As it turns out, October is a terrible month to plan a series of themed blog posts.
I should've known this of course; based solely on the last few years, the number of entries each October is usually quite dismal. I keep hoping I'll have the free time to write and post but it just doesn't happen nearly as much as I'd like.
*Sigh*
Have you seen Alien Earth? I have and I really enjoyed it. It got me thinking about the Chamax from Traveller. Well...my version of the Chamax that is.
SPOILERS FOR DOUBLE ADVENTURE 5
If you plan to play either of these as a player, you may want to skip this post.
The Chamax are an alien species from the Traveller Double Adventure #5: The Chamax Plague/Horde. Double Adventure #5: The Chamax Plague/Horde is a supplement for the Traveller RPG that was published by Game Designers' Worship in 1981 containing two pre-made scenarios, both of which are centered around the Chamax, vaguely spider-like creatures the size of very large dogs. The Chamax have an empathic sense that draws them towards other living things. Although they can be killed by gunfire and other mundane means of causing damage, when they die they release acid from sacs within their bodies that damage or destroy anything it hits including themselves.
Hmm. That sounds familiar. Too familiar...
Being me, the general idea of these adventures inspired me to redesign the scenarios and, more importantly, the aliens depicted within them. I rebuilt the Chamax and ran The Chamax Plague and Horde using my variants to great success. I have subsequently run my versions of these two adventures a dozen times over the years and had my Chamax appear in other sessions here and there another half dozen times.
Each and every time my players have told me that these Chamax scare the living crap out of them. One of my fondest Traveller memories is having the Chamax appear in a holographic game that essentially amounted to 'holodeck paintball'. When one of the PCs 'killed' a hologram Chamax and its new 'special feature' went off, the player jumped out of his chair. At the end of that session my players applauded these horrible beasties and how frightening they were, even though they weren't 'real' Chamax.
As this October rolled around I started to think...
With Alien Earth expanding the list of known extraterrestrial species that exist within that universe, wouldn't it be cool to convert the Chamax to the ALIEN RPG and finally get the chance to share this creature design with all of you?
This will be the a two-parter, the first focusing on The Chamax themselves and the second going over changes I made to the original adventures.
Without further ado, here's my take on these classic critters...
Part I: The Chamax Plague
Let's start with The Chamax:
These creatures evolved on the planet , a world that is especially cold, wet, and windy by Earth standards. As such, the apex predator that arose blurs the line between various familiar Terran creatures including amphibian turtles, crustacreans, and a pseudo-arachnid (a number of properties and behaviours of spiders by they are not actually spiders).
Averaging roughly 5 and a half feet/1.71 meters in length and approximately 4 and a half feet/1.4 meters wide. From bottom of the central and rear legs to the top of their highest dorsal fin/spike, they stand 4.6 to 5 feet/1.4 to 1.52 meters high. An adult Chamax of this size weighs 600 pounds or 272 kilograms.
Chamax live over 100 years and continue to grow throughout their lives. In addition to increasing in size and weight, the number of fin/spikes on their dorsal shells increases as well. Their shells get harder and thicker along with the way and a great many adult Chamax are highly resistant to small arms fire.(Pistols, Shotguns, Hunting Rifles). Don't worry, an M41A Pulse Rifle will do just fine (Usually. Definitely after two or three shots).
Chamax have several other interesting adaptions and features they make them extremely dangerous to pretty much anything that lives. It's internal musculature and claw structure is sufficient for a Chamax to crush metal and cut through the door of most civilian vehicles. Bein struck by its front claw/arm will send the average person flying, probably with a cracked rib at the very least. This level of body strength and the species' compact form enables the creatures to move extremely fast over flat terrain and surprisingly well over rough and rocky ground.
The Chamax are omnivorous, though they focus on eating meat, consuming vegetation only when it gets in the way. They have three mouths located on the 'front' of their lower body; one positioned vertically between the other two which are placed at slight angles. Their teeth and jaws are 'rotary', turning as they bite and chew in a fashion not unlike a cross between a blender and a crushing machine. Chamax chop and grind their food into a virtual smoothie.
Capable of going into a form of suspended animation by slowing some body functions and altogether ceasing others, which allows the creatures to survive long periods of draught, lack of food, harsh weather conditions, and other adversities. With this ability and the capacity to instinctively adjust their internal body pressure, Chamax can actually lie in the sand just the surface of the water half a dozen to a dozen meter from shore to suddenly awaken and attack when prey comes close enough.
That brings us to the Chamax's senses; the creatures primary means of detection is to feel vibrations, be it through the ground below them, through the air around them, or even movements through water. While sensitive to movement, these creatures are not able to discern any details in this way and as such rely on their 6, small, red eyes to define what is it that is making the perceived motion. These eyes are well adapted to seeing in extremely low light conditions and underwater. It is unclear at present whether or not Chamax can 'hear'. They pick up the vibrations certainly but do they perceive sound in the same way that we do? Unknown at this time.
Finally, their aforementioned 'Special Feature'...
I got rid of the 'acid sacs' because it made them too much like the traditional Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. Instead, they have 'Reproductive Sacs' located on the undersides of their bodies. As a Chamax ages, miniscule amounts of DNA and nutrients are injected into these sacs, with the process getting stronger and faster as the years wear on. This means that even as an old Chamax weakens and deteriorates, all the purest, most robusted genetic material is going into the Reproductive Sacs and sadly, few nutrients are going to or being absorbed by the rest of the Chamax's organs and systems.
The Reproductive Sacs contain dozens upon dozens of small eggs, roughly the size of a grape, swiming in an extremely protein rich, phenomenally sticky, thick, and viscous goo. When a Chamax dies or is killed, the sacs burst, shooting the highly adhesive goop in all directions. The 'goal' of the creature (which is instinct driven) is to spray the egg filled slime at other creatures, particularly prey animals or particularly stupid predators. Moments after contact with a warm body, or any warm surface really, the eggs with begin to hatch and eat their way through the slime and whatever its attached to.
There are four sacs, two smaller ones towards the front and two longer/larger ones starting behind their front claws/arms (as detailed in the image below). The sacs pop at soon as the Chamax dies and with considerable pressure, shooting its ultra-sticky, blood plasma looking molasses outward up to 6-8 feet from the body. The material stays 'wet' and sticky as long as it hits a warm surface. If it strikes a cool surface like the planet's cold, damp ground, it will harden within a few minutes and all the eggs will go inert. The eggs don't 'die' immediately but will eventually become nonviable (usually within 45 minutes to an hour) turning from a pale pinkish-white to an off-white, pink-tan color.
Ventral/Underside View of a Chamax
Although officially identified as 'Front' and 'Rear',
the 'Rear' sacs as more accurately on the sides.
So...
You fire your Pulse Rifle into the attacking Chamax and you manage to kill it. Suddnely, SPLORCH! The Egg Sacs bust and coat your boots and lower legs in reddish-pink vomit glue. You turn to help your fellow soldiers and see Smitty is in trouble. You run over, raising your weapon and taking aim when you suddenly feel a sharp pain in your ankle. Then on your big toe. Then your heel. You fall over as you look down and see a bunch of tiny, chestnut-sized Chamax eating through your footwear, pants, and yeah, your legs and feet. Removing them, heck, removing your boots or pants is extremely difficult as the gunk is essentially a mix of tomato sauce, syrup, and crazy glue.
Nice huh? OK, those are The Chamax. Coming soon...what to do with them.
AD
Barking Alien
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