Kafers

[Colin]

Everyone's favorite bug, right? The only problem with Kafers is, once you know their secret, they ain't got much left. Even the Kafer sourcebook doesn't really expand on their society in a meaningful way. They're a good "shoot-'em-up" evil alien, but not much more.
I don't recall much of their evolutionary biology, but I find their biochemical response to stress to be a little odd. Do all the higher lifeforms on their home world share that response? After all, most (if not all) mammals share the "flight-or-fight" adreneline resonse that humans have. If so, it would be a very odd place, with many species shading into sentience when threatened, then dropping out again. In a sense, this would be useful, but full intelligence is an even more useful adaptation, yes? (Yes, that's a humano-centric point of view. I'm human, after all, and the game is about humans.)
After that, the Kafers have no surprises, really. At least, not in published books. They're simply an over-armed, belligerent race, fit for taking out one's frustration on.
What sort of shading do you out there see in the Kafers? I have a few ideas this way myself, but I am curious to see what others have to say.

Colin

 

[duran.goodyear]

an interesting thought about kafers is, how much of their natural world is left?

they seem not to concerned with environmental issues, and did a good job of strip mining their ownworld down in the past 10,000 years.

how much of their wilderness is still intact?

and to draw intellegence parralels, I think its possible to say that even if the rest of the fauna aren't killed off by over harveting, that some of them can exhibit intellegent behaviors like the kafers do under stress, though not AS intellegent as kafers.

maybe its just an issue of opposable thumbs, or the ability to communicate...

I would imagine, once the kafers become the prominent predators, not much else can rise to the challange.


as for being your average nameless beast... I think its a good role. orcs in fantasy stories seem to fill that role pretty well. though who knows... maybe a kafer ship approaches human lines, survives the gun happy captains, and ACTUALLY makes peaceful contact. like, for real, serious, peaceful contact...

division between the race, if discovered by humans could lead to a renewal in human factions wanting to sue for peace. and then who knows, maybe its another diversion or maybe it isn't?

does 2300ad man kind go on to be the man of the traveller empire? but with the hidden stain of having committed genocide?

what ever happens in the war, its going to be long, and painful.

if you've ever read "The Gripping Hand" books, I suspect it may end in a draw, with an extensive blockade force keeping the peace at the border... if humans don't start just nuke rushing kafer colonies... or if they don't just do the same as well...

 

[TWILIGHT]

The rest of my gaming group never got chance to see 'Speace:above & Beyond' when it was on TV. This programme was ripe for plunder when it comes to 2300AD plotlines and possible scenario's. The chigs are reasonably similar to the Kafers and silicates can represent provolution....just a thought.

 

[Colin]

It depends. The books seem to indicate that they don't care about the natural environment at all. Their concept of violence as a good thing extends to the world around them as well, as an enemy to be conquered. However...
Perhaps, at least on thier homeworld, they have recognized the value of the natural environment as an alternative to the regimented violence that pervades the cities. Perhaps survival in the wilds, with nothing but their brains, is the final test for Kafer officers, or a recreational pursuit of the high-class officials and scientists.
Of course, the Kafer Sourcebook does mention multiple nuclear wars, but some preserve could still be left.

 

[BMonnery]

Originally posted by Colin:
It depends. The books seem to indicate that they don't care about the natural environment at all. Thier concept of violence as a good thing extends to the world around them as well, as an enemy to be conquered. However...
Perhaps, at least on thier homewrold, they have recognized the value of the natural environment as an alternative to the regimented violence that pervades the cities. Perhaps survival in the wilds, with nothing but their brains, is the final test for Kafer officers, or a recreational pursuit of the high-class officials and scientists.
Of course, the Kafer Sourcebook does mention multiple nuclear wars, but some preserve could still be left.

Their concept of the universe is that its an enemy to be conquered. They had three nuclear wars (1810, 1820 and 1840), ending in the formation of the associative in 1850.

Given that even at home the Kafers build safe-places as their main population centres, I'd guess the fact that there are nine suzerains means 9 safe-places survived all this, maybe more if some where swallowed afterwards (it would appear that Rrrah has 2 suzerainities, being a huge population, and two separate groupings of stars with a gap between them). I have a crude sketch which I scanned showing the borders....

http://www.geocities.com/littlegreenmen.geo/Kafer.tif

One thing I wonder about is how do the Kafers feed 2.5 billion on only meat? That said, they do eat their own dead....

A scan through the KSB mentions an 8 ton predator, and seems to imply that the intelligence thing is prettymuch confined to the Kafers themselves, and is what lead to them forming a society.

I'd surmise that Kafer intelligence is actually caused by increased neurotransmitter levels in the brain. This is why they can form memory circuits in the brain, but only use them under stimulation. As in the article "Lone Wolf" some Kafer equivalent of LSD might enable permanent intelligence, although maybe at the cost of not being able to form additional memory circuits. Although they probably wouldn't develop it synthetically, maybe they have an equivalent of ergot? Maybe this is the Kafer Rot they've carried to all the conquered worlds?

The Kafers homeworld is scarred by huge (20k long) strip mines, the atmosphere heavily polluted with Surplur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sulphuric Acid, Nitric Acid (the NO2 mentioned forms HNO3 in water ISTR) and Nitrous Acid. The surface breakdown is:

32.1% Water
54.5% Desert
9.5% Mountains
3.6% Clear Areas (grasslands, steppes etc.)
2.2% Woodland
No polar ice caps

Ho hum, going on too long and Red Dwarf is on TV.

Bryn

 

[Redleg58]

Originally posted by TWILIGHT:
The rest of my gaming group never got chance to see 'Speace:above & Beyond' when it was on TV. This programme was ripe for plunder when it comes to 2300AD plotlines and possible scenario's. The chigs are reasonably similar to the Kafers and silicates can represent provolution....just a thought.

Yes indeed it's ripe for plunder when it comes to 2300AD plotlines and possible scenario's, and your analogy of Kafers Vs Chigs is also spot on.

I've often wondered if the writers or producers played 2300 ....

 

[robmyers]

Originally posted by Colin:
What sort of shading do you out there see in the Kafers? I have a few ideas this way myself, but I am curious to see what others have to say.

I thought they might have stolen stutterwarp from the Ylii if they encountered them earlier than published materials suggest (possibly from a Ylii listening outpost on the Kafer moon or a Roswell, like the Aslan in CT...). Or even that Humanity might have misunderstood the relationship, and a Ylii faction are in charge of the Kafers...

One problem with the Kafers is they're hard to infiltrate, unless some of them start trusting Smart Barbarian prisoners or the Pentapods help with disguises.

For me the big question for the Kafers (which Bryn has mentioned) is how their "the universe belongs to us, kill everyone else" worldview can be, well, solved. I think that (the late) Kafka on Station Arcture offers a key to cross-species understanding (I have a humorous scenario called "L'Prophet Français" which deals with Kafer reactions to defeat and translated existentialism). But since the Kafers' idea of acting friendly is attacking you, I don't see how making friends with them helps much.

There's also the matter of the Ylii blowback once all those warriors are in place and the war's over or doesn't come quick enough.

- Rob.

 

[GJD]

Aslan and jumpdrive in CT - Please stay where you are. SolSec will be with you shortly.

Humanity has a problem that as far as Kafares are concerned, they cant be contained, that is, they cannot allow Humanity to pursue a policy of containment. To do so denies the Kafres their opportunity to fight, which they need to survive and avoid becomming, literally, fat, lazy and stupid. If they dd become contained then Kafer history has taught them that, in time, the smart barbarians will come rusing over the walls and butcher them all. To a Kafer the idea of an ongoing, drawn out war must seem like heaven, all that 'smart' time, wheras an armastice and peace would fill them with a sense of dread (or at laest a slack jawed "duh?")

Completely off topic, but did i read somewhere that they laid eggs? I vaugely remember a quote about "they'll die out if we smash all their eggs"

 

[robmyers]

Originally posted by GJD:
Completely off topic, but did i read somewhere that they laid eggs? I vaugely remember a quote about "they'll die out if we smash all their eggs"

The Sung lay eggs. The Kafers just have a thing for Fabergé eggs. Seriously. Get twenty Kafers after you, pop down one of those jewel-encrusted baubels and they just can't resist stopping. The French are working on Fabergé hand grenades. Friend of mine from Tanstaafl said...

- Rob.

 

[BMonnery]

Originally posted by GJD:
Aslan and jumpdrive in CT - Please stay where you are. SolSec will be with you shortly.

Humanity has a problem that as far as Kafares are concerned, they cant be contained, that is, they cannot allow Humanity to pursue a policy of containment. To do so denies the Kafres their opportunity to fight, which they need to survive and avoid becomming, literally, fat, lazy and stupid. If they dd become contained then Kafer history has taught them that, in time, the smart barbarians will come rusing over the walls and butcher them all. To a Kafer the idea of an ongoing, drawn out war must seem like heaven, all that 'smart' time, wheras an armastice and peace would fill them with a sense of dread (or at laest a slack jawed "duh?")

Completely off topic, but did i read somewhere that they laid eggs? I vaugely remember a quote about "they'll die out if we smash all their eggs"

No, they give birth to live young (since they're hermathrodites (sp?) BOTH Kafers get pregnant from intercourse, with a typical Kafer birthing 2 Kafers at a time.)

A Typical Kafer life appears to be:

0: Born

until 3: Walks on 4 limbs, semi-independent of parents immediately, is fed partially digested food by parents and schooled.

3: 3/5th size of an adult. Leaves parents and enters a training camp. At this point the naming ceremony appears to occur.

6: Leaves camp and becomes sexually active. Will spend 2-3 years having 2-3 broods, and another 3 years raising them.

11-12: Enters a senior training camp specific to its choosen/ assigned job for 2-3 years.

13-17: Enters society at its first duty post.

The natural lifespan isn't known, but since I suspect Kafers kill and eat the infirm, death by natural causes isn't a particularly common thing....

(All KSB pg 17)

Bryn

 

[GJD]

Originally posted by BMonnery:

No, they give birth to live young (since they're hermathrodites (sp?) BOTH Kafers get pregnant from intercourse, with a typical Kafer birthing 2 Kafers at a time.)


Bryn

Hermaphrodite describes who does what (everybody does it all, in this case, plus twice as much chance of getting a date at a party), but not how you give birth. For instance, earthworms are hermaphrodites, and they lay eggs. The quote is in the Ground Vehicle guide, when talking about the Behemoth tank. A Texas Ranger is describing his first sight of the Behemoth and nis NCO says "Look at it this way, if we smash all their eggs, they'll die out"

Looking at it from an evolutionaty point of view, if the Kafers are evolved from scavengers, there would be some advantage in a short pregnancy and laying eggs. They can leave the eggs in a safe place, guarded by one of the pair, whilst the other nips off to root around in a dead 8-ton carnivore for a few juicy morsels. When the Kafer Kubs hatch, the first thing they can do is eat their eggs, before being fed by ma/pa on regurgitated partially rotten food (nice).

 

[Colin]

The Director's Guide says they have a live birth, after a 6-month gestation (they said partuition, but that is the process of giving birth. Eck 6-months? My wife's 12 hours for our son was bad enough. But I digress)

The quote about the Behemoth tank was a dinosaur reference, I think, not a Kafer one.

 

[duran.goodyear]

Originally posted by robmyers:

Originally posted by GJD:
[qb]...The French are working on Fabergé hand grenades. Friend of mine from Tanstaafl said...

- Rob.

ROL

 

[tanstaafl2300]

"Ground Vehicle guide" page: 55

The Elite Texas Rifles, 4th Ind Rifle Co.
Describing their encounter with the "Behemoth" Kafer Tank.

"I looked at Carter. He had the look of a man who had given up all hope of getting out alive. After a couple of seconds, he shrugged and said, "I think if we smash enough of their eggs, they'll become extinct eventually."

From the "Battle of Armstrongs Mountain"

 

[GJD]

Originally posted by Colin:
The Director's Guide says they have a live birth, after a 6-month gestation (they said partuition, but that is the process of giving birth. Eck 6-months? My wife's 12 hours for our son was bad enough. But I digress)

The quote about the Behemoth tank was a dinosaur reference, I think, not a Kafer one.

Ahh, there you go, you see my 2300AD DG has gone to the great gaming book shelf in the sky.

 

[Colin]

Just as there are factions in humanity, there are factions amongst the Kafers as well. In addition to the Striker of Stars "religion" there are other sects or cults on the homeworld in particular. Mainstream Kafer society seeks to isolate these cults, fearing contamination of the pure "Striker of Stars" doctrine. One of the things these cults add to the setting is more depth to the Kafers. They don't have a great deal of depth at the moment, being pretty one- or two-dimensional.
More on the cults at a later date.

 

[Colin]

No alien race is a monolithic bloc. Even the Sung have antions and factions, terrorists and criminals. The Ylii have their emerging warrior caste, which could cause trouble later on.

And the Kafers have pacifists. Well, not what we would call pacifists. Rather, a group that believes the best way struggle is against the demons in themselves, and uses esophisticated martial arts and meditation techniques to tame the monster in themsleves. This allows them to become intellectually aroused without the violence required in mainstream Kafer society.

I'm pursuing this as a possibility, to give Kafers more depth as a culture.

What do you think? Keep in mind that, as always, I will listen to anything, but I'm under no obligation to do anything with it.

 

[aramis]

Meditation, at least in the traditional meaning of the word wouldn't do it based upon the sourcebooks... they need their adrenaline analogue to have the intellect response. Meditation is unlikely to do it.

An ascetic approach might have other useful bits, tho... painful rituals, daily threat walks, ritualized sporting.

But not meditation.

 

[Whipsnade]

Aramis wrote:

"Meditation, at least in the traditional meaning of the word wouldn't do it based upon the sourcebooks... they need their adrenaline analogue to have the intellect response. Meditation is unlikely to do it."


Mr. Aramis,

I must agree with you here; Meditation controlling a gland? Nope, sorry.

The Kafer version of adrenaline just doesn't increase their intelligence, it also performs all the other functions human adrenaline does.

"An ascetic approach might have other useful bits, tho... painful rituals, daily threat walks, ritualized sporting."

That's already part of Kafer society, it's what keeps them bright enough to stay civilized when there are no immediate threats. The 2300AD setting is just unfortunate that Striker-of-Stars convinced Kafer society that the threats they are hard-wired to need were waiting for them in space.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Kafer can be 'domesticated'; i.e. learn to live with other sophonts. They were pretty much designed by the 2300AD creators to be the 'Menace from Outer Space'. An intriguing menace, yes. A menace that has been carefully crafted, yes. But not a menace that can be changed short of genocide.

I think the Kafer view on field surgery is illuminating; pain medication is an abomination.


Sincerely,
Larsen

P.S. Where does this domesticated Kafer idea come from? That philosophical creature whose species eats other sophonts and lays their eggs in the corpses on 'Andromeda'?

 

[Colin]

Andromeda? Nope, don't watch it. Try to pretend it doesn't exist, in fact.

I don't think of them as a "domesticated" Kafer. More like one who realizes that there are other ways. And I wasn't clear on what I meant by meditation. In this case, its done in pairs, and involves long, hard pieces of wood. After stimulation, they would use the gain in intelligence to meditate alone, to study and learn. But the initiating act itself is very ritualized. The upshot is that these monks, through their ritualized fighting and the discipline they impose on themselves, are as smart as Kafer officers and scientists, without the overwhelming bloodlust. They are no nicer, really, but somewhat more amenable to reason. They are also not followers of "Striker-of-Stars", but follow a different path.

What I'm trying to do here is salvage the Kafers somewhat. They are really a one-trick pony, the "evil" alien invaders, fit only to be mown down like orcs in some other game. And that's the role the vast majority of them still fill (more-or-less, further details must wat, I'm afraid...)

They are not about to throw down their guns and declare peace-and-love. Even the monks are quite brutal by human standards. But at least they will talk. Kafer culture is not monolithic.