Dawn Sector: The Hippaflicks

By Brian Pichelman

The Hippaflicks are the pacifist fish-people of Flicker. They are very cumbersome on land, but not in the water. They move up to 100 meters/minute (3mph) on land, and 360 meters/minute in water (20mph). They also speak Bladish, and many also speak English.

Appearance and Biology  

Hippaflicks are usually 5' long and have huge flat palms with almost immoveable fingers, which they use for paddling. Their feet are short and flat, because their hands reach to the ground. They have 2 antennae with glowing pink bulbs at the end. the glow is equal  to a flashlight. Their gills are at their sides. They are very streamlined.

Hippaflicks have lungs, but they also have gills, and spend most of their lives underwater.

Unusual Biologic Abilities

Hippaflicks have an armor class of 7 due to their thick skin and cannot wear armor due to their physical oddities. Hippaflicks have a minimum Strength requirement of 14 and minimum Intelligence requirement of 12.

They are the most intelligent race on Flicker, having invented antimatter drives and the theoretical concepts that lead to the development of the wormholes.

They have two glowing pink bulbs on stalks coming from their heads. This provides 10 meters of illumination in all directions. These bulbs can be turned “on” or “off” at will.

History

The Hippaflicks are the newest intelligent race to emerge on Flicker. They stayed “hidden” from the semi-aquatic Bladish for many centuries because Hippaflicks lived in the trenches, a place not many Bladish dare to go. They live in cooperation with the Bladish, on account of the fact the Hippaflicks cannot make tools on their own. They are the only race that spends the majority of their life in the water.

 They travel off-world less often than the Bladish. Most Hippaflicks are Psychics; they developed their mental powers to overcome their physical limitations.. They live in the deep oceans, and so the Bladish are not concerned with their powers. Their Psychics emerged around one hundred years before human contact, so while Flicker was never hit by the Scream, the Hippaflicks haven't gotten much of a chance to develop their powers (about postech level Psychics).

 They are the smartest race on Flicker, but they require the Irons to manufacture their technology. Hippaflicks gain a +1 DM to their Intelligence characteristic.

Psychology

Hippaflicks are a pacifist race, and their religion reflects that. The Gilled God represents the peace that must be, no matter what (many non-Hippaflick historians believe this to be because of their complete hopelessness in a fight). The Shark is the opposite, being like a... shark.

 Other Notes

NPC Hippaflicks with have 8 h.p. and a AC of 7. Randomly encountered Hippaflicks have a 50% chance of being a Psychic, a 35% chance of being a Expert, and only a 15% chance of being a Warrior.

Hippaflicks are of  fish decent; i.e. they are more closely related to lungfish than to a dolphin. 

Hippaflicks live a mostly hermitic existence in relation to other races. Their cities are ruled by singular leaders, considered some of the smartest beings in the known universe. Each City-Leader is part of the Council of Flicker. (There are 13 cities).

Hippaflick as Player Characters

Due to their bulkiness and inability to function well outside of water, I would not recommend them as viable PC.