Uthar Forest Dragon
Species: Uthar Forest Dragon
Home Planet: Uthar
Uthar Forest Dragon
Uthar Forest Dragons are fairly common in the cloud forests of their homeworld, but seldom are found anywhere else, as most have little wish to go anywhere else.
The Uthar forest dragons are a small, winged species from the moist, cool world of Uthar, at the
edge of inhabited space. The Dragons are partial quadropedial, with four legs and a pair of wings. The forelimbs are shorter and have more delicate claws, and are usualy used for fine manipulation, but the Dragons still travel on all fours when not flying. They are amphibious flyers, with a milky white skin with thin black stripes. They have triangular heads on long necks, with large pale eyes, and a forked tongue. The Forest Dragons are somewhat cameleonlike, having the ability to change their skin color from thier natural shade to match their surroundings. The Forest Dragons are mute, communicating by means of an elaborate physical language that can convey volumes of meaning with a head bob or tail snap.
The Uthar Forest Dragons are serious minded creatures, with a passion for arts and music. Though they produce little of thier own, they will spend hours in contemplation of a natural vista of particular beauty, or will follow a singer for days, listening silently from the treetops. Despite thier usualy sober and philosophical outlook, the Forest Dragons have a sense of humor that runs strongly toward practical jokes. They can spend days, weeks, even months, setting up practical jokes on each other and friends, and will get somewhat insulted if the target of thier joke doesn't express his enjoyment of the stunt afterward. Uthar Forest Dragons are fairly common in the cloud forests of thier homeworld, but seldom are found anywhere else, as most have little wish to go anywhere else.
Attribute Dice: 12D
DEXTERITY 2D+1/5D+2
KNOWLEDGE 1D+1/3D
MECHANICAL 1D/2D
PERCEPTION 2D+2/4D
STRENGTH 1D/3D
TECHNICAL 1D/2D
Special Abilities:
Chameleon Skin: The colorshifting of the Forest Dragons is a gradual process, taking three rounds to complete. When it is in place, a Forest Dragon gains a +3D bonus to his hide skill for as long as he remains in one place.
Flight: Forest Dragons are capable of true flight, unlike many other species that are only capable of gliding. This flight can be maintained in worlds whose gravity does not exceede 1.8 g. In worlds up to 2.4 g, the Forest Dragons can glide, with ranges and speeds that vary with the gravity of the planet. In higher gravity planets, they plummet like a rock.
Skill Bonus: At the time of character creation only, the character gets 2D for every dice put in the following skills: Dodge, Survival: Cloud Forest, Hide, Search, Sneak, and Swimming.
Speech: The Forest Dragons are incapable of speech of any sort. While they understand basic, they can never learn to speak it. Similarly, species without very similar body types (in shape, not size, thusly a Grimnor Manrat could not learn Forest Dragon, while a Mildorian Great Wyrm could) can not learn to speak Forest Dragon, though they can learn to understand it.
Story Factors:
Because of their diminutive size, their lack of verbal skills, their unusual body type, and their lack of exposure to most races of the galaxy, Forest Dragons are often considered to be non-inteligent by uninformed observers. This often proves a mixed blessing, as they can avoid suspision for various crimes, and often spend a few nights in the comfort of various zoos, but they can often find themselves hunted for thier hides or food by anyone on an unfamiliar planet with a blaster handy.
Forest Dragons live thier lives flying through the thickly overgrown cloud forests of their homeworld, chasing each other at high speeds. This training helps them well in space combat, as they have an instinctive understanding of three dimensional combat that many non-flying creatures lack. Those Uthar Forest Dragons that take on service in space navies are superior stratagists, and have been known to rise to fairly high positions in command chains.
Move: 8/12, 28/32 Flying
Size: Unlisted