the religion of the People that when God created the first Male and the first Female, the Great Dragon entered the garden where they, intent on eating them while God slept after His labors. The Female awoke from where she lay and growled at the intruder, intent on protecting the child that had been quickened in her belly. A great battle ensued, the first Male joining the fray as they both brayed for God to aid them. But before their creator could intervene, the Great Dragon raked the first Female with its claws, tearing her child from her belly.
In her misery and pain the first Female cursed God for failing to protect her child. In return for this arrogance, God laid a great curse upon the People. Forevermore, when one of the People had child quickened within them for the first time, the child would be stillborn, and they would know the misery that the first Female felt.
Culture
The generally high (80 to 90%) firstborn mortality rate for females of the People have left them with a rather... difficult relationship with God. Religion is regarded with suspicion, with their creator viewed as someone to be appeased and avoided rather than directly worshiped. The fact that firstborn that do survive tend to have strong affinity with the magical arts doesn't help at all.
In modern times the People have developed a culture that focuses heavily on pure rationality. In their minds there are no miracles (or at least none worth trusting). Instead there are just mysteries whose answers have not been revealed yet. It was one of the People who developed the first steam engine and another who built the first of the great industrial mills that drive the hearts of their great cities.
The People dislike disorder and laziness intensely. From the moment they're able to read and write a Person must be constantly proving themselves against their competitors. The goal of any Person is to be part of an organization. The great guilds and industrial corporations of their nation are organized almost along military lines, even to the point of wearing company “uniforms” more equivalent to a Prussian infantry unit.
Even arts and music tend to have an industrial emphasis similar to Socialist Realism, to the point where the joke is a People romance novel could be described as “A girl and her tractor”. Architecture leans towards the utilitarian, without much in the way of ornamentation. The only reason it isn't called Brutalism is that concrete has been developed yet.
Modern People government is organized along a mixture of oligarchic and parliamentary lines, with major guilds and corporations each sending a representative. Though technically both genders are considered equal under the law, People strongly favor a matriarchal structure, with females ruling the roost at home and serving in the majority in both government and corporate CEOs.
All of this tends to make the People appear to be blunt, stuffy and over-serious to the rest of the world. In turn they tend to regard humans and especially wazagans as frivolous, scatter brained and obsessed with religion.
Appearance and Biology
The People strongly resemble stocky, anthropomorphic hyenas, with thick spotted fur in colors running from light tan to dark brown, and dark black eyes. Height is ten inches shorter than a human of similar strength, but weight is the same. They're carnivorous by preference, but can survive on high protein vegetables if they absolutely have to.
As mentioned above, females have extremely difficult first pregnancies, with a high percentage of their cubs being stillborn. This appears to be because the birth passage is unable to accommodate the size of a cub at full gestation, though once the first cub is pushed out the passage is sufficiently “stretched” for subsequent births. Due to the placement of their internal organs, a caesarian section is extremely hazardous at best, even discounting TL 5 medical technology.
Characters
Stats: ST -2 [-20], DX +1 [20], SM -1
Social: High TL +1 [5]
Advantages: Acute Taste/Smell +2 [4], Blunt Claws [3], Night Vision 4 [4], Single Minded [5], Temperature Tolerance 2 [2].
Perks: Fur [1]
Disadvantages: Selfish [-5], Truthfulness [-5]
Quirks: Difficult Pregnancies (females only) [-1], Proud [-1]
Total: 12 points (females), 13 points (males).
Myth
It is said in the religion of the People that when God created the first Male and the first Female, the Great Dragon entered the garden where they, intent on eating them while God slept after His labors. The Female awoke from where she lay and growled at the intruder, intent on protecting the child that had been quickened in her belly. A great battle ensued, the first Male joining the fray as they both brayed for God to aid them. But before their creator could intervene, the Great Dragon raked the first Female with its claws, tearing her child from her belly.
In her misery and pain the first Female cursed God for failing to protect her child. In return for this arrogance, God laid a great curse upon the People. Forevermore, when one of the People had child quickened within them for the first time, the child would be stillborn, and they would know the misery that the first Female felt.
Culture
The generally high (80 to 90%) firstborn mortality rate for females of the People have left them with a rather... difficult relationship with God. Religion is regarded with suspicion, with their creator viewed as someone to be appeased and avoided rather than directly worshiped. The fact that firstborn that do survive tend to have strong affinity with the magical arts doesn't help at all.
In modern times the People have developed a culture that focuses heavily on pure rationality. In their minds there are no miracles (or at least none worth trusting). Instead there are just mysteries whose answers have not been revealed yet. It was one of the People who developed the first steam engine and another who built the first of the great industrial mills that drive the hearts of their great cities.
The People dislike disorder and laziness intensely. From the moment they're able to read and write a Person must be constantly proving themselves against their competitors. The goal of any Person is to be part of an organization. The great guilds and industrial corporations of their nation are organized almost along military lines, even to the point of wearing company “uniforms” more equivalent to a Prussian infantry unit.
Even arts and music tend to have an industrial emphasis similar to Socialist Realism, to the point where the joke is a People romance novel could be described as “A girl and her tractor”. Architecture leans towards the utilitarian, without much in the way of ornamentation. The only reason it isn't called Brutalism is that concrete has been developed yet.
Modern People government is organized along a mixture of oligarchic and parliamentary lines, with major guilds and corporations each sending a representative. Though technically both genders are considered equal under the law, People strongly favor a matriarchal structure, with females ruling the roost at home and serving in the majority in both government and corporate CEOs.
All of this tends to make the People appear to be blunt, stuffy and over-serious to the rest of the world. In turn they tend to regard humans and especially wazagans as frivolous, scatter brained and obsessed with religion.
Appearance and Biology
The People strongly resemble stocky, anthropomorphic hyenas, with thick spotted fur in colors running from light tan to dark brown, and dark black eyes. Height is ten inches shorter than a human of similar strength, but weight is the same. They're carnivorous by preference, but can survive on high protein vegetables if they absolutely have to.
As mentioned above, females have extremely difficult first pregnancies, with a high percentage of their cubs being stillborn. This appears to be because the birth passage is unable to accommodate the size of a cub at full gestation, though once the first cub is pushed out the passage is sufficiently “stretched” for subsequent births. Due to the placement of their internal organs, a caesarian section is extremely hazardous at best, even discounting TL 5 medical technology.
Characters
Stats: ST -2 [-20], DX +1 [20], SM -1
Social: High TL +1 [5]
Advantages: Acute Taste/Smell +2 [4], Blunt Claws [3], Night Vision 4 [4], Single Minded [5], Temperature Tolerance 2 [2].
Perks: Fur [1]
Disadvantages: Selfish [-5], Truthfulness [-5]
Quirks: Difficult Pregnancies (females only) [-1], Proud [-1]
Total: 12 points (females), 13 points (males).
