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Advantages-- Ally Group: surface lifeforms [20] Animal Empathy [5] Doesn't Breath [20] Doesn't Eat or Drink [10] Doesn't Sleep [20] Extra Hit Points [474,314,980,000,000,000,000 (-75% to cost due to Sessile)] Faz Sense [10] (operates through ley lines/magnetic field) Magical Aptitude [15] No Blood [5] No Brain [5] No Cutting/Impaling Bonus [30] No Neck [5] No Vitals [5] Plant Empathy [5] Regeneration [10] Unaging [15] Vacuum Adaptation [27] |
Disadvantages-- Altered Timerate [-12,000] (two minutes to a human is one second to Hollah) Cannot Harm Innocents [-10] Confused [-10] Dreamer [-1] Illiteracy [-10] Inconvenient Size [-150] (15 levels) Indecisive [-10] Innumerate [-5] Lunacy [-10] No Depth Perception [-10] No Manipulators [-50] Orbitbound [-40] (as per Planetbound (CI103); cannot be moved from orbital path without suffering HT loss) Sessile [-50] Slow Metabolism [-20] Solipsist [-10] Staid [-1] Unhealing [-30] Quirks-- Isn't aware it is aware [-1] Likes the sound of human laughter [-1] Talks to its plants [-1] Thinks of its moons as siblings, although it wonders why they don't talk back [-1] Thinks of Terradyne monitoring satellites as a human would of jewelry [-1] |
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Psionics-- Mind Shield-20 [14] Telepathy 50 [250] Telereceive-20 [14] Telesend-20 [10] (-30% to cost, Cannot lie with Telesend) Inherent Magic-- (all bought as knacks (pp. M96-97) with no self-power) Alter Terrain [60] Clouds [6] Cool [3] Current [6] Earthquake [120] Fog [6] Frost [4] Geyser [35] Hail [10] Lightning [16] Rain [12] Sandstorm [40] Snow [9] Storm [20] Tide [5] Volcano [200] Warm [3] Waves [6] Whirlpool [10] Wind [6] Windstorm [13] |
Point Breakdown Attributes: 227,860,000,000,000,000,300 points Advantages: 474,314,980,000,000,000,207 points Disadvantages: -12,427 points Quirks: -5 points Psionics: 288 points Knacks: 590 points Total: 702,174,979,999,999,987,953 points |
BackgroundFor untold millennia, Hollah simply lived. It nurtured the plants and small animals that covered it and all was well. But, about 300 years ago, a Terradyne Corp. deep-space probe reached its small system and indicated that several valuable mineral deposits lay within its body.At first Hollah was intrigued by the presence of the new creatures that visited it. The Terradyne agents seemed different from the other lifeforms on its surface. For one thing, they were loud and brash. Their talking and thoughts were very distracting to Hollah, but at the same time intriguing. But when the first core samples were taken, Hollah grew increasingly irritated by its "guests." The Terradyne agents were eventually forced to return to orbit with little to show for their efforts but confusion. Despite all evidence of a very stable crust, even small attempts at excavation and examination of the planet resulted in bizarre shifts in the weather. In one case, a volcano erupted in the middle of a stable savanna. A network of monitoring satellites were left in orbit around the planet to mark it as a Terradyne claim. It has been set aside for further exploration. Hollah has no real sense organs. Instead its Faz Sense operates through a series of ley lines (pp. PM25-27) that meander across its body. The lines allow it to sense feelings and thoughts of the plants and animals that live upon it. Its psionic skills are very powerful, but it is untrained in their use. Hollah is the only sentient being in its system and the Terradyne agents are the first sentients to visit it. Conceivably, Hollah could learn to communicate with other sentient beings, but it will not tolerate any attempts to mine it for resources. At the moment Terradyne is not certain why the ecosystem responds as it does to exploration attempts, but it believes an intelligence is behind the volcanoes and storms. However, the company is looking for an external explanation. In fact, there is talk of setting up an armed base either in orbit or on the surface to protect Terradyne's claims on this new "planet."
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Physical Characteristics Hollah is a terrestrial-type, high-iron planetoid circling a remote red main-sequence (M-V) star, L-113x42k. Hollah is the closest planetoid to the sun and is circled by two moonlets. A gas giant, an asteroid belt and two rockballs also circle the star. In diameter, Hollah measures 4,644 miles. Its gravity is 0.67 G, and its mass is 1.52x10^21 tons. With an axial tilt of only 9 degrees, there are only minor seasonal variations. The climate is hot-tropical with average temperatures of 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Surface water covers only 28.73% of Hollah's surface and average humidity is 35%. Days are short, 17 Earth hours. It orbits the sun once every 44.12 local days, making one local year about 31 Earth days long. The atmosphere of Hollah, although thin, is breathable by humans. It consists of 77% nitrogen, 19% oxygen, 4% neon, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other elements. The majority of the terrain is desert, grasslands and scrub forests. Hollah has no ice cap and few mountains of note. Hollah is covered by a wide variety of plants, as well as a small number of large herbivores, small aerial predators, many insects, and some eel-like aquatic animals. Thus far, none have demonstrated any degree of sentience or potential.
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Notes/Adventure SeedsWhether or not Hollah's inherent magic (pp. M96-97) is actually magic or just a convenient way to account for its ability to influence the weather is up to the GM. If it is a magical being, a mage could theoretically use Dispel Magic or similar spells to disrupt the weather manipulations Hollah uses to dissuade potential explorers and settlers.Similarly, Hollah may be blinded if a spell were used to disrupt its ley lines. If magic is just a way to account for the abilities, then consider the ley lines something similar to a magnetic field that Hollah uses to sense its environment. In a campaign, Hollah could be a potential site for exploration or colonization, something it might at first like so long as its "pets" are not harmed and its soil remains undisturbed. As soon as the visitors begin to push its limits, Hollah would manipulate the weather to drive them away. In a psionics or magical space campaign, say a Lensman game, psychic or magical emanations may be detected from the L-113x42k star system and players could be sent to examine the readings. It should take them a good while to figure out where the emanations are coming from. Perhaps adding to the confusion, some of the native flora and fauna may have mana organs (p. BE53). Once Hollah is known to be sentient, perhaps someone might work with it to research ancient history. Hollah has been around a long, long time, and it may even have some knowledge of who the Precursors (p. S8) or Progenitors (p. U6) were or where they went. Maybe Hollah is a Precursor. Some players may suggest that Hollah is a form of Bio-Planetoid (p. SB85), but its characteristics do not match up with those beings. It is a different -- and apparently unique -- being. Although PCs (hopefully) are unlikely to try to attack Hollah directly, rules on destroying planets are included in a sidebar on p. L78 of Lensman. If a way to counter Hollah's psychic powers and weather manipulation, the planet could be colonized. However, changes to the biosphere should damage Hollah, perhaps to the point where it might die.
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Bibliography Hollah was created using GURPS Basic Set and Compendium I, Bestiary, Bio-Tech, Grimoire, Lensman, Magic, Magic Items 2, Places of Mystery, Psionics, Space, Space Bestiary, and Uplift. Terradyne was used for backstory.
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