Wuans (not my creation, but expanded a bit by me)

[BwapTED]

FIRST: I didn’t create the Wuans. So far as I have been able to determine, the Wuans were introduced in a book I do not own: http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/File:SolomaniAslan_200.jpg
I’m assuming that either Peter Celella or James Holden created the Wuans and their history.

My principal source on them is this article:


http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Wuans


My take on the Wuans (at least until and unless I find better published or fan material):

The Wuans' ancestors came mainly from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the Russian Far East, and Australia.
Languages include Common Wuan (derived from a creole used by the early settlers) and Rim Anglic.

Population of the Wuan planets includes:

Wuan Workers
Wuan Executives
Wuan Ferals
Baseline Wuans and other common Solomani
some Vilani and mixed-race humans

The Ferals are something new I’m adding. These guys are descended from the human products of a failed Long Night period experiment aimed at creating a soldier/enforcer caste, mixed with tag ends of other castes and races.
The Wuans of old times didn’t geneer all the kiddos. That would not be wise. They kept a Baseline population to retain sufficient genetic diversity for eugenic and medical purposes.


Stats(still in draft form, advice very much appreciated)

Execs gain +1 to INT and +1 DM to all aging rolls (yes, that bonus stacks with anagathics) but subtract 1 from DEX (won't drop it below 2). Their brains have been tweaked for better analytical ability and memory, with the unintended side effect of somewhat reduced reaction time (too busy analyzing and forming memories to react as quickly as they might).

Workers gain +1 END and take -1 to Party Standing (but this won't drop it below 2). They can work long hours without flagging, and stay focused on the job at hand. But their tendency to single-mindedness doesn't suit the sort of social maneuvering and multitasking required to advance in the Party or move up in management.

Ferals are quick and strong, but most lack the aptitude and patience for formal education. Their personalities tend strongly toward savagery and animalistic instinct. +1 to STR and DEX, -1 EDU, Party Standing defaults to 2 as if they were mixed-race or non-Solomani humans.

Baselines are normal Solomani, as per the CT Alien Race module.

 

[BwapTED]

Some kind of geisha genotype might make sense, too.
Not simply sex workers, but entertainers, companions for the wealthy, masseuses, and even therapists. Execs need to relax.


Maybe engineering for a petite, slim build and delicate looks leads to decreased body mass and minor musculoskeletal differences that lower STR by a point?
The bonus to social intelligence and the good looks might not map cleanly onto a UPP. Perhaps a free expertise 0 or 1 skill? DM bonus situationally?
I want to keep it simple. This is CT, not GURPS.

NOTE: If Wuan workers really do look identical as they stand in rows in a factory, then I'm guessing they are cloned in batches, with different stocks/lines working in different factories and for different firms. I imagine they would be raised in corporate-run crèches.
That sounds awfully dystopian.
I wouldn't go full on Brave New World with it, but I am developing a sort of 'cyberpunk' feel for the Wuans.
Alternatively, baby worker clones could be assigned parents from a pool of partnered pairs of male and female workers. It's a bonus. Work hard enough and you get a baby clone and a long paid vacation.


Unlike the androids in Blade Runner, though these workers aren't sythentics. They are part of Wuan society, not chattel or machines. They can even win respect and a measure of influence by doing well at their jobs.
Execs massively dominate the upper levels of society. Workers are taught to accept this, just as Execs are taught to regard the Workers with a certain noblesse oblige.
At least, that's how the founders of the genetic caste system intended it to function.
Is it that way on every Wuan world? I'm sure it isn't.

 

[Theophilus]

Since the two subspecies listed are Wuan and Iziri, on page 2, and the image on page three show's two "human" types, Are the big ear's Iziri? {Iziri speech and hearing extend into the subsonic}

Could the others be Wuan"s?

 

[BwapTED]

Since the two subspecies listed are Wuan and Iziri, on page 2, and the image on page three show's two "human" types, Are the big ear's Iziri? {Iziri speech and hearing extend into the subsonic}

Could the others be Wuan"s?

Ah! I don't own the DGP Aslan and Solomani book.
I've never even looked inside a copy.

But big ears sounds right for an Iziri.

What does the possible Wuan artwork look like?

 

[Whipsnade]

Since the two subspecies listed are Wuan and Iziri, on page 2, and the image on page three show's two "human" types, Are the big ear's Iziri? {Iziri speech and hearing extend into the subsonic}

You're talking about Solomani & Aslan correct? The sidebar on page 2 and the illo on page 3? The illo shows three Iziri, the fellows with "dumbo" ear and pipe organs embedded in their necks. While the other three humans in the illo are fairly nondescript, they also don't seem to have the "standardized genotype" the Wuan are said to share.

Could the others be Wuan"s?

I'd say no. First, as I noted above, the three non-Iziri in the S&A aren't "uniform" enough.

Second, the Wuan and Iziri are quite distant from one another. Wuan Technology Association controls the Wu, Clan, and Oyama systems in the Clan subsector of the Magyar Sector while the Iziri were specifically geneered for conditions on Izir in the Iselle Subsector of the Ustral Quadrant Sector. Clan, the nearest WTA system to Izir, is roughly 60 parsecs or six subsectors away.

So, no, the non-Iziri in the illo aren't Wuans. The respective "homeworlds" are far apart and there's no real reason for two different varieties of sideshow freaks to be working together.

 

[whulorigan]

I believe the Wuans are depicted in the illustration on page 9.

 

[Whipsnade]

I believe the Wuans are depicted in the illustration on page 9.

Agreed. The illo "fits" the Wuan better than any of the other member states described on pages 8, 9, and 10.

 

[BwapTED]

FROGGER GENOTYPE


Looks:

Greenish yellow cast to clammy skin, acts as sunscreen, fades after extended time indoors or in overcast conditions.

Perfectly comfortable on land, but will need to periodically apply dermal moisturizer in arid conditions.


Froggers can inflate air sacs in their necks. This isn't to make noise like a frog, but was designed as an emergency flotation system in the event of equipment loss/failure.

Increased growth of cilia in pharynx and a thickened epiglottis. Helps drown-proof and keep out parasites/foreign objects, but also gives the froggers' rough voices.

Nictitating membrane developed from the human baseline's plica semilunaris.

Minor modifications that improve diving and pressure tolerance, but nothing as radical as what was done to create Scanians and Aquamorphs.


Froggers can actually interbreed with baseline Wuans, but inter-fertility is very low and any offspring are invariably sterile.

SolCon Ministry of Genetics considers them to be non-Solomani. Party membership is not automatic, and they can never rise above PS2.

role:

Wu is a water world. These guys were designed/bred to be the aquaculturists who provide food for the baselines and other castes.

They are used on Wu, but not frequently encountered on other worlds.

NOTE

I may re-class Workers as non-Solomani if they are what the appear to be:clones. I'm going to keep the content about their single-mindedness getting in the way of social maneuvering and managerial multitasking. That lack of facility at gaining influence, along with their origins, would explain the designation as NonSolomani but human. MiniGen is as subject to political and social influence as any other ministry, after all, if not moreso.




Unless this contradicts canon, I see the Executives as being somewhat more varied, the products of eugenics and geneering, but not clones.
Executive lineages marry other executive lineages.

 

[Theophilus]

So, no, the non-Iziri in the illo aren't Wuans. The respective "homeworlds" are far apart and there's no real reason for two different varieties of sideshow freaks to be working together.

And yet, on page 10 it states:
"They maintain a fleet of trading ships that travel to Daibei, Dark Nebula, and Reaver's Deep'"

so if Wuan ships travel that far, why not to Ustral Quadrant, Canopus, and Aldabaran?

Plus, they are not "sideshow freaks", they are Solomani, Racially pure solomani, the best solomani we can genetically engineer.

 

[kilemall]

If an Exec princess kisses a Frogger, does the Frogger become an Exec?

 

[Condottiere]

Executed for spreading salmonella.