Tarth
(The Tarth race was originally created for the Accolade game called Deadlock and appears here without their permission. Here is my version of the Tarth for personal use in the Star Frontiers game)
Average Size: 2.6 metres tall
Average Mass: 425 kg
Average Lifespan: 140 years
Reproduction: Ominvorous
Body Temperature: 42 C
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND STRUCTURE
The Tarth home planet is the most inhospitable sphere that any known sentient species has ever evolved upon. Korga is huge, roughly one third the size of the Sol system's giant planet, Jupiter. Gravity is at a near crushing level and life on the surface took a long time to develop. Only large behemoths could survive here. In order to hold themselves upright the Tarth developed a large frame with three times the muscle development of any other beings in the Frontier. To this day, the Tarth do not really stand upright. Their long front arms can also be used as legs.
Tarth have been jokingly referred to as behemoth dog-like creatures, by the Yazirians, with features that are capable of expressing anger, fear, and happiness all at once. "As expressive as a confounded Tarth..." so the saying goes. Strangely, the Tarth really do get along with the Yazirians and are awed by their ability to glide short distances - something the Tarth would never be able to do with such massive weight.
SENSES
The Tarth have a reasonable sense of smell, taste, and sight. However, they are as almost as "insensitive as a log" when it comes to their sense of touch. Scientists agree that it appears that their constant warring nature has fortified their threshold to pain.
SPEECH
Tarth have no problem speaking Human languages or Pan Galactic. Their own language is a combination of Human-type sounds, snarls, and growls. Moreover, the expressiveness in their facial features and positioning of their ears (similar to that of dogs) indicating happiness or anger, help to bring their message across very convincingly.
SOCIETY AND CUSTOMS
War has always been the drumbeat of Tarth life. Their giant tanks, impressive fortifications, and devastating infantry have plowed through opposition time and time again.
The Tarth have a great affinity for food. Their main diet is the bitter fruits found all over their homeworld, particularly the extremely sour Azarga berry. Tarth civilization began in earnest when bands of four footed Tarth planted Azarga berries in large patches, creating an agrarian society. They would eat from these patches until the Azarga berry bushes died. They would next migrate to a new place, gathering seeds along the way to prepare for the next time they would settle down.
Who controls the government is decided through combat. When a new settlement is established, all eligible Tarth engage in a battle for the title of Ubergeneral. Combatants fight each other in vicious battles with no rules. The last Tarth left standing becomes the Ubergeneral.
Modern Tarth society was founded by Guh, a warrior-turned-astronomer. Guh was a huge brute, a fit soldier in the swelling ranks of a powerful band. However, a tragedy was dealt to Guh. One battle red morning, Guh was running down a large mountain to a attack some rival warriors. He tripped over a rock, impaling himself on a five pronged spear. Presumed dead, his soldiers rallied over his demise and, fortunately for Guh, beat back their enemies.
Darkness fell and the severely wounded Guh regained his senses. Impervious to the pain coursing through his own body (and since he had no other choice), Guh gazed into the heavens at the seven beautiful moons of Korga that floated above him. As he watched Tunt, a small moon, he saw a volcano erupt. Intrigued, he squinted his eyes to look closer and saw small clouds moving across the moon's surface. Guh decided he needed to see more, so with extreme willpower, he pulled himself loose from the spear and crawled into a ruined Azarga berry field, munching on the crushed fruit.
Guh became a hermit and eventually became the first Tarth astronomer when he at last created a crude telescope. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Picture of a Tarth - © by Accolade/Cyberlore
After Guh's discovery, moon watching became a major pursuit of many Tarth. Better seeing devices were made and more of the details on Tunt were discovered. Eventually five Tarth astronomers decided to build an immense catapult to launch themselves to Tunt. They thought that if one threw a Tarth far enough into the sky he would pass through "the falling point" where a Tarth would start to fall in the other direction towards the moon.
Unfortunately the moonwatchers could not agree as to who should get thrown to Tunt, so all five ended up on the catapult. The cord was cut and the five Tarth shot up fifty meters into the air before landing into a dead heap on the rocks below. Tarth wisdom from then on stated that "Wise moonwatchers take turns."
Within a few hundred years of Guh's observation, the Tarth were in space, roaming far and wide within their system. Naturally, the Tarth established a colony on their livable moon, Tunt. The capital of the Tunt colony, Guh, has a giant statue carved in the likeness of their hero. Guh is shown, impaled on a spear, looking up through a telescope at the heavens.
Eventually the Tarth met the Cyth who were enigmatic and at the same time helpful to them. This was shortly followed a few decades later, by their first meeting with the Sathar, which made them realize they had found an enemy worth their mettle. Later, the Tarth met the Frontier races while fighting the Sathar. Their first contact was with Yazirians which they took a strong liking to.
ATTITUDES
A Tarth soldier's grasp is strong enough to turn rocks into sand -- a technique they merrily apply on enemy soldiers' limbs. Tarth infantry tote rifles that are three times the size of normal guns. This gives them a strong advantage on any battlefield. This warlike tendency has spread to their concept of the universe. All Tarth believe that the more planets they control, the stronger they will be.
That was until the Tarth had their first encounter with the insidious Sathar. After barely surviving a vicious attack, the Tarth rallied and managed to push back a Sathar fleet bent on inflicting genocide on the Tarth race. Their attitudes changed almost overnight with the appearance of Sathar and Tarth are now generally more subdued in spirit, but yet tinged with a sense of grim determination.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Tarth players use the following modifiers and have the abilities listed below:
Ability Modifier Table
Resistance to Pain
Tarth do not suffer any penalties when they have lost half their stamina. Moreover, Tarth are capable of fighting till -10 before collapsing and breathing their final breath in a heroic battle.
Improved Melee Damage
Tarth incur twice normal damage during Melee battles (as derived from the Punching Table of the SFAD Expanded Game Rules).
SPECIAL DISADVANTAGES
Hulking Size
Their only disadvantage that Tarth suffer from is their huge size. This intimidates most other races and results in a -10 racial reaction modifier. Yazirians are not subject to this modifier.