Most Deadly Canon Creatures

[Almuric]

What would people say are the most lethal (to humans) fauna in Charted Space that have appeared in canon? I'd like to put some in a research station "zoo."

- Chamax would seem to top the list.
- The Blobs from Azhanti High Lightning's Dead Ship scenario are one of the few demonstrated creatures that can apparently take on a man in battledress.
- Crested Jabberwock
- Daghshark, maybe
- Ice crawlers on Furioso in Solomani Rim.

Anything up there with the big boys?

(By canon, I mean the usual definition of Classic Traveller, JTAS, etc. rather than various licensed versions. I'm also excluding microorganisms, of course, and indirect hazards like reverse-engineered sentient chips overthrowing the Imperium, or Doyle's eel mucking your ship up.)

 

[rancke]

What would people say are the most lethal (to humans) fauna in Charted Space that have appeared in canon? I'd like to put some in a research station "zoo."

- Chamax would seem to top the list.

(Aside: Chamax is the world; unless you know of an animal called an america or a britain or a denmark or a spain, I don't think 'chamax' is a proper name for the bugs. Just my opinion.)

That depends on whether you mean hand-to-hand combat. The Chamaxian bugs were primarily dangerous because the hapless bunch of free traders was inadequately equipped and ignorant of their nature. Give a party shotguns, plenty of ammunition and plenty of hand grenades and the bugs are pretty much toast. Doubly so if you give the hunting party a bunch of radios and allow them to select their own field of engagement.

(Indeed, it's difficult to imagine how the indigenous population (Chamaxi? Chamaxians? Chamanes? Chames?) could possibly have been wiped out by the bugs. However, I suppose we must accept that they were either singularily inept or singularily unlucky).


Hans

 

[Almuric]

(Aside: Chamax is the world; unless you know of an animal called an america or a britain or a denmark or a spain, I don't think 'chamax' is a proper name for the bugs. Just my opinion.)

That depends on whether you mean hand-to-hand combat. The Chamaxian bugs were primarily dangerous because the hapless bunch of free traders was inadequately equipped and ignorant of their nature. Give a party shotguns, plenty of ammunition and plenty of hand grenades and the bugs are pretty much toast. Doubly so if you give the hunting party a bunch of radios and allow them to select their own field of engagement.
Hans

Well, "Chamax" is used as a proper name in Chamax Plague (cf headers such as "Attacks on Chamax" and "Attacks by Chamax").

In the CT combat system shotguns and grenades are excellent vs. Chamax at medium range, but of course the bugs won't stay at medium range, especially in urban or shipboard environments, and have the numbers to get closer. At short range a skill-1 shooter will need a 9+ to hit a chamax. Most other TL7- weapons are less effective, as Chamax tend to shrug off 3d damage hits.

I agree their macro-threat is overestated against most foes who have invented firearms - heavy machine guns and the like should cut them to bits, as would cluster bombs, etc. And a party with combat armor or battledress and any 4d weapons (laser carbines or better) has little to fear.

 

[rancke]

Well, "Chamax" is used as a proper name in Chamax Plague (cf headers such as "Attacks on Chamax" and "Attacks by Chamax").

Yes. IMO the original writers made a grammatical mistake there (Just as with the tendency to use world names as demonyms in other works).

In the CT combat system shotguns and grenades are excellent vs. Chamax at medium range, but of course the bugs won't stay at medium range, especially in urban or shipboard environments, and have the numbers to get closer. At short range a skill-1 shooter will need a 9+ to hit a chamax. Most other TL7- weapons are less effective, as Chamax tend to shrug off 3d damage hits.

Hence the qualification about being able to chose the field. Which a radio will serve admirably to enable. Put the radio down in a nice open field, retire to a fortified position, activate the radio, commence the turkey shoot.

I agree their macro-threat is overestated against most foes who have invented firearms - heavy machine guns and the like should cut them to bits, as would cluster bombs, etc. And a party with combat armor or battledress and any 4d weapons (laser carbines or better) has little to fear.

Last I looked at McWhirter's Bugs, or whatever they're called, I was thinking in terms of MgT rules. There shotguns and grenades do 4-5 dice of damage at all ranges. But, as you say, that's only germane for medium-tech civilizations. Any stellar tech civilization has access to even more decisive weapons and armor.


Hans

 

[by_the_sword]

There was a swamp-dwelling brutish, creature that was held captive in Research Station Gamma, that had the psionic ability to induce feeelings of ease and safety into it's prey... Right before they attack.

 

[nobby-w]

(Aside: Chamax is the world; unless you know of an animal called an america or a britain or a denmark or a spain, I don't think 'chamax' is a proper name for the bugs. Just my opinion.)

...

Canary Islands?

 

[nobby-w]

(Indeed, it's difficult to imagine how the indigenous population (Chamaxi? Chamaxians? Chamanes? Chames?) could possibly have been wiped out by the bugs. However, I suppose we must accept that they were either singularily inept or singularily unlucky).

...

Hans

Well, they were dumb enough to wipe out the Bugs' only natural predator.

I'm sure there's a parable in there somewhere.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

I think, in the ends of ends, no non-technology-using creature will ever be that serious a threat to a technology-using sophont. Dangerous, yes, but a real threat, not so much...

Clever animals (...cue Jurassic Park), but firearms, strategy, learning, and experience will always trump non-adaptive animal instincts in the long run. Perhaps in special isolated circumstances or in wish-fulfillment radical environmentalist literature, the animals can prevail, but just about every other kind of scenario, we're not even sure which animal components are in SPAM or hot dogs... LOL ;-)

Whatever the creature is, I'd vote for some kind of carnivore-killer. They're probably the only animals with near-sophont-like aggression levels and capacities for violence.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

What would people say are the most lethal (to humans) fauna in Charted Space that have appeared in canon? I'd like to put some in a research station "zoo."

- The Blobs from Azhanti High Lightning's Dead Ship scenario are one of the few demonstrated creatures that can apparently take on a man in battledress.
Rim.

I think I'm for those blobs.

Of course, anything that could threaten a Virushi is probably potent as well... I wonder what kind of predators existed on the Virushi homeworld.

Virushi Native Environment:
Virshash (Reaver's Deep 2724), the Virushi homeworld, lies just within the Imperial border, in the Reaver's Deep sector. It has a notably dense core and a diameter of somewhat over 10,000 miles, giving it a gravity of 1.75G, and is part of a relatively close double-star system; the second star of the pair produces high levels of radiation, which Virshash's dense atmosphere only partly blocks.
The high gravity, dense atmosphere, and high but variable radiation levels produce a significantly unstable environment and a prolific ecology with some physically formidable large life-forms, including the Virushi. Virushi originated as grazer-gatherers, adopting a highly varied (though purely herbivorous) diet, searching through scrub lands, river valleys, and the edges of the world's great forests for a range of foodstuffs.

[http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Virushi ]

[http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Virshash_(world) ]

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Easterner9504]

That would be Allemagne's predators (Menorial Subsector) which appear to be nearly indestructible and (silicon dino sized IIRC) and the place's jungles are full of them. I also vaguely recall the starport was over run with pterodactyl types.

 

[Meeko100]

I think the Chamax bugs sound pretty lethal. Flicking through the adventures for Pirates of Drinax, and here they only take damage on 6's for damage. Unless CT is different in this regard, they seem pretty hardy. Then, (again, in MgT) they have a armor value of 3. A hit with one 6 would only do 3 damage.

This may just for MgT, but that seems extrodinarily hard to kill. Add in the acid spit (3d damage, 6's reduce armor by 1) and no wonder just one managed to take over a space station.

 

[rancke]

I think the Chamax bugs sound pretty lethal. Flicking through the adventures for Pirates of Drinax, and here they only take damage on 6's for damage. Unless CT is different in this regard, they seem pretty hardy. Then, (again, in MgT) they have a armor value of 3. A hit with one 6 would only do 3 damage.

What chapter?

This may just for MgT, but that seems extrodinarily hard to kill. Add in the acid spit (3d damage, 6's reduce armor by 1) and no wonder just one managed to take over a space station.

From memory (which could be wrong), hits below a certain value (12?) are ignored, hits above either does full value or destroy outright (I forget which). If you have access to 4D weapons (like shotguns and hand grenades), you're pretty well off.


Hans

 

[Meeko100]

What chapter?


From memory (which could be wrong), hits below a certain value (12?) are ignored, hits above either does full value or destroy outright (I forget which). If you have access to 4D weapons (like shotguns and hand grenades), you're pretty well off.


Hans

Its in the first adventure for Pirates of Drinax. There's a space station you go too, hunting down some pirate guy. On board is a marooned Vargr and a Chamax Hunter that the previous station operator thought was a fancy statue. Statue came alive and killed everybody.

If it they are that, then it does raise the question of how the planet was wiped out. Did they run out of ammo? Imagine if Starship Troopers ended like that...

 

[Hyphen]

There was a swamp-dwelling brutish, creature that was held captive in Research Station Gamma, that had the psionic ability to induce feeelings of ease and safety into it's prey... Right before they attack.

And teleportation. Basically, think of The Alien but with teleportation.

 

[Oculus Orbus]

There is only one beast whose name alone spreads fear throughout the known galaxy-

 

[Condottiere]

Because it can dance fight?

 

[Oculus Orbus]

Only if Natalie Wood is in the water.

 

[robject]

(Indeed, it's difficult to imagine how the indigenous population (Chamaxi? Chamaxians? Chamanes? Chames?) could possibly have been wiped out by the bugs. However, I suppose we must accept that they were either singularily inept or singularily unlucky).

It does give an interesting spin on "too few" natives and "too many" bugs. How low does a population have to be before they can be defeated by nature?

They were TL 9. How do they lose to what are essentially giant cockroaches? (yes yes, with concentrated acid for blood, yadda yadda).

 

[flykiller]

There is only one beast whose name alone spreads fear throughout the known galaxy-

where are the laser beams?

shark in an anti-grav suit with waldo jaws and laser beams. "we're gonna need a bigger boat." "you were on the azhanti high lightning?"

 

[Scratches]

The "Alien Planet" DVD has a pretty cool jet-powered sky-shark creature called a Skewer.

When you're dealing with intelligent being, like some Travellers occasionally are, the element of surprise is a pretty big factor in how deadly an opponent is. That element could be a swift and stealthy approach, like a Skewer, or the unknown properties something has, like the AHL blobs or RSG psi-beast.

Players like being surprised too.