Mhunghus

Base Cost: 19 points

Melee RV 6

Coordination RV 6

Brawn RV 2

Fortitude RV 10

Intellect RV 10

Awareness RV 20

Willpower RV 10

Lifestyle RV 20

Repute RV -2

Health: Fortune:

24 40

Origin:

The mhunghus are a race of mushroom-like sentients evolved elsewhere in the cosmos, whose psionic abilities allow them to communicate with each other - but at the same time cause them to avoid each other due to the excessive psychic 'noise' they constantly give off.

Known Powers:

Natural Psionics (Psipathic Powers):

Telepathy (a): while evolution did not give the mhunghus the ability to communicate verbally, it has blessed them with highly psi-active minds. All mhunghus can telepathically communicate with each other (send/receive surface thoughts) with rank value 10 ability.

Auscultation (t): instead of communicating, mhunghus can just read the surface thoughts of others. This rank value 20 power requires no dice roll unless a target is specifically shielding their thoughts, which requires a Willpower ACT against this power value.

Natural Psionics (Superpsi Powers):

Mental Invisibility (t): though they cannot mask themselves from standard senses, the mhunghus can indeed hide from psionic abilities. They can disguise their psi presence from others with rank value 10 ability, which means most casual observers won't notice them.

Trained Psi Powers (various):

In addition to their natural psipathic powers, all mhunghus are trained in additional paths of power - mostly to overcome the 'limits' that nature has saddled them with. Bear in mind that mhunghus have no legs, and are not in fact self-ambulatory.

As such, some mhunghus become psikinetics, allowing themselves to fly or levitate as is needed. Others will become metapsis, and evolve legs temporarily for walking (or other organic conveyances). Still more become psimotives, and use exotic means to cross space (and time).

Most paths of psi power allow movement of some sort or another, either directly or indirectly, so a mhunghus can become trained in any discipline. Of course, some will forego personal movement and instead master the powers of the mind... and force others to move them, instead.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Sessility: mhunghus do not have the ability to move - they lack a natural muscle structure or any other mechanism to achieve mobility. While they generally study psionics with the goal of escaping the location of their birth, they're immobile without such aid (weak character limitation).

Equipment:

None. The mhunghus will typically have 'stuff' that they've acquired over time, and sometimes they'll even have something they can effectively wield in combat. But as a species, the mhunghus have no cultural 'standard' that they'll carry with them at all times.

Quirks:

Loner: while there's nothing physical preventing them from congregating en masse, the truth is the mhunghus are... annoyed by the telepathic 'noise' of their brethren. It causes them to seek greener pastures free of their own kind, and they react to each other at a -2 RS.

They are a bit less asocial when it comes to other species - particularly non-psi entities. To such beings, mhunghus are a lot less aversive, and their behavior will only cause a -1 RS reaction modifier instead. This is a major reason they've spread throughout the cosmos, really.

Skills:

Astronaut: all mhunghus learn about space and the various objects within from a very young age; the better to get away from each other. A mhunghus may attempt an ACT to find or identify an object in space, or to plot a course somewhere, at their Intellect score +1 RS.

Characteristics:

Mhunghus are rather thoughtful and introspective beings, and are often fascinated by the universe in general. They often have problems relating to others; most are irritated by the psionic 'chatter' of their fellows, though some 'deviants' embrace the sense of community it provides.

Appearance:

Mhunghus are generally about four feet tall, give or take a few inches either way. They resemble terrestrial, gray mushrooms, complete with a large and bulbous umbonate pileus (head), an hourglass-shaped stipe (stem), and a spherical base that is generally rooted into the surface.

On their umbonate pileus, they have several light-sensitive pits, ranging in color from red-brown to black. They can use these to approximately sense visual information in their environment - even if they cannot move. They also posses four branch-like growths on their stipes.

Mhunghus do not wield clothes typically; they just don't see the need. Their bodies usually fit perfectly into the climates they prefer, and thus don't feel the need to protect themselves such. However, if in a culture that requires clothes, they usually comply.

Ecological Niche:

As mushroom-like fungusoids, mhunghus are sessile beings. They evolved to stay where they are spored their entire lives, passively drawing nutrition from dead matter in the area. After they grew sentient however, they quickly spread through the cosmos in an effort to find isolation.

History:

The mhunghus are a race of sentients evolved from fungus. Their home world, Mhung, has given rise to a large number of psi-active species for some unknown reason, and the mhunghus are no exception. Though they lack the means to move naturally, they can communicate easily.

Too easily, really. Being unable to move, the mhunghus were forced to rest wherever they were born, and were stuck listening to the endless chatter of the other mhunghus in close quarters. Needless to say, hearing thousands of people rambling about the weather can drive one insane.

At one point, a particularly restless mhunghus decided it'd had enough, and began to meditate intensely. In time, it had developed the means of moving matter with its mind - namely, itself - and levitated far, far away from its brethren... at which point it found peace.

Though this mhunghus became famous amongst its own kind, it did not want to share its secrets - lest it lose the peace it had finally achieved. However, the wailing of its brethren finally convinced Quiet-Selfish-Rage-At-You-All to relent, and it did indeed reveal its truths.

Learning that there were many paths of power, Quiet-Selfish-Rage-At-You-All trained all those it could find in the practice of psionic power, and then departed Mhung - never to be seen again. It had changed the course of its species, however... they would now evolve.

If in a cerebral sense. The mhunghus would quickly spread from Mhung with their newly found ability to develop their psi powers, though not out of any sense of empire. Many nearby races feared this at first, since the oversized mushrooms were suddenly everywhere at once.

The truth is, they all just want peace and quiet - and by putting more distance between each other, they can often attain it. That's not to say that individual mhunghus haven't imposed their wills on an unsuspecting world or two. It's just that, as a whole, mhunghus don't crave conquest.

So sometimes you'll find mhunghus lording over a small empire of their own making, but just as often you'll encounter them as intrepid explorers of the cosmos, chilling out at space ports or the like. Sometimes you'll even find them on earth, desperately hoping they're alone here.

It just depends on the individual, really.

Legal Hoopajoob:

I offer my Edition 13 work under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

What this means is that if you wish, you may use this Edition 13 material in any way you see fit, whether copying, distributing, or displaying all or part of this text, as long as you credit my work, in either your own derivative texts or products.

If you would like more information about me for attribution, you can contact me via e mail (DashApostrophe@gmail.com).

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