Critter

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Critters

Critters are life forms with simple behavior patterns. They come in a variety of forms, ranging from benign to horrific monsters that will destroy you instantly. Critters do not take damage in the same way humans, cyborgs and monkeys do. They are immune to stun, temperature, and atmospheric conditions. They can move through space as if they had a jetpack and can safely stroll through a blazing plasma fire. The only way to harm a critter is through brute force damage or lethal guns, such as energy guns or phasers. Because many hostile critters can quickly overpower a human at close quarters, the latter is generally the only safe way to engage them.

Some critters appear normally on the station, such as George the dog, the chef's sidekick Remi, RD's Heisenbee, the docile bat Dr. Acula in medbay and the captain's lovable pet cat Jones. Rock worms have a way of showing up around miners. Skeletons can pop up when a wizard or wraith descends on the station. Bats tend to follow when there's a vampire around. Telescience can summon critters through teleport accidents, and other beings lurk in the various dark corners of space on other z-levels. And of course, critters can also be spawned by a bored admin.

Critters can appear in varying degrees of quality. It will be part of their name. The best of their breed will sparkle to indicate that they're a pretty big deal in the space animal kingdom. Food made from these critters will retain their full name, e.g. healthy cockroach-meat taco.

Robust NPCs

These are a subgroup of critters who are more evolved than your stock cockroach. Robust NPCs are mobile humans who operate by the same rules of existence as human players. They take damage like humans, drugs work on them, and they can be grabbed, disarmed, restrained and dressed like human players. They're advanced enough to pick up anything they find lying around, and they're violent jerks so they'll try to kill people with it. The only thing that doesn't work on them that works on regular people is borging and cloning.

Robust NPCs come in many forms. Among other things, they can appear from telescience accidents, they can be summoned from certain items and they can be created using chemistry.

Because of how dangerous they can be, you should avoid making these guys unless you're an antagonist.

Other NPCs

Some creatures fall outside the previously mentioned groups. They are humanoids affected by the same things as players, but they're not robust enough to have wills of their own. This includes monkeys and a few named humans. They exist either for scientific purposes or to really tie a place together like a good rug. The monkey pen in genetics would for instance not be quite the same without monkeys. One your first stops on the way to space adventures in a pod is the space diner. It is the adopted home of Shitty Bill and Father Jack, a rather talkative couple with rich personalities and the inclination for drugs and alcohol.

Playable Critters

PC Critters are created through various machinations throughout the station. Some are common, such as Ghost Critters, and others are less so like Polymorphs and Admin intervention.

Ghost Critters

Congratulations! You died and, by choosing to forgo any chance of being cloned or made into a cyborg to Respawn as Animal, have reincarnated as a critter! You have the unique ability to simply phase through doors, open windoors if they're not-access locked, and breath in space! Unfortunately, like Krampus, you are also an ungodly nightmare that haunts the dreams of gods, shackled solely by an social obligation to not be a dirty metagamer and various mechanical restrictions:

• Very little health (A few bare-handed punches will instantly kill you.)
• Too simple-minded to use most computers or fly Space Pods.
• Too weak to pull or hold most items bigger than small in size.
  • Even then, can't hold potentially dangerous weapons, like flashes, screwdrivers, or beakers.
• Cannot read or write anything beyond basic pictographs.
• Humans and silicons cannot understand what you are saying (though you can understand them just fine).
• Can't strip people who are alive.
• Can't Point at people or things. (So you can't point at the Traitor that killed you or their discarded bag of gear.)
• Can't punch people into critical condition.
• Disarms and grabs do nothing.

Simply put, like the Ghost Drones, this is not a second life or chance for revenge, but an alternative to being a Ghost. While you have many restrictions, you have one simple objective: survive!

Types of Ghost Critters

Mugshot	Critter	Notes
	Cockroach	You can't read or write, but you can still prove that Franz Kafka was wrong and live a comfortable, fulfilling life as a modern human in a cockroach body.
	Space mouse	Your fur color will be the same color as your corpse's hair. Be the envy of all the space mice and live knowing you died and dyed fashionably.
	Butterfly	Flutter around. Make strange chirping noises. Attempt to be a vague notion of rebirth and reincarnation .

Polymorphed Critters

Getting Baleful Polymorphed by a Wizard will randomly turn you into one of these critters. Like Ghost Critters, these animals can breathe in space and have little health (albeit much more than a ghost critter would). Unlike Ghost Critters, these animals can actually pull everything a regular human can and can pick up a much wider range of objects (generally tiny- to small-size, with some able to do normal-size.) Some of them even have dedicated attack abilities with names like Gnaw or Bite. However, they can't phase through doors, and they're still not antagonists, unless the polymorph victim actually was an Antagonist beforehand.

Mugshot	Critter	Notes
	Space Dog	Pounce on people. Bite the Mailman. Hang out with George. Shoot guns and perform surgeries despite having no thumbs.
	Space Bird	Wear hats. Be the cool critter on the block with a headset slot. Screech over the radio. Peck the Wizard's eye out.
	Space goose	Honk to your heart's content. Migrate to another station when the Clown slips you out for taking his job.
	Space Timberdoodle	Scream. Eenk adorably. Eenk entertainingly. Eenk viciously. Eenk!
	Space Seagull	Squawk. Hang around the Pool. Furiously squawk the Chef for fish.
	Space Bat/Angry Bat	Hang around the local bloodsucker, inevitably get downed by a toolbox. Screech cheesy stock scary music tracks and 60s superhero shows themes.
	Space Possum	Play dead, whether it's because you've genuinely been hurt or you've just seen someone scream for whatever reason. Die. Revive. Repeat.
	Space Raccoon	Scour Disposals and the station's hallways for leftover Discount Dan's and coffee. Be the four-footed version of a Staff Assistant.
	Space Bee	Bee cute. Bee adorable. Bee kind. Sting whoever dares to mess with your beeloved owner and give them the itch of their life.
	Space Bumblespider	Coo adorably when hugged. Use your six hand slots to become the physical embodiment of "many hands make light work". Or, just annoy monkeys and other pests with your poisonous, itch-inducing bite.
	Baby Spider	Nibble on people. Drain the fluids of a human or monkey to become...
	Queen Spider	Trample, bite, spawn more spiders, drain your victims, coat your victims with your webbing (or cotton candy if you're a clownspider) and have eight arms of shit to do it with. Convert Genetic's monkey pen into your personal spider nest.
	Space Wasp	Literally sting like a bee while floating like a butterfly. Give some poor soul a life-long supply of itching powder with your sting.
	Space Slug	Coat the whole station with (harmless) slime trails. Drive the poor Janitor to suicide despite having no arms. Lament your state as the lame, uncool brother of the snake.

Admin-Power Critters

Critters only available through divine intervention. Not much is known about these mysterious creatures, but they are presumed to be far more majestic and capable than mere mortal critters.

Mugshot	Critter	Notes
No Mortal Can Bear The Sight	Space Owl in a Bikini	Champion the cause of Wonkmin. Hoot seductively.