Still learning to juggle new job and old responsibilities, so updates here are even less regular than usual, and they’re[1] usually less regular than a ninety year old man with an all beef-and-cheese diet! Ha!

As you can see, though, the quality of the writing is unchanged.

In any event, I would like to present two new additions to Earth Delta: Another mutant animal race, the otter, and a common hazard in watery areas, such as partially submerged coastal cities: The barnakill! (Yes, I grossly overuse the “kill” pun. No, I don’t care.)

Otters

Here’s the PDF link:

Otter

And here’s the cut-and-pasted version, less clean looking, but what can you do?

Otters are amphibious mammals which were known even before the Cataclysm for their intelligence, manual dexterity, and hatred of the United Atheist League and the United Atheist Alliance. Humanoid mutant otters have formed many communities along riverbanks throughout the regions where their ancestors lived, and some of their tunnel-cities are rumored to run for miles along the shoreline, with no evidence beyond the few external watchtowers and guardposts that they maintain. In the more semi-civilized regions of the world, they are often either guardians of river trade, or well-organized predators upon it.

Otteroid Racial Traits

Average Height: 7′ to 8′

Average Weight: 250-400 lbs

Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity or Intelligence

Size: Small

Speed: 6 squares (8 squares when swimming)

Vision: Low-Light (from Night Eyes mutation)

Languages: Common, Growl (Languages are listed on page 350.)

Skills: +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics (from Perfect Balance), +2 racial bonus to Thievery (from Elongated Fingers), +4 racial bonus on Athletics checks for swimming.

Defenses: +1 racial bonus to Reflex defense (from Accelerated Reactions)

Heritage Mutations: Accelerated Reactions, Elongated Fingers, Night Eyes, Perfect Balance, Small

Other Mutations: You have 2 points to spend on beneficial heritage mutations. You may acquire a negative heritage mutation for additional points.

Belly Slide: You may move across difficult terrain which is described as slick or slippery (such as frictionless surfaces, grease pools, and patches of ice) without paying an extra movement cost per square. However, you are prone throughout this movement and remain prone until you stand normally.

Otter Traits: Otteroids may pick one of the following abilities:

Otterly Adorable: Whenever you make a Diplomacy check, you may roll twice and use either result.

Otterly Sneaky: Whenever you make a Stealth check, you may roll twice and use either result.

Barnakill

Barnakills are an unfortunately common hazard in coastal regions, especially those with many sunken buildings or ruins. Unlike their ancestors, they can spread to areas of drier land, so long as there is a high level of moisture in the air and occasional flooding. Sapient races that live in such regions can sometimes learn to “harvest” barnakills, or to direct their growth for defensive purposes. (Mutant dolphins have learned to do this underwater, aiding their guardian forces, or, in other words, for defensive porpoises. Hah! (You know, like the one about transporting mynahs across staid lions for immortal porpoises?)

Yeah, OK, the content. Got it.

Barnakill

Barnakills are an unfortunately common hazard in coastal regions, especially those with many sunken buildings or ruins. Unlike their ancestors, they can spread to areas of drier land, so long as there is a high level of moisture in the air and occasional flooding. Sapient races that live in such regions can sometimes learn to “harvest” barnakills, or to direct their growth for defensive purposes. (Mutant dolphins have learned to do this underwater, aiding their guardian forces, or, in other words, for defensive porpoises. Hah! (You know, like the one about transporting mynahs across staid lions for immortal porpoises?)

When a creature enters a patch of barnakills, they erupt, sending off larvae which clamber onto the intruder and then sink in, drawing out the elements they need to form their protective shells. If given even a few seconds, they can virtually paralyze their target. Even if someone leaves the main patch, it can be a while before all of them can be scraped off, and, while any exist, they will feed on their host and spread. This does provide the slight benefit of a hard shell, but the pain is hardly worth it.

[1]The hilarious bit is that I needed to edit this from “their” right after I posted it, and a lot of my new job is catching just such mistakes in other people’s writing.