Posts
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On Transhuman Space
The danger of thinking too much about something before putting words to screen is that someone else might end up publishing a piece first that says what you wanted to in a better way.
This just happened to me! There’s this blog called “It Came From the Bookshelf” whose author John Frazer is reading through and reviewing his entire RPG collection, and he recently published posts about the Transhuman Space corebook, Broken Dreams and now Fifth Wave.
Now, the main thing Mr. Frazer noticed in these posts is exactly the thing I wanted to write about when I published that post on the cyberpunk genre. Turns out that post started out as a big blob of text that discussed THS. I decided to split it off into a series, published part 01, and somehow never got around to polishing the rest of it enough. I gotta get my shit together right now, or else there will be nothing left for me to say that Frazer hadn’t said better.
What I Wanted to Say
Transhuman Space always bothered me at a fundamental level and for the longest time I lacked the words to precisely explain how. Now those words are out there!
Transhuman Space markets itself as Big Idea Science Fiction inspired by what were at the time of its writing the very latest Big Ideas. It’s in a way a conscious rejection of the dystopic and apocalyptic tropes of “90’s RPG cyberpunk”, and one of the things that bogged me down was an effort to describe what that genre is all about. I’m still going to do it, but not today.
The game likes to name-drop the authors that inspired it, not just in its bibliography but in the text itself. There’s Alvin Toffler who came up with the concept of technological “waves”; there’s Richard Dawkins with his memetics; and there’s Ray Kurzweil with his idea that we’ll be able to become immortal software gods Any Day Now.
However, there’s another person whose influence over the setting is possibly greater than that of the others, whose ideas are so taken for granted that he’s not acknowledged anywhere in the books. I’m talking about Francis Fukuyama, the guy who wrote the infamous “The End of History?” essay. This essay kinda codifies the idea that Western liberal capitalism is the ultimate political and economic model for humanity. You reach that, you win History, and everyone else is just playing catch-up to you.
The essay was written in 1989, and it went from “well-received” to “gospel truth” in the eyes of the developed West when the Soviet Union fell in ‘91. It was expanded into a book in 1992, and influences a lot of terminology even today. A “developing country” is just one that’s on the way to becoming a “developed country” like the US and Western Europe are; if it has trouble making the transition it’s because it has not embraced the tenets of the Ultimate Model with enough gusto.
This same view is at the bedrock of Transhuman Space’s worldbuilding. The nations who were “developed” at the end of the 20th century remain so at the end of the 21st. Those who were “developing” also mostly remain so - they’re better off than they were a century ago, perhaps even better off than the US was a century ago, but they still have some “catching up” to do. The game’s definition of “better off” is directly correlated to technological development. Better toys equals better society. The whole “memetics” thing is part of that, since its main narrative function is to make sociology into a hard science whose development happens in lockstep with the other hard sciences.
Those who deviate from this model are pretty much the setting’s designated bad guys, particularly the TSA. See, they follow this ideology called “nanosocialism”, and you know it’s a dangerous and pernicious mode of thinking because it has socialism in its name. Its core tenet is a rejection of the concept of intellectual property, a concept which the core book asserts is vital to maintaining peace, progress and sanity in a society that doesn’t have to worry about material scarcity. It’s the only way a honest, hard-working corporation can make money these days! And if corporations can’t make money, technological progress stops! That means all progress stops! You don’t want that, do you?
So the TSA are villains because they want to reach that state of technological and social bliss enjoyed by the “proper” Fifth Wave nations by pirating their tech instead of “earning” it. And of course they are all authoritarian dictatorships who make weapons of mass destruction because if you already stoop to Internet piracy no other badness is beneath you. The books try to present some semblance of neutrality and even suggest you could run a campaign where the PCs are working for the TSA or another info/nanosocialist outfit, but it does that with the same perfunctory tone of someone suggesting it’s technically possible to play as stormtroopers in Star Wars D6. Its published example scenarios always show the TSA as antagonists.
Then there’s the nations in the asteroid belt and outer solar system, whose anarcho-capitalism tends to be viewed as the next step in the refinement of the “end of history” model. Everyone knows government regulations are the greatest impediment to progress, so it makes perfect logical sense to do away with them entirely. I mean, no wealthy CEO in their right mind would use unfettered capitalism to exploit their fellow sapients. We’ve won History, that doesn’t happen anymore!
I remember seeing a lot of forum posts by diehard THS fans that insisted it was basically a realistic utopia and totally not cyberpunk, and I was silly for thinking it was or should be. My response to that is simple.
Transhuman Space is absolutely a cyberpunk setting in every detail except for one: it’s told from the perspective of the sinister corporations. If you took almost any William Gibson novel and rewrote the story so it was told from the perspective of its villains, their tone and setting would look a lot like Transhuman Space’s. The gloomy Cristopher Shy art that peppers every book in the line is not dissonant with the tone of the setting: it is, and has always been, spot on.
And now I’m really glad to find out I’m not alone in thinking this.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Abyssal Eviscerator
Illustration Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Abyssal Eviscerators first show up in 4th Edition in the Monster Manual 2, but since they’re also in the Monster Vault we’re getting to look at them a bit early.
The Lore
The name says it all, really. Abyssal Eviscerators come from the Abyss, and they like to eviscerate. At Int 7, they don’t know how to do much else, but then again they don’t want to. They frequently find themselves under the command of stronger demons, or summoned by mortal demonologists of middling skill and above.
The Numbers
Abyssal Eviscerators are Medium Elemental Humanoids (demons), and Level 14 Brutes with 173 HP. The MM2 and MV versions are identical aside from the fixed math. They have Speed 5, Variable Resistance 15 (2/encounter), and no special senses.
Their basic attack is a claw, and they can also Grab at-will for slightly less damage, an attack which obviously starts a grab if it hits. The MV version specifies the demon can only grab at most two creatures at once, which is sensible because it only has two large hands.
Abyssal Eviscerators can also bite grabbed targets as a minor action, doing 6 automatic damage to them. They can only do this once per round normally, but can do it up to 3 times per round while bloodied.
Final Impression
Nothing special here, really. These guys are basically paragon-tier evistros and should be used in the same way.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Vrock
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Vrocks have been in D&D for a long time now. They look like humanoid buzzards, covered in dirty feathers and the occasional spike. A pair of functional wings sprouts from their back, and they have lizard tails. They’re on both the MM and the MV.
The Lore
Vrocks have Int 12 but that doesn’t see to do them any good. Vrocks are famously disloyal even among demons, betraying their current master as soon as someone they see as stronger comes around. They’ll also frequently plot to overthrow their superiors, though those schemes rarely amount to anything. In other words, Vrocks behave just like Starscream! I can totally see a band of them pledging loyalty to the PCs during an adventure, pinky-swearing they’ll turn good, and backstabbing them in the worst possible moment. The PCs ḱnow it’s coming, and the vrocks know the PCs know. How far can the PCs take this alliance before it falls apart?
Aside from plotting and backstabbing, vrocks like to engage in wholesome demonic pasttimes such as tearing people to pieces while laughing maniacally.
The Numbers
The MM Vrock is a Large Elemental Humanoid (demon), and a Level 13 Skirmisher with 132 HP. It has darkvision and variable resistance 10 (2/encounter). It flies with speed 8 and moves on land at speed 6.
Its basic attack is a Reach 2 claw, and they can make a Flyby Attack where they fly their speed and make a claw attack at any point along the way. This doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from the target of the claw.
They can also let loose a Stunning Screech that recharges on a 6, targets the Fortitude of everyone on a Close Burst 3 and stuns affected targets for a turn. This is not a selective attack, so the vrock’s allies can potentially be affected by it!
When first bloodied, the vrock emits a cloud of Spores of Madness in a Close Burst 2. This targets the Will of any non-demons in the area, does poison damage, and dazes (save ends). So I guess this is what they have instead of blood?
The MV Vrock loses its Stunning Screech and has fixed damage math, but is otherwise identical.
Final Impressions
I thought I was in for another bland rage machine, but what I got was Vulture Starscream! They’re nifty. I’m a bit divided on the removal of the Stunning Screech in the MV update. On the one hand stuns are rough, and non-selective area attacks are a pain for your teammates. On the other hand it captures the vrock’s Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome so well!
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Mezzodemon
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. The Lore
Anyone who is familiar with the cosmology on 3e and earlier knows it tried really hard to have an Official Outsider for every box in the alignment grid. Devils were Lawful Evil, Demons (our current subject) were Chaotic Evil. And then someone created the Daemons, which served the double purpose of filling that Neutral Evil box on the chart and having every possible spelling of a word be a different monster.
Mezzodaemons were a type of daemon. Since 4e doesn’t try to follow either of those directives above, these monsters have dropped their extraneous vowels and are now Mezzodemons, belonging to the “demon” category. They look like upright, human sized, trident-wielding bugs.
These fellows are rather “quirky” as far as demons go, because their main thing is greed, not unbriddled bloodlust. Rather than gathering in huge hordes and going on omnicidal rampages, they establish hidden lairs in the world or in some other plane and loot the surrounding region. Binding a mezzodemon to your service is as easy as paying it. Of course, they still like killing. They just think it’s even more fun when they get paid to do it and loot the bodies afterwards. So basically, mezzodemons are demonic murderhobos. They are only on the Monster Manual.
The Numbers
Mezzodemons are Medium Elemental Humanoids (demons), and Level 11 Soldiers with 113 HP. They have Resist Poison 20, and variable resistance 10 switchable 2 times per encounter. They see with darkvision and run at speed 6.
Their basic attack is a Reach 2 trident, and they also have an ability called Skewering Tines. This is a trident attack that also does ongoing damage and restrains (save ends). While the demon is restraining someone in this way, it can’t make any trident attacks.
They can also breathe poison on enemies in a Close Blast 3, targeting Fortitude and doing both immediate and ongoing poison damage to any enemy they it. This recharges on a 5-6, and the fact that it’s a selective attack suggests interesting things. Maybe it’s a series of targetted squirts instead of a cloud? Or maybe it is a cloud, but the poison is made of pure evil and anyone who hangs out with mezzodemons is likely to be immune to it.
Mezzodemons are clearly meant to be team players. Maybe they engage your defenders and restrain them while their buddies attack your back line. Or maybe they do that to the mobile strikers instead, allowing those buddies to more effectively gang up on them.
The sample encounter is Level 11: 2 mezzodemons working as a mercenary for a party of 2 drow warriors and 1 drow arachnomancer. This is a nasty combination indeed, because those warriors just love to have restrained PCs to gang up on.
Final Impressions
Mezzodemons are not too exotic number-wise, but they have quite a bit of personality and a reason to hang out with any evil group who can afford to pay them. They work both as early opposition in a demon focused paragon arc, or as “spice” to other evil factions. I like them more than goristros, that’s for sure.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Marilith
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
I think I’ve finally figured out what distinguishes a humanoid from a magical beast in 4e. Does it have hands? If it does it’s a humanoid, if it doesn’t it’s a magical beast.
That’s the only explanation that makes sense for why a Marilith is a Large Elemental Humanoid (demon), despite being a six-armed lady with the lower body of a snake. With succubi having become devils (more on that later), mariliths have the distinction of being the most human-looking of demons. Some people even find them sexy. Yes, I’m talking about you, dear Monster Musume fans.
These demons have been a part of the game for a long time, and are iconic enough to exist both in the Monster Manual and on the Monster Vault. The two versions are mostly identical, but we’ll still look at them separately here.
Mariliths are among some of the most intelligent demons at Int 14, losing only to the Glabrezu in that field. Their appetite for destruction takes on a more refined shape than usual: they are obsessed with martial skill, so they look for tough opponents to fight and tend to take their gear as trophies. They store these trophies in secret stashes on the Abyss or in the world, presumably to prevent other demons from stealing them. It seems to me that looting such a stash is a sure way to incur their wrath, which makes it a nice hook. Yuan-Ti who turn to demonology are big fans of mariliths.
Mariliths are usually armed with six swords, one for each hand, though you could mix and match the weapons if you wanted. In previous editions the weapons would sometimes take a backseat to their many spell-like abilities, but here they are definitely the main event.
Both versions of the Marilith are Level 24 Elite Skirmishers: they’re pretty high up in the demonic hierarchy, such as it is. Their skill list backs this up: they’re trained in Perception, Bluff, Insight, Intimidate, and Stealth. Yes, mariliths can socialize if they feel the need. Their descriptions in other editions tend to describe them as excellent tactitians and commanders, and this definitely fits this incarnation as well.
Marilith (Monster Manual)
The MM Marilith has 440 HP, Darkvision, and Variable Resistance 20 (switchable 3x/encounter). They move at Speed 8.
Their basic attack is a scimitar, which is quite weak due to the math bug but has the High Critical property. Their most commonly used attack is Shroud of Steel, which allows them to make two scimitar attacks and use the other weapons to parry, granting itself a +4 bonus to AC for a turn.
Whenever an adjacent enemy misses the marilith with a melee attack, it can make a free scimitar attack against then. And twice per encounter (once at the start, once after being bloodied) they can perform the Weapon Dance, which allows them to make six scimitar attacks, shifting 1 square between each one.
Marilith (MV)
As stated earlier, the MV Marilith is very similar to the MM one. It has 436 HP instead of 440 and slightly different defenses, but retains the extensive skill list.
The main changes are in its attacks. The damage on the basic scimitar attack has been fixed, but it no longer has High Critical. Shroud of Steel now gives it a +6 to AC. It is otherwise identical.
Tactics and Encounters
Fighting a Marilith is much like fighting a blender. Ranged attacks are much safer than melee combat against them, but they’re fast, smart and will have backup from other demons when encountered. You could give it some out-of-combat rituals or abilities that allow it to prepare the terrain in advance, adding obscuring or blocking features that limit the PC’s ability to stay away and attack it from range. Or perhaps it just chooses a battlefield that already has all of that and baits the PCs into it.
The sample encounter in the MM is level 23, a marilith and four hezrou. The toad goons are just the thing to keep the fighters occupied while their boss slithers towards the squishies.
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