UTHAR FOREST DRAGON

UTHAR FOREST DRAGON        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 tounge.  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
        Attribute Min/Max
        DEX:  2D+1/5D+2
        KNO:  1D+1/3D
        MECH: 1D/2D
        PER:  2D+2/4D
        STR:  1D/3D
        TECH: 1D/2D
        Move:  8/12, 28/32 flying
        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 speck Forest Dragon, though they can learn to understand it.
        Story Factors:        * Because of their diminutive size, thier 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, chacing each other at high speeds.  This training stands them well in space combat, as they

have an instinctive understanding of three dimentional 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.