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The Joha'nûth live on a very harsh planet, consisting of very aggressive chemicals and weather. The oceans of Nûth'ta consist of a mixture of liquid bromine and brominetrifluoride, the atmosphere consists largely of fluorine. On the planet's surface the temperature is about 60 °C, the pressure more then 4 bar. Storms pass over the surface more than three times a day. The planet has a diameter of 8282 km, a middle density of 5845 kg/m3 and a free fall acceleration of 13.5 m/s2 (1.38 gE).
It is one of the great secrets of life how it happened that on such a planet life evolved at all.
Appearance and Physiology An Joha'nûth seems to be nothing more than a coarse half-sphere with legs with several antennae, up to three meter long; the older the Joha'nûth, the more antennae. Every Joha'nûth is about a meter in diameter and has a very hard shell consisting of strongly corroded metal. The antennae are also coated with metal but consist mainly of perfloured biopolymer. Each antenna is a sensor and tool. The Joha'nûth have no sense of smell or taste, instead they analyse each compound with their antennae in order to find out how much fluorine, bromine or other things of interest.
The Joha'nûth do not have different genders. They reproduce by exchanging certain chemicals and all involved individuals get pregnant.
Favoured Ecosystem Their favoured ecosystem is one which matches their Planet most closely, although they are capable of living on a variety of planets, even with very thin atmosphere; one thing which is very poisonous to them is oxygen! They can not survive on Earth for longer than a few minutes, giving them a painful death. Water is also very dangerous, so planets with water do not interest the Joha'nûth at all.
Diet Their bodies, being complex chemicals factories, can convert most of the natural resources on their planet. They like things like colloid fluorocarbons in bromine-soup, caesium fluoride bromine intercalation compounds on brominetrifluoride-ice. The latter is a real delicacy and they are willing to pay a lot for it.
Language The Joha'nûth's language consists of strong pulses of ultrasonic sound, in which a word's meaning also depends on the pitch used or, when the communication is more intimate, chemical compounds transmitted between their antennae. It is impossible for humans to hear, speak or even to learn the Joha'nûth's language, but translation devices should be available.
Names The names are not names in a common sense, every individual has a distinct song. In order to communicate with humans, they mostly adapt human names and use them. The Joha'nûth do not know many human names so communication can be very confusing, because on every starship is a James, John, Mary, Melanie, Klaus, Ezechael, Jolanta, Edith. These were the forenames of the humans, who first established communication with the Joha'nûth.
Psychology Joha'nûth live on a "Great Quest," searching for the great secrets of life. They are interested in everything which is new to them but, once known they fast lose interest in a particular topic. If there is something of interest, they like to get it and investigate it - very thoroughly. Therefore it is very dangerous to be an interesting human. The Joha'nûth would like to perform a dissection on such a human, if he his willing. If not, it depends on how interested the Joha'nûth are: if they are very much interested than they will do almost anything to get that human - under all means, even if this means to attack another ship or to conquer whole planets!
Social Structure The Joha'nûth live in a big collective, the whole planet is a Unity. There are groups, subgroups, subsubgroups and so on, to make smaller decisions much more manageable. But always every member of a (sub)group is asked. The only exception is when a member is not available (e.g. 43.7 pc away from the (sub)group). A family can be explained to the Joha'nûth, but they will have problems in understanding the concept of different genders.
Religion and Mysticism None. The only thing which interests the Joha'nûth is something new.
Political Structure The Joha'nûth live in a big collective, every decision is voted in a great congress with as Joha'nûth available as possible. Although it seems that their decisions should be very slow, they are in contrary very fast. They usually do not need more than half an hour for an decision. 29 minutes for debate and one minute for voting. They think: if there are enough people voting then the subject must not be talked about much.
Technology and Trade Joha'nûth's technology is more advanced than the Imperium. They have very sophisticated chemical technology: they are even able to synthesise complex macromolecules (like DNA) without the need of biological resources.
Warfare and Weaponry The Joha'nûth are very peaceful, they only fight if they are attacked. But there is one exception! If there is something to explore, something unknown to the Joha'nûth, and something or someone who wants to hinder them, then they get very angry and will fight. Mostly they will use chemicals weapons, specially designed to kill instantaneously and reliably.
Commerce and Currency The Joha'nûth's currency is food! They are always interested in complex fluorocarbons; the more complex the better.
System Notes When dealing with humans keep in mind that the Joha'nûth are notoriously curious, they nearly never answer questions, but ask a lot of them. The Joha'nûth's skin acts as AT20.
CO -5
AG +5
SD -15
ME +10
RE +20
ST +5
QU +5
PR 0
EM 0
IN +10
EL +25
LU 0 SoulDep StatDet Recovery Multi StLng TyHtD MxHits 15 +15 3x 7 D12 110 Ess. Chan. Men/Tel. Terror/Fear Pois. Disease -50 -75 +10 +30 -10 +55Joha'nûth PCs Not recommended. The Joha'nûth have to live in a highly toxic atmosphere for humans and vice versa. Although they are very curious, the flight on a human starship will soon get boring for them, so it is not likely that they will travel with humans or other races.
Adventure Suggestions A hazard in hyperspace, the hyperspacedrive fails, the PCs jump out of hyperspace nearly 40 pc distant from the point they wanted to. Loosing control over the spacecraft, they crash on Nûth'ta. The atmosphere attacks the hull, making small holes through which poisonous clouds enter the ship. Will the PCs be able to communicate? Will they be interesting enough to be saved... but not too interesting?
A space anomaly is being scanned and one of the scientific spaceships establishes contact to the Joha'nûth's ships. The scientist prove to be much to interesting for the Joha'nûth; they capture the ship. The PCs must now convince the Joha'nûth not to dissect the scientists or to prevent a intergalactic war.
The Sable'KAN and Coggle'KAN are complementary individuals. The Sable KAN is the judge and if no other people are around, the jury ... the other is the executioner. It is extremely rare to find one of these individuals without the other within a few feet. They are trained from adolescence to be fair and honest but merciless. They are usually paired up for life and the other will choose the honorable way out should one meet his or her early demise. For this reason, almost all Sable'KANs are female and all Coggl'KANs are males. Unless, of course, it is found out early on that two of the same sex would be more compatible. This is rare in males and almost never heard of in females. On their home planet of KAN, they are the ultimate in law enforcement and crime riddance. The Megan'KAN (as the race is known) is roughly humanoid though a bit taller and stronger on average than standard humanoid stock. They have absolutely no hair on their bodies. On occasion, they will be found roaming the galaxy looking for planet jumpers who have managed to get away before they could go to trial. As the trials are usually swift (an hour maximum), if you ever find yourself in front of a Sable'KAN and are guilty, you can rest assured that you are not long for whatever world you on currently on ... so why not leave now.
A Sable'KAN/Coggl'KAN pair have been used many times by the empire to settle disputes that under normal circumstances would have resulted in a war. They are known throughout the empire as fair and unbiased, thus, they make excellent mediators. Of course, the KAN government encourages such activity as they charge exuberant fees for these services. It is rumored that Emperor Golhandson XXIV paid four star systems to the KAN goverment to negotiate a peace treaty with the Snee. This was never made public and there is no official record. Just the transfer of the four systems after the Snee were discovered.
Sable'KANs are trained in psionics. They also have a strong sense of right and wrong. Whether this is the result of breeding (Sable'KANs usually breed Sable'KANs) or upbringing has not been decided. But it is a prime requisite and any Sable'KAN found to be taking bribes or ignoring evidence is usually hunted down and killed. Of course both of the team are usually involved so there is no trial for the Coggl'KAN. It is assumed he (or she) is also guilty.
The Coggl'KAN is trained in all forms hand-to-hand combat. It is tradition and a matter of honor that any person found guilty by his (or her) Sable'KAN be killed with the least possible mess and the quickest way possible. And as there are usually no lethal injection chambers around where ever trials may occur, it makes them pretty much self-sufficient. This, however, does not mean Coggl'KAN Warriors don't know how to shoot. Sometimes they have to make a path for the Sable'KAN.
In two rare occasions, non-KAN individuals have actually passed the entrance exam to become part of a KAN pair. One was an Idorian (though everybody suspected he was there for nefarious reasons) and the other a human. Many offworlders have attempted the training and died. For this reason, the KAN government discourages the application of offworlders unless they can prove reason to.
Coggl'KAN Warrior
Armsman subclass
All hand attacks +5/lvl
No level bonuses in all other combat skills
All non-combat skills are double cost (1/5 - 2/5)
Adrenal Defense 5
Counts as ALL background options
Race Friend Megan'KAN if offworlder
10th Level RR +(avg PrimeReq Bonus) or die
Sable'KAN
Semi-Telepath Theologist
Light Saber/Adrenal Def Kata
Prime Requisites: Pr/SD
All alternate costs apply
Counts as ALL background options
Race Friend Megan'KAN if offworlder
15th Level RR +(avg PrimeReq Bonus) or die
Race Stats
Co 0
Ag 0
Sd 0
Me 0
Re 0
St 15
Qu 0
Pr 10
In 5
Em 5
Ap -5
When making up one of the two above, the RR is the test the applicant must pass. The GM may wish to substitute some 'special' scenario in its place. Keep in mind, that these resistance rolls are based on a 1 level character although the character is acutally a 0 level. Applicants are NEVER accepted after adolescence.
These characters have been game tested twice. The first one would have worked had the Sable'KAN player not thought of himself as a devil worshipper. The second time it was played by a more mature player. He did things with that class that makes me proud I came up with it.
One final note: Although these appear to be Judge Dredd type character classes. They are not. Very rarely is violence used by the KANs. Only when absolutely necessary.