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Little known Xenos races - Khrave

Started by Mordenkenain, October 16, 2011, 12:54:00 AM

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Mordenkenain

I was having a look at the various kinds of xenos creature in the 40k universe and the Khrave caught my eye, they are described as brain-devouring aliens and thats about all I can find out about them.

Is there any more information about them available, because I was planning on making a Warband led by a Khrave, basically making it a Mind Flayer (assuming that everyone is capable of googling Mind Flayer without me having to do an in depth explanation) and would hate to make the model and everything only to have someone turn up and say: Ah, but the fluff says...

Rules wise it would be a total glass cannon, Wp and Sg through the roof, virtually nothing in all other stats and manipulative Psychic Powers coming out of every orifice

Not sure exactly what the rest of the warband would be like, but I think it would be mentally dominated slaves.

[EDIT]: I realise glass cannon characters are usually not all that fun, and I perhaps used the wrong term, offensively it wouldn't be all that great, but being able to think your enemies into submission is still quite dangerous. The main fun would occur if the Khrave was knocked unconcious/killed as that would release the slaves, who would suddenly have much better WS/BS/I/Wp as they are able to think clearly without interference by an alien  entity, but they would not necessarily on the same side, and indeed may side with one of the other players.
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InquisitorHeidfeld

I would suggest something different from a mindflayer - if for no other reason than your players may well point at it and say "Mindflayer!!!" which would take something away from the game (despite inspiring the proper levels of fear)... That's not to say that the mindflayer concept is flawed, just that if you use a Ral Partha mini it'll be recognised.

The problem however is not only that it's really difficult to balance characters of that nature (one lucky roll and the hostile Inquisitor has splattered Illithid brains all over the nearest building, another (differently) lucky roll and its their brains which splatter...

No, the really difficult bit is that that sort of creature, aware of its fragility in some contexts, is rarely in the forefront. You have to go really deep into a "fortification" swarming with its progeny to find a 'stealer Patriarch for example... And they aren't even all that sloppy in violent personal encounters...
You seem to either have contrived some situation where multiple warbands somehow manage that simultaneously or that they've come as a mob and somehow all managed to get there, neither of which really feels plausible...

Thinking about it, there's another potential issue. Why not just use 'stealers and hybrids? (other than the possibility that your players will just take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure after all).

On a side note, loving the Mansion man, it's Magnificent  ;D

RobSkib

What differentiates these from Enslavers?
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Mordenkenain

an enslaver is a warp beast, it takes over a host and uses it to open a warp portal to allow more through.

A khrave is a physical xenos creature which eats your brain, the psychic powers are more to do with the fact that I thought, MIND FLAYER, It would use them to get you to walk willingly to be lunch
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InquisitorHeidfeld

To reitterate, what significantly differentiates them from a 'stealer hive? (an old school one, buried a dozen or so generations into the planet's population).

Mordenkenain

khrave are much more self centred, a stealer hive debilitates a world ready for consumption by the nids, a khrave debilitates a community so it has a ready food supply
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RobSkib

So how do they exist when they are not around humans? Do they have other food supplies?
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Gallery of my Inquisitor models here.

Kaled

Quote from: Mordenkenain on October 19, 2011, 11:56:43 PM
khrave are much more self centred, a stealer hive debilitates a world ready for consumption by the nids
'Stealers don't take over worlds so they can be consumed by the Tyranids - at least not knowingly. Their actions are totally self-centred - they take over a world to propagate their genes. Unfortunately for them they've been engineered so that when the cult gets so big the patriarch turns into a psychic beacon attracting the nearest hive fleet which turns up and devours everything including the unfortunate cult.

I'm still not sure your idea for the warband will really work well in the game - if someone takes out the Khrave and all it's slaves either run and hide or side with your opponent, then it's effectively game over for you. Therefore I'd suggest upping their physical characteristics to more human levels and give them Puppet Master and Enforce Will plus a few things from the Alien Generator article and say that their powers are sufficient to take temporary control of a human in the space of a game but that they need longer to turn them into slaves.
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Mordenkenain

@robskip: They feed entirely on brain matter, I don't think the species is that important

@kaled: good idea, I think that would probably work best, thanks for the input
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InquisitorHeidfeld

Quote from: Mordenkenain on October 20, 2011, 09:36:46 PM
@robskip: They feed entirely on brain matter, I don't think the species is that important

Why or how has this particular individual arrived in a place where it comes into conflict with humans?

If the primary concern is the high energy brain tissue then its best habitat is away from those with defences against its abilities and where large numbers of easy (but still satisfying) prey are available.
(Bears, if the salmon are particularly plentiful and/or they're particularly successful will eat the brain and leave the rest of the fish untouched, the brain is so packed with energy that they are better off using the time it would tanke to eat the rest of the fish on getting more).

Animals with minimal psychic defences and large brains would be the goal, so I'd imagine this creature's homeworld would feature large, herbiverous herd animals - Wilderbeest or North American Buffalo type - with this fellow just one of the lions and tigers and bears living off the herds and migrations.


A creature such as that is unlikely to leave the planet on its own, food supply for a journey of indeterminant length, particularly if their needs are so high, would make it difficult to say the least.
They're unlikely to be accidentally exported, their psychic abilities mean that any ship landing (being rather significantly outside their experience most likely) is canned food and almost certain not to have anyone left alive to take off once the creature is sated.
The highest probability then is that it was deliberately imported and either smuggled or arrived with a legitimate buyer and subsequently escaped... The smuggling option probably offers the best story potential, perhaps it's being used as an enforcer by a gang lord, denying access to a particular area (or perhaps it was until the gang lord forgot about its teeth)...

Mordenkenain

Oooh, I like it, I like it a lot, I wasn't really sure how I was gonna pull off back story, thank you muchly
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