ST +2 [20]
PD +1 [15]
DR +4 [12]
Arms, Two Extra [10]
Extra Hit Points +3 [15]
Full Coordination [50]
Independently Focusable Eyes [25]
Peripheral Vision [15]
Appearance: Ugly [-25]
Colorblind [-10]
Code of Honor (see above) [-10]
Gigantism [-15]
Racial Quirks:
Suspicious of Other Races [-1]
Preoccupied With Status [-1]
Their rumored taste for sapients does not count as a bad reputation, but it does aggravate any Racial Intolerance or Xenophobia characters may have (double penalties). The sight of a tridivan will affect someone with either a phobia of insects or reptiles. The tridivan language is Mental/Very Hard for other races.
This imposing race has both insectival and reptilian characteristics. Tridivans have mantis-like heads and four exoskeletal arms, each of which ends in a four-fingered hand. While color-blind, their eyes offer a wide angle of vision. The rest of the body is covered by a thick grey hide except for the back which is protected by a dull green carapace, and they have a thick, fairly inflexible tail. Tridivans stand 2.2 m (7'4") tall and weigh 240 kg (530 lbs) and live up to 150 years. Each tridivan has male and female sexual organs, but only one set is functional over a given 8-10 year span, followed by a year of sterility as the change to the other sex occurs. There seems to be no visible physical or behavioral difference between sexes. Four or five eggs are laid twenty months after fertilization and hatch within three weeks, though usually only one of the hatchlings lives more than a year.
Tridivans are very capable warriors, able to engage two separate opponents at once, even with one-handed ranged weapons. This carries over to equipment use as well, as the race possesses a five-sectioned brain, with two arms and one eye linked to separate pairs and the fifth section serving as a master controller.
While tridivans are physically impressive, they prefer to make their conquests through diplomatic or economic means, using war as a last resort. They have a very elaborate view of the afterlife and don't fear death (a tridivan won't try to hurry it up, though!). Their uncomplicated religion holds that their current physical form is only one stop in a long path a soul must travel as it seeks to become one with the universe. While they do not believe that such mortal concepts as good and evil have any bearing on the soul reaching an immortal state, tridivans as a race do have some strongly held mores. They will not attack a physically inferior foe except in self-defense or conduct a surprise attack unless a foe is much stronger. Nor may one tridivan stand against another of his race who is threatened by aliens (remaining neutral is acceptable, however), unless the tridivan under attack has committed crimes against his own race. In addition, though the race does not eat meat, rumors persist of them finding sapients a delicacy.
The tridivan language is an ancient and well-developed one, difficult for non-tridivans to speak. Their written language is just as difficult, using over eight thousand different characters (though one could get by knowing a mere 800-900). There are at least a dozen forms for each common noun, verb and adjective, each with a slightly different connotation. This makes translating the tridivan language difficult, and also makes it hard for tridivans to communicate in other languages, as they cannot effectively use body language. Tridivan names are long affairs, using a combination of hard and soft sounds (for examples, Gar'hkan'grat, Jaw'zak'haru and Faz'vox'kamt). Around non-tridivans, they will generally use only the last syllable (using the examples above, Grat, Haru and Kamt). It is believed that the first syllable is a family name, the second is a parent's name and the last is the individual's personal name, but researchers are unsure.
Tridivans are governed by a non-hereditary monarchy. Individuals are preoccupied with their social status and constantly seek to improve it. Given time, skill and luck, the lowliest tridivan can theoretically become king. It is worth noting that while such social climbing can become very hostile, murder is rarely used to improve one's position (or maintain it). This somewhat unstable system would normally cause problems when dealing with other races were it not for the fact that tridivans do not normally associate with other sapients. On the rare times they do, it is usually with ulterior motives. However, it is not uncommon to see individual tridivans in galactic society, though they will rarely take 'mundane' jobs (preferring occupations such as explorer, bodyguard and research scientist) and usually return to Tridiva after about a decade of living around other races.
Campaign Uses: Tridivans fit in well as an ancient, secretive race that tends to itself but is constantly bothered by other races seeking their accumulated knowledge or wealth. Since they have both reptilian and insectival characteristics, they may be an ancestor race of both lizard and insect men, or perhaps a long-forgotten hybrid of those two races. Tridivans prefer to dwell in hot, desert cities (30 degrees C, 116 degrees F). These cities often number 50-60 thousand Tridivans.
SF Notes: The best thing about tridivans is that despite their fearsome appearance they are not simply space ogres. They are as intelligent as most races and more physically powerful than many others, and can be found in any occupation not ruled out due to their large size. A tridivan could prove an interesting addition to an adventuring party. Alternatively, an all-alien party might be hired to scout Tridiva to see what secrets, if any, it holds.
There is a great deal of speculation as to whether or not the tridivans are a natural race or an artificially constructed one. Their prohibition of non-Tridivans on their homeworld only encourages such wild theories. It is known that their homeworld, Tridiva, is a hot (30 degrees C, 116 degrees F) desert planet with 0.9 G gravity and a slightly oxygen-rich atmosphere orbiting a G3 main-sequence sun, and has a population of between 500-600 million.
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