SPHERES: NATURE 30, WATER 30, WEATHER 30, DEATH 5, LIFE 5
Population centre Symbol: F
Army/Group Symbol: f
Preferred Site: river, lakeshore or swamp
God:
Nerlor Starfallen, "The Deep One"
"Destroyer of worlds"
"Serenity at the end of time"
"The Liberator"
"The Fugitive"
"Crocrolen myths are self-contradictory and inconsistent, the true nature of Nerlor Starfallen, "The Deep One" is hard to determine" - Sage Brinn Talenar of the Elchandaar tower (1003-1048), in a footnote to his book "An Anthropological Study of the Crocrolen"
Race:
The Crocrolen ("frog-men")
Physiology:
The Crocrolen are an amphibious race, and as such they need to return to water to lay their eggs. Although equally at home on land or in water, their skin loses moisture more rapidly than land-bound creatures so they rarely venture into dry or barren areas where they cannot find water and shade.
Their ideal climate is hot and humid, such as tropical swamps and rain forests.
Salt water is no problem for them, but they would not lay their eggs on an ocean shore unless protected by a salt marsh.
The tadpole form hatches after 14 days, at just 2-3 centimetres long. It subsists on algae and plankton until the jaw has fully developed. At a size of 50cm (usually 4 months) the tadpole will be hunting small fish and metamorphosis begins with the development of forelegs, followed by hindlegs, lungs and loss of the tail. The 1% of eggs that survive to adulthood typically emerge from the water after 6 months.
Juveniles reach full size at the age of 2 years (after emergence).
A fully grown crocrolen has a body length of 0.8m, hind legs of 1m when fully extended and forelimbs of 0.7m long. The hind limbs end in four webbed toes, and the fore limbs in three webbed fingers with an opposable thumb.
The hands are as nimble as a human's, although the grip strength is weaker.
Crocrolen are prodigous leapers, capable of a 15 metre long jump or 4 metre high jump from a standing start. Normal movement is a sequence of smaller hops or a slow waddle.
Crocrolen usually stand in a frog-like squat, ready to leap immediately if they need to.
Sexual maturity is reached at 5 years.
A Crocrolen colony has a 3:1 ratio of females to males, and the asexual juveniles will develop to maintain this balance if it has been disrupted. In rare cases, for example if all males in a colony have been killed, spontaneous sex change in adults is possible. The process takes around one year, during which the affected adult experiences mood swings and mild discomfort due to hormonal changes.
Each female is capable of spawning 100 eggs per year, although this is usually reduced in a mature colony.
The reproductive organs are internal, so there is little sexual dimorphism. When in her spawning season, a female will exhibit coloured vertical stripes on her back to attract males. At this time, there may be fighting among the males.
The skin of crocrolen has mimicry ability similar to that of a chameleon or octopus. There is limited conscious control to express coloured patterns. The mimic ability is limited by their wet appearance, so it is much more effective in a swamp or during the rain than on the open plains. A crocrolen suffering from dehydration will be unable to use mimicry.
Crocrolen can regenerate a severed limb eventually, but this takes a long time. The regenerative ability becomes slower with age, as it is related to the metamorphosis process.
Crocrolen have good night vision but cannot see in the dark, they need at least some light source such as starlight. They tend to be more active at night than day, but are not strictly nocturnal.
History:
The Rrorolen were a limbed aquatic race similar to a coelocanth or axlotl, who evolved into the Crocrolen. A meteor strike destroyed the Rrorolen civilisation beneath the ocean, leaving the Crocrolen to build a new civilisation on the rivers.
Legends speak of lost artifacts in deep ocean ruins (the lost cities of the Ancestors) and a perfect metal found in meteor shards.
The Great Ancestor, a water dragon.
The Great Ancestor was the last surviving member of the Rrorolen race, he may even be the ancestor of some of the Crocrolen today. Over the centuries, he grew to a great size while losing none of the natural regenerative abilities.
He has gained strong and unusual magical powers:
Telekinetic flight
Summoning thunderstorms and lightning
Telekinetic deflection (immune to missile weapons)
Water mimicry (appear as if his body is made of water - 99.99% invisible when in water)
Thermal imaging vision
Water cannon "breath weapon" attack
Healing aura
He needs to return to water after a few hours.
He can sense the thoughts of Crocrolen, but not communicate with them.
Some crocrolen cults consider him a living avatar.
He was the original keeper of Hengist Starforged
Culture:
Crocrolen are considered born* when the adult form emerges from the water for the first time. The tadpole form are considered to be just animals, although Crocrolen do not cannibalise their young.
*Crocrolen use the word "emergence" rather than "birth"
Crocrolen use a mixture of agriculture and hunter-gathering for food.
Typical crops include: muck root, bloated tuber, rope reed, wick wheat and salt rice.
Fisher berries are considered a tasty treat but not cultivated.
Nutruk (fermented rat weed) is the most popular alchohol, and the Crocrolen can't understand why other races would refer to it as "sewer brew".
Crocrolen are somewhat expansionist, preferring to form new villages rather than large cities. They are not very warlike but are suspicious of strangers and ready to defend their homelands. Wars or raiding parties are started as revenge over some perceived attack.
There is no central government, but a loose theocracy of village shamans. The shaman's role is that of philosopher, arbiter and judge rather than any kind of nobility. The village chief is responsible for the village, and not answerable to the shaman (although the shaman is normally a trusted adviser). The chief is elected, often on the basis of being the mightiest warrior or the best hunter (it is a popularity contest). The shaman appoints their successor.
Music is rhythmic with a strong drum beat. Wind instruments and voices are used as well.
Art is focused around wearable jewelry and weapon decoration.
Drama tends to be tales from the age of myth, or stories of historical heroes.
Crocrolen adventurers are common when villages are large, uncommon in new settlements - building a new village is exciting enough.
Combat and weapons:
Fighting among the crocrolen for spawning rights or for matters of honour are ritualised unarmed combats in which both fighters will leap into the air and attempt to grab and pin the opponent on their back.
When hunting, crocrolen typically use a long spear with both hands and leap from ambush. Another style is to leap and drop or throw a net to ensnare larger prey. Blowguns with poison darts are only used when exterminating dangerous predators, not when hunting for food.
In war, there are several fighting styles.
AMBUSHER - hunting techniques are used. This is popular with scouts and when defending and in their native wetlands.
LEAPING LIGHTNING - The warrior leaps high into the air, and attacks the enemy from above with a two handed spear. The warrior's weight helps to drive the spear through armour or thick hide / shell.
SKIRMISHER - The warrior leaps around and behind enemy formations to cause confusion in their ranks. Ranged weapons such as blowgun, crossbow, thrown knives are used, with a short blade as backup.
GRABBER - The warrior fights unarmed, and leaps while holding an opponent they have grabbed. The environment is used as a weapon - for example dashing the opponent against a rock or drowning him in a river.
BLADED FURY - The warrior fights with two short swords and spurs on their feet. Leaping into the heart of an enemy formation, knocking one to the floor while lashing out with swords before leaping away again.
Armour is rarely used, as Crocrolen disdain the reduced mobility and inability to use camouflage mimicry. In special circumstances, they will use a shell armour and fight toe to toe using a short spear and shield. This fighting style, known as ROLLING HIPPO, is unpopular and rarely seen outside of an organised army.
The preferred approach to a siege is to leap over the walls. When this is not possible, catapults, fire and flood are used to try to lure the enemy out into an open fight.
Crocrolen do not build fortifications themselves, preferring to use traps and ambushes in defence.
Crocrolen hate to fight underground or in a confined space where they cannot use their mobility.
They are more likely to abandon pursuit and set up ambushes waiting for the enemy to come back out. Setting fire to buildings is also acceptable.
Crocrolen usually retreat when wounded, as they can regenerate even serious injuries eventually.
Magic and Technology:
Crocrolen have not discovered the blast furnace or advanced metallurgy so they can not make iron or steel. They use bronze, copper, gold to some extent but wood, bone and shell are much more common.
Flint, Obsidian and Glass are used, although glass is rare because it is difficult to find pure sand in their preferred habitats.
They are accomplished engineers in the field of irrigation and terraforming, and can eventually transform tiles around a settlement into a more favourable type (e.g. plains->swamp). Blocking and diverting rivers to cause a flash flood is sometimes used as a weapon.
Construction of buildings is quite basic, usual settlements have simple huts as they do not care about the damp. Only in unfavourable terrain would they build more complex constructions to retain water.
They are competent at extracting medicines, poisons or narcotics from plants and animals. They rarely dabble in mineral based alchemy.
Magical talent is uncommon but present. Usually it is in the field of expanded awareness or locating resources. There is little formal training, although an ageing village shaman will train an apprentice.
examples of magic talents:
ability to sense the location of a mineral/gem deposit
ability to find lost artifact when exploring a ruin
ability to predict flight paths and thus dodge arrows
ability to sense a hidden enemy nearby or an approaching army several miles away
shaman - shaman telepathy
Champion:
Korkel Selan, Warrior Shaman
He is unusual in being both an expert warrior and having mastered shaman talents.
He fights with the artifact weapon formerly carried by the Great Ancestor.
Weapon: Hengist Starforged, a Meteorite Steel long spear.
This is a meteorite steel long spear. All craftsrrorolenship is of the highest quality. It is engraved with an image of a meteor and a rrorolen in meteorite steel. The meteor is striking a menacing pose. It is decorated with hanging rings of adamantine, gold and aluminium. It is encircled with rrorolen leather and menaces with spikes of rrorolen bone.
The bearer of this weapon can call for rain at will. A light drizzle will appear almost immediately, it takes a few hours to work up a thunderstorm.
Movement Table (tiles per game turn)
| Tropical Biomes |
| Biome | Sun | Rain |
| Savanna | 4 | 7 |
| Desert | R | 4 |
| Palm Forest | 4 | 6 |
| Rain Forest | 8 | 8 |
| Swamp | 10 | 10 |
| Water Biomes |
| Biome |
| River | 9 | |
| Lake | 9 | |
| Ocean | 3 | |
| Temperate/arctic biomes (use summer in tropical area) |
| Biome | Summer | Spring/Autumn | Winter |
| Temperate forest | 6 | 6 | R |
| Wasteland | 6 | 6 | R |
| Taiga | 4 | R | R |
| Tundra | 4 | R | R |
| Glacier | R | R | R |
| Plains | 7 | 6 | R |
| Rocky Hills | 4 | 4 | R |
| Mountains | R | R | R |
R = restricted, i.e. 0 or 1 with suitable equipment / subject to RP
Population Growth: 30%
Population capacity table (includes hunting/fishing, farming and gathering)
| Biome | Population Supported |
| Savanna | 25 |
| Desert | 0 |
| Palm Forest | 20 |
| Rain Forest | 50 |
| Swamp | 70 |
| River | 50 |
| Lake | 40 |
| Ocean | 30 |
| Temperate forest | 30 |
| Wasteland | 5 |
| Taiga | 5 |
| Tundra | 0 |
| Glacier | 0 |
| Plains | 25 |
| Rocky Hills | 5 |
| Mountains | 5 |
Starting Location:
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└───────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┘
Population Centres:
| Location | Name | Population | Pop Cap |
| 23,86 | Tel Sarangis | 200 | 630 |
Author
Topic: Battle of the Gods 3 : Rule discussion, OOC talk and preparations (Read 29587 times)