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Rakkitch- new alien race based on skaven

Started by 0604854, May 02, 2012, 04:48:51 PM

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0604854

Hi all thoughts would be appreciated,

I am looking at inq28 and love the skaven models so I though I would create a new xenos race based upon them.

This is what I have so far in terms of background (thoughts on this would be most appreciated):

The Rakkitch (name still not sure about)
The History
The original origins of the Rakkitch are a mystery although some of the most senior ordos xenos inquisitors claim they are an alien xenos species that were created to serve as slaves by chaos worshipping aliens, their intelligence, dexterity and cowardly nature made them perfect servants in for the mines, factories and laboratories of the race, however during the mining something was discovered whether it be another alien life form or daemon is unknown but it lead to Rakkitch to rise up in revolt against and finally devour their former masters, during the war the world became uninhabitable, the land could no longer sustain the strange pack animals that served as food and even the atmosphere itself became toxic, the catalyst for the insurrection then left the Rakkitch although they continue to wait for the call of their former master.
The Rakkitch had become a nomadic race, through fear of the forces of the elder and the imperium they stay in small groups hiding among the mutant and under cast of the imperium.

Their motives/culture
Rakkitch generally have retained their desire to continue to specialise in different pursuits, some originating from their years as servants others derived from the skills developed during the war, the main specialisms of the Rakkitch include: weaponry and mechanics, bio enhancement,  assassination, mining and the creation of biological weapons.
The Rakkitch are generally untrustworthy, cowardly, selfish and ambitious seeking to further develop their own standing and in Rakkitch culture power comes in the form of ether crystals.
Ether crystals are artificially created gems using the power of the gathered souls of living beings, the stronger the soul the larger and more powerful crystal that can be created, the most powerful souls are the elder although these are difficult to come by, the tau have little soul power so are of limited use, humanity however are plentiful and losses are easily missed.
Ether crystals are used in all forms of Rakkitch technology from weapons to bio enhancements and although sometimes the results can be unpredictable no one can doubt that they can be potent.
Rakkitch also seek to manipulate mankind and others as, although they seek to create Ether crystals through spirit accumulators, they also know the value of other forms of technology as well as allies from outside their race. 
The ultimate goal of different Rakkitch can vary, some seek nothing more than self-preservation, other seek to gather enough power to ensure the return of the "the horned lord" their god which may be alien or daemonic in nature and they are often known as horned seekers, others seek to bring down mankind so that the Rakkitch can rise to dominance.


Physiology
Average Rakkitch have a height of four to five feet, although especially powerful Rakkitch (e.g. warriors) can rise to six foot, generally they have strength equal to a human although again this is variable, they have furred bodies with fleshy tails, with long verminous faces, they generally have a powerful bite which can make them dangerous when unarmed, their senses are sharp able to see as well in darkness as in daylight and have highly develop sense of smell and hearing.
Rakkitch generally are not a long lived race with most only lasting 30-40 years although this can be extended through Rakkitch technology.
Rakkitch generally breed quickly although female Rakkitch are rarely found and are often protected by the seekers who know the continued proliferation of their race is vital to their masters plan.
Some Rakkitch have psychic abilities although they can lack the discipline of imperial psykers.

Technology
Rakkitch often loot the bodies of those they abduct or kill and will use anything of use and will then devour the corpse once a spirit accumulator, most Rakkitch carry a small version of the spirit accumulator to gather some of the spirit energy and contain it within a synthetic crystal, however the more technologically minded can use larger, more advanced accumulators to create more powerful ether crystals.
Ether crystals need to be created before the soul enters the warp and therefore the victim must still be alive, needless to say having ones soul ripped from your body is a painful experience, leaving a withered husk remaining.
Rakkitch use ether crystals in a variety of ways, granulated ether crystal has mutagenic properties which some Rakkitch use to create hulking creatures which they use as bodyguards, as someone to abduct victims or simply cause havoc to amuse themselves. Others would use it to create disease and infection on a world (of course not before making sure they have develop some protection against effects) therefore making it easy for the Rakkitch to gather victims for soul accumulators.
Ether crystals can be used as an energy source for a variety of uses from weaponry to bionics which vary from more powerful ammunition to energy based technology, the use is only limited to the imagination of the Rakkitch which is generally almost boundless amongst the technically minded of their race.
The final main use of Ether crystal is to create a direct link to the warp enhancing a psykers ability to connect to the warp or if sufficient quantities can be used along with either a powerful psyker or technological alternative to channel the power to open a warp rift, although this is something the Rakkitch refrain from doing, not wishing to risk encounters with the daemonic.
Rakkitch and Mankind
Unscrupulous traders and even radical inquisitors may seek a relationship with a Rakkitch to exchange information or technology, some inquisitors even have them in their warband generally persuading them through fear or in return for technology or information.
Generally the inquisition and authorities seek to exterminate Rakkitch although this can be hard to achieve as they often hide amongst the most inhospitable parts of the planet.
 
Help on stats and new equipment (perhaps skills) would be great, I am looking at these main archetypes:

Seeker
Mutator
Mutated (e.g. rat ogre)
Ether engineer
Assassin
Standard Rakkitch

For inspiration just look at some of the skaven models.

Regards
0604854


Draco Ferox

Much as I like what you're trying to do, "space skaven" don't fly with me. I prefer something more original- go throw do a couple of Rosarch tests, see what comes out of it. Go look at stuff in a zoo, and think "hmm, I wonder" (only me then? Fair enough.) What I'm trying ot say is that just adapting a warhammer race to inquisitor is not really a decent way to just get another alien species- if you want skaven, witch hunter would be the place to go.

I wasn't around back then, but I think "space skaven" used to be part of 40k, but they were ditched when it became more than Warhammer in spaaaace!!1111!!111!, and 40k has never looked back.
Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

Charax

Quote from: Draco Ferox on May 02, 2012, 05:06:04 PM
I wasn't around back then, but I think "space skaven" used to be part of 40k, but they were ditched when it became more than Warhammer in spaaaace!!1111!!111!, and 40k has never looked back.

Space Skaven never got further than a few Jes Goodwin concept sketches (they had a very WW2 vibe that later got transferred to the Krieg)  and some fan speculation about the Hrud.

Inquisitor's a great place to introduce new alien races, but it will take a LOT of work to make them look like something other than just skaven
(No longer} The guy with his name at the bottom of the page

MarcoSkoll

I think I agree that Space Skaven are a little dull. While there are certainly fantasy/40k parallels such as Elves and Eldar, you should be more interesting than the Skaven Rakkitch are a cowardly slave race whose technology centres around Warpstone Ether crystals. Warpstone Ether crystals can be used to create bizarre malformed Rat Ogres Mutated Rakkitch, and also serve as a link to the winds of magic warp.

You don't want to make it sound like you rubbed the names off and wrote new ones on. You need to go deeper. (BWWWWOOOOONGGG!!!!)

A better example of "Fantasy in Space" is the Undead to the Necrons. The parallels between the two are clearly there, but they don't read quite so much like an essay a student tried to pretend wasn't copied from Wikipedia by swapping a few words over.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

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Mordenkenain

YOU. TAKE. THAT. BACK.

I will not deny that there may be some slight similarities between necrons and tomb kings, but never the two shall meet
ok, they're tomb kings in spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace but this isn't a fact we necron players like admitting to

on topic, I agree with marco, by all means use the skaven models, they are awesome, but don't just copy and paste them into 40k, make them your own race with its own motives and style
Bonis Nocet Quisquis Malis Pepercit

greenstuff_gav

does anyone remember the Tarellian / Wolfen thread on the last 'clave? instead of "We Are Werewolves" quite an interesting race took shape; wolfmen able to hear the warp, whose own Shamen (psykers) could affect things by modulating their howls / barks :)

would a highly intelligent xenos species, advanced in genetic mutation and almost jokaero-like ability with technology (explaining the mutants / robotic details) who were purged into small pockets of survivors, hiding what they are in tattered robes work better?
would also give the unexpected bonus of the huge powerful mutants being intelligent too (instead of HULK SMASH!) and completely surprising opponents :D
i make no apologies, i warned you my ability to roll ones was infectious...

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Alyster Wick

I'm going to have to agree with the others in terms of suggesting you come up with something more original. Some circles may be more open to the direct ports from Fantasy to 40K but I really feel like this is about as natural as sticking a Tau in plate mail and giving him a steam-punk ion-cannon.

Seriously though, there have been some great expansions recently in terms of developing background from some of the more mysterious 40K races. Take some queues from that when revising your Rakkitch.

For example, take a simple concept like them being originally a slave race and able to manipulate souls. You could have them be flesh constructs created by the Dark Eldar and infused with the scraps of discarded souls. At some point they develop a certain level of sentience and the ability to reproduce. They remain a hated subspecies by those who know how they began (they're basically soul-frankensteins) but their origins give them an inherent ability to manipulate the energies of the warp.

That's actually not as far removed from Skaven origins as I originally intended but it seizes on actual elements of 40K background rather than using a pretty generic origin description but planting them in the 40K universe. Not saying you should go with that necessarily, just throwing out some ideas.

The second part of this is that (while I do like the skaven models) I really don't know how well they translate into a 40k aesthetic. In my view they just look inherently fantasy. I have a hard time visualizing a way to have anything with a skaven head look futuristic. Part of this could be that they are the most steampunk race so I feel like most attempts to 40kify them would lead to them looking like fantasy models with super-arcane tech. I'd love to be proven wrong but I just have a hard time imagining what you could do to make those heads fit in (as a disclaimer I'm also one of those super anti-squat/demiurg people, largely for the same reason, I just feel like the aesthetic has changed too much, but that's far from a majority opinion around the clave).

Koval

Quote from: Alyster Wick on May 03, 2012, 06:15:21 AM
I really feel like this is about as natural as sticking a Tau in plate mail and giving him a steam-punk ion-cannon.
Great, now I'll be thinking about that all day...

Keravin

Well as a potential answer for how they'd look 40ked look at Mantic's new Vermyn race.

Trasher

0604854: I'm a noob when it comes to Inquisitor, and I don't even play the game, but I'm interested in seeing how you develop this race. I'd like to see the Skaven Rakkitch (Rat-men in the mouth of the average imperial inhabitant?) a bit like Hrud, hiding away in small numbers where they can remain unseen. On the board, maybe make rules akin to Vampirism, where they have to take a test to NOT stop and try to catch the soul of a downed opponent and instead fight the guy 10 yards past him. With the background you posted I could see this race both be hunted and hunt Inquisitors and their respective warbands. Inquisitors obviously wouldn't like this race hunting humans to gather souls, or just because they're xenos. Rakkitch would probably hunt down Inquisitors as their souls should be stronger than the average human.

If Skaven in space aren't koscher, maybe there could be a special mutant gene that gives humans rat-like qualities, including tails, rat-faces, becoming smaller than humans etc. Think of beastmen, a mutant of this kind could have a tail and rat feet, but in otherwise look like a normal human. Perhaps another mutant with this gene has got lower stature than your average human, have a bit of a skulking walk and a snout.
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Alyster Wick

I like the idea behind the race and I think it's worth pursuing.

The Skaven models (in my opinion) look inherently Fantasy. The best way to translate them would be as some kind of chaos mutant (the way that there are Tzeentchian beastmen) since they are so bestial. Rather than create an entire race, if you like the look of the models why don't you just create a specific warband rather than an entire race?

Just as I don't feel you could take the Tau and create an appropriately "Fantasy" army using them as the basis I don't feel like you can take Skaven and create an appropriately 40K race.

That's just my last two cents on the subject, I'm totally open to being proven wrong by solid background and well converted models.

Dolnikan

You could have them as the result of Mechanicus experiments which somehow failed horribly, the test animals mutated horribly and gained quite a bit of intelligence. This happened some time ago and a few managed to escape and on several worlds have bred like vermin. They are hunted down by the Inquisition and try to survive, some members however have turned out to be much more ambitious, trying to gqin control of whole worlds behind the screens. These gather unholy artefacts and whatever else can aid them in their quest for suppremacy.
Circles of the wise My attempt at writing something, please comment on it if you have any advise.