Gifts of the Elders
Overview
The Elder race was revived at the end of the
second millenia. A small number of the most ancient and intelligent of the
Elder race came back to consciousness, and started analyzing the events around them.
The Elder race decided that their race was a lost
cause, at least in this solar system, and that Cthulhu and his kin were about
to take over. Most of the race decided to go off and contemplate their fate,
but a handful of individuals gathered some of their less intelligent brethren
and decided to waggle a tentacle at the face of the Gods.
Contacts were made with humanity, and the Elder
race worked to transfer what knowledge they had. The hope was that humanity
would at least provide some irritation before being obliterated.
The help of the Elder race was far reaching. Their
knowledge of physics led to the understanding of domains
and hypertechnology. Biological resources assisted in the integration of Mi-go
biological technologies with human knowledge. The most overt assistance was
the development of a variety of weapons and shields. These technologies were
somewhat inexactly termed Elder tech.
Elder Tech
The composition of terrestrial life and matter,
including the Elder race and some other beings, is segmented between domains. Although effects transfer between domains, terrestrial matter is stable within each domain. Many
Mythos races, however, are constructed of an essentially different sort of matter.
This matter is interconnected at a more fundamental way between domains. Some
dwell in particular interconnected domains, while others shift and move between
them. A Keeper can assume that any race described as composed of nonterrene
matter, which is often insubstantial, or is affected by the Elder sign is of
the latter type.
Elder tech, of which the Elder sign is the
simplest form, relies on either hardening the walls between domains or disrupting
the barrier between domains. Though some devices enabled odd domain effects
to propogate, most of this research was directed toward Hypertech developments.
Through Elder tech, a form of Elder sign exists
which uses 20 MP. Weapons can be made as Sign Projectors, transferring domain
lock.
Sign Projectors are 10x normal size, costing 1
Pow per D10 damage and 1D6 SAN to make. If purchased from another person, cost
is calculated as magical gear purchases, in
addition to the cost of the weapon. Sign Projectors use up 10 MP per D10 of
damage per shot.
Fixed shields are basically Elder signs. Their
main disadvantage is that they cannot be switched off. A ship can be engraved
with Elder signs. Coverage is complete if number of Elder signs is equal to
Siz /20.
Shield projectors are somewhat different than
Elder signs. The effect is a projected bubble. As Mythos beings hit the shield,
a MP vs. Shield rating test is made. The looser suffers a loss of MP equal to that of
the opponent, though no more than 'all'. A ship's shield rating is equal to
MP used x 20/Siz of protected ship.
When the shield is deactivated, any undrained MP
can be regained. If the shield looses the comparison, it collapses but may be regenerated.
A shield projector is treated as Hypertech, though
it will interfere with other Hypertech devices. It's rating is the maximum shield
rating allowed, cost calculated as normal. A player or Keeper who designs a vehicle with a shield projector should list the MP needed per shield rating for that Siz vehicle.
Game options
The Elder race sells the
humans out. Their technology will, at some crucial point, turn against
humanity. Alternately, the direction of research brought on by their technology leads
away from more fruitful experiments.
The Elder race has seen their race, overall, at a dead end. They sponser breeding experiments, mixing Elder and human biology. A race with hybrid vigor would be more likely to survive the impending crisis.
Other members of the Elder race exist, far out
among the stars. The Elder race arrange for exploratory vessels,
planning on hitching rides out of the solar system when the end came.