The Turtle Captains
[Common Deployment]
[Mortals 2, Auspicious Hours 2]
Turtle Captains are not often captains, but they are turtles. Heavy framed and with the patient and powerful disposition of an ocean wind, Turtle Captains are one the two most iconic features of Taratan. (The other being its local delicacy, a circular flatbread covered in a red sauce, salted meats, and baked with cheese- much beloved by the turtles)
As infantry, the Turtle captains are strongly inferior creatures. Sluggish, difficult to fit with conventional armor, and too bulky to easily make use of traditional formations, they’re only seen in ground units when someone has done something terribly wrong. While not incapable of fighting on solid ground, they are, quite literally, out of their element.
As sailors, the Turtle Captains are peerless. With an innate understanding of storms and tides, no real concern for wind or driving rain, and an inborn affinity for the giant turtles frequently used as vessels, the Turtle Captains are an integral part of the Alikai navy. While their bulk might make complex rig and tackle setups ungainly, they’re uniquely well suited to work on living vessels- capable of submerging for extended periods on turtle boats when rapidly breathing crew is present.
The armaments of the Turtle captains are simple, but generally effective weapons. Well suited to being submerged in water or buffeted by spray, the throwing spears and short swords may only be criticized for their range.
[Minor Difficulty, d6: 5]
[Minor Bug, Feature]
A small but significant portion of Turtle Captains come from leatherback heritage, a trait which carries dramatically weakened shell armor, but makes them considerably more flexible- usually ending up a ship’s dedicated marksman for spear throwing or rapid swimming.
[Lucky Break!]
[Moderate Bug]
The largest issue with the Turtle Captains is their vision. The difference in the refractive indices between water and air mean that, while they see with unusual clarity in salt water, they are universally and heavily shortsighted when their heads are above water. While this doesn’t affect them unduly in melee, they are abysmal marksmen and their ability to spot other vessels (or distant land) is strongly impacted.
Croakadiers [RESEARCH]
Primary Structural Issues:
How do you ‘train’ something to explode on command? I mean, the first time it gets it right is also the last time it gets it right. This, if not addressed, will significantly impact remote detonations.
Tonge retrieval, likewise, seems like a great way to panic an explosive toad. That leads to a permanent inability to sing Deck the Halls. If not addressed, this will imply the toads take a LOT to panic into a boom, and will primarily be detonated by splattering.
Instructing an animal to kill itself also goes a bit beyond the pale of normal communication. Directing the toads to take action to hop into the enemy camp is fine, but you’ll be relying on the enemy to set them off.
What You’re Going to Get: Direct Fire grenadiers with a Corrosive+Hallucinogenic payload.
What’s Hardest: The toads themselves will have a not insignificant beast cost to deploy evenly, and a very high Auspicious hours cost as you’re ritually enhancing each toad.
Difficulty: Moderate, reduced to Minor by research.
Killer Rabbits Polo Team
[Uncommon Deployment]
[Beasts: 3, Fruit of the Land: 4, Auspicious Hours: 5]
The Dire Rabbits of Alikai are something that outsiders scoff at, right up until the point they meet one. Lunacy grants the creatures enormous size, strength of body, and the courage that their smaller ken lack. However, despite the attempts, it does NOT grant increased tractability. Sacred Lunatics, exasperated by frequent requests from rider trainees, are forced to repeatedly explain that calling forth the primal and savage soul of a rabbit so that it can be ridden into battle like a lethal pogostick is somewhat antithetical to making it a tame widdle bunny.
Generally less than half a ton, the Killer Rabbits of Alikai are hungry, social, and adorable in equal measure. After a significant training period, almost universally with lagomorph handlers, the great beasts are paired off with riders. Riders are typically lagormorphic as well, but other lunamorphs are seen- though males are generally only from lunamorphs with internal testicles.
In battle, the Killer Rabbits themselves make use more of their size than any particular natural weaponry. While their teeth are fearsome, their herbivorous nature makes them typically deployed as a last defense. Instead, they tend to rear back onto their hind legs and make clubbing motions with their front limbs. While distinctly awkward in appearance, the sheer bulk of the rabbit means that the repeated thwacks are capable of bludgeoning infantry into the ground.
The riders of the Killer Rabbits use lance and hammer, with both employed in conjunction with the rabbits bounding stride to land devastatingly powerful single blows- it’s not uncommon at all for a squire in training to shatter bones from improperly setting her lance or failing to roll with a hammerblow.
The principle issue with the Killer Rabbits is one of endurance. They function as blazingly vast cavalry, capable of covering stupendous ground even over moderately rough terrain and converting that momentum into harassing strikes. However, the staying power of the rabbits is quite limited. They’re best served as shock forces for key actions rather than a mainstay, as they can be exhausted if overextended.
Their lack of barding also means that they rely significantly on their speed for defense, a trait which suits them for hit-and-run tactics, but will likely cause them to suffer when forced into direct confrontations with ranged combatants.
[Moderate Difficulty, d8: 8]
[Minor Bug, Feature]
The movement of the Killer Rabbits is a singularly… bouncy proposition. This makes aiming strikes, even in melee, more difficult, but it does also mean that enemies have similarly increased issues landing precise blows.
[Hidden Fault]
[Minor Bug, Fascinating]
The prodigious dietary requirements of Killer Rabbits requires that dedicated farms be created in order to keep them supplied in the field, and every rider has their own ‘secret’ recipe of oats, hay, fruits and leafy vegetables to keep their mount happy and combat ready. (+1 Fruit of the Land cost until this bug is resolved)
[Crippling Bug, Complicated]
The most painful issue with the Killer Rabbits is that they are strongly afflicted by a calicivirus carried by flies. In their native habitats in the desert, such exposure is minimal, but when brought into civilization, and triply so in war camps, the incidence of the disease skyrockets. Fatal in nearly all cases, highly contagious between individuals, and untreatable, it’s unfortunately far more common for a Killer Rabbit to die of disease than the wounds of battle. (+5 Beasts and +5 Sacred Lunacy cost while this bug exists)
[Minor Bug, Simple]
While far braver than an ordinary rabbit, Killer Rabbits are still rabbits. They’re not in any danger of fleeing from a fearsome combatant, but more clearly predatory beasts will give them pause and intimidate them more easily.
It is the 4th Design, Revision, and Research Phase
Author
Topic: Alikai Team Thread - FR20 [~5 players] (Read 15283 times)