Re: Kh'iff

G'day Derk

 >G'day Beth (hope I get the accent
 >sort of right, only had one week of
 >practice ;) )

Sounds good to me ;)

 >I see the Kh'iff as a people of poor
 >desert/plains nomads, traditionally
 >hunters, who drift in large packs
 >across the plains they inhabit. They
 >have little in the way of advanced
 >technology, except for the gauss rifles
 >which prove to be of great help in
 >hunting their tough-hided prey.

Did they develop these weapons themselves or do the "acquire" them?

 >The Kh'iff evolved from a canine stock,
 >with very much of a pack-like
 >social structure. Kh'iff are not
 >great individualists, much preferring to
 >do things with their pack.
 >The effect of this pack mentality is
 >that Kh'iff squads test as one
 >motivation level lower than normal,
 >when they cannot see any other Kh'iff
 >squads (of their own pack/platoon??).

Not a bad idea, though even pack animals don't usually have a problem
being 
on their own, they're just ot as successful ;)

 >The sole exception to the above rule
 >are their expert huntsmen/stalkers,
 >(snipers)  who found the courage to
 >face danger on their own, and hence do
 >not suffer the penalty. However, their
 >'difference' also caused them to
 >distance themselves from their birth-packs,
 >and as a result, they cannot
 >attach to squads.

They could also just be juveniles yet to find a pace of their own or
exiled 
old leaders, if so they could probably join a squad, but the squad would

need to take a reaction test each turn to see if they were allowed to
stay.

 >Kh'iff lack the advanced communication
 >networks that allow other nationalities'
 >officers to have such great impact on the fight.

That's fine, but they should probably also get a slightly longer range
"no 
comms required range", both for game balance and because they probably
have 
better senses and long range communication abilities.

 >NOTE: This ONLY applies to communication,
 >NOT to other tests involving leadership value.

I'd probably actually modify all leadership tests a little, if you don't

mind a little book-keeping. I'd give all leaders a -1 to their role, but
if 
they fail 3 times in a row (probably needs to be played a bit to get the

number right) then the leader is challenged and the squad spends a turn 
sorting out whether the leader remains as is or changes (I'd just use a 
standard leader replacement role here, if you get a "no shift in
quality" 
result then the old leader held firm, otherwise there's a new leader
with 
the appropriate new quality). If the old leader is given the boot, then
he 
either has to leave, or the squad has to take a reaction test to keep
him 
around.

 >The Kh'iff wear heavy hide coats,
 >giving them an effective armour of D6

I'd probably stick with D6.

 >I'm thinking of giving Kh'iff 8"/d8
 >movement rate, even in their robes...
 >Although I'd imagine they'd slow
 >down faster in undergrowth.

Sounds sensible.

 >- - Close Combat
 >
 >The Kh'iff are very sensitive to the
 >weight of numbers. I'd like to give
 >them an extra penalty if outnumbered,
 >and a bonus if outnumbering. Is this
 >feasible or does this wreck the system?

Sounds OK to me. Maybe they have to take a reaction test NOT to attack a

panicked unit. Maybe they could be rated as causing fear? There's also
the 
possibility that if they see a friendly squad go in then they'll stand a

higher chance of joining the close combat too (in which case I wouldn't 
give them too much of an extra boost for greater numbers).

Cheers

Beth

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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART
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