Monsters: Slivers

Monsters: Slivers

Slivers are iconic MtG creatures, so let's convert the good (aka the normal one) and the bad (aka the humanoid one) designs to GURPS.

Let’s adapt MtG slivers. Why am I specifying that it’s an MtG monster? Because there is a D&D creature called “sliver” in Dragon Magazine #353 that is completely unrelated to the MtG sliver. Also, aren’t MtG and D&D now in the same universe? But anyway, who are the slivers? Slivers are slithering beings with one arms that ends in a talon, and an armored crest for the head. They share a hive mind, which allows them to share their abilities with other nearby slivers. They are not sapient, aside from the unique Sliver Queen that controls the hive mind. There are also evolved slivers that are humanoid. Personally, I think this is an awful design, and I have not seen even a single person saying anything positive about the humanoid slivers.

So, this hive mind sharing is the signature ability of the slivers. But since MtG is a card game and not a lot of lore is available on the topic of slivers, I will have to infer some other properties of these creatures. Let’s build the base creature first, something like a 1/1 colorless Sliver creature token. I haven’t found any card that depicts a sliver and human together, so I will have to guesstimate their size. They look human-sized, so let’s make them SM+0. They are predatory, so they probably are more agile and tough than humans, so let’s give them +2 to DX, +1 to HT, and +0.25 to Basic Speed. They are not sapient – let’s make their racial IQ 3 and give +8 to Will and Per.

What about the body? It doesn’t have any legs, so let’s give it No Legs (Slithers). I will not give it Horizontal, or it will be unable to attack properly. It seems that Double-Jointed is appropriate here as well. It probably should have Amphibious, like many snakes do. It does not have any eyes, so let’s give it Injury Tolerance (No Eyes). Skull and face are protected by bony plates. Then, obviously, it only has One Arm, Talons, and No Fine Manipulators.

The slivers are said to be predatory, so I gave them Restricted Diet (Carnivore). I also decided to give them Reduced Consumption 2. I don’t see any mouth, but I assume that there is one on the underside of the bony head. It’s definitely not a primary attack, so I gave the sliver Weak Bite. I couldn’t find any information about the lifecycle and reproduction, but I think that Short Lifespan 2 and Early Maturation 2 will fit well. Can slivers make any sounds? I decided that since they are a hivemind species, I will give them Wild Animal with Mute.

Slivers are said to prefer warm climates, so maybe they are Cold-Blooded? I also gave them Temperature Tolerance 2 (Hot). Also, the slivers are said to sleep while hanging upside down from the ceiling of a cave, so I gave them the Clinging advantage.

By the way, remember that the slivers have no eyes? How do they see then? Since they are said to dwell in caves and sleep while hanging upside down, like bats, maybe they should have Sonar? Maybe the shape of their heads also has something to do with it? I decided to give them Blindness and the Hunting Sonar ability from GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses.

Finally, I have to tackle the hivemind ability. I did it by giving it Mindlink and Telesend with Broadcast, Racial, and Video modifiers, plus the Telepathy power modifier. But how do they share their abilities with one another? This is the signature trait of the slivers in MtG. I decided to do it in reverse – they do not share their abilities with one another, but they borrow abilities from one another. I statted it up as Cosmic Power that lets the sliver borrow racial abilities from other slivers of its hive by spending 8 hours in seclusion. The racial template has a pool of 20 points to be rearranged this way, but individual slivers can always have more. Thus, all sliver hives will be different, sometimes significantly. Some hives, for example, can have Reflex Slivers that have Combat Reflexes on their racial templates, and all other slivers will be able to borrow this advantage. Other hives might have wings or psionic attacks, or whatever.

Sliver [MtG]

121 points
Attribute Modifiers: DX+2 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [24]; IQ-7 [-140]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will+8 [40]; Per+8 [40]; Basic Speed +0.25 [5].
Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Clinging [20]; DR 4 (Partial, Face, -50%) [10]; DR 4 (Partial, Skull, -70%) [6]; Double-Jointed [15]; Injury Tolerance (No Eyes) [5]; Reduced Consumption 2 [4]; Talons [8]; Temperature Tolerance 2 (Hot) [2].
    Genetic Rearrangement: Cosmic Power 20 (Immediate Preparation Required, 8 hours, ‑90%; Physical, +100%; Psychometabolism, -10%; Trait-Limited, Innate advantages of other slivers in the hive, ‑30%) [140].
    Hivemind [93]: Mindlink (10,000-99,999; Telepathy, -10%) [45] + Telesend (Broadcast, +50%; Racial, -20%; Telepathy, -10%; Video, +40%) [48].
    Hunting Sonar: Sonar (Accessibility, In air, ‑10%; Biological (Passive), ‑5%; Restricted Arc, 60°, ‑75%; Targeting, +20%) [6].
Disadvantages: Blindness [-50]; Cold-Blooded (50°) [-5]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; One Arm [-20]; Restricted Diet (Carnivore) [-10]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Weak Bite [-2]; Wild Animal with Mute [-40].
Features: Early Maturation 2; No Legs (Slithers).
Creature Type: Aberration.

Typical Stats

ST:	10	HP:	10	Speed:	6
DX:	12	Will:	11	Move:	6 ground, 6 water, 3 clinging
IQ:	3	Per:	11
HT:	11	FP:	11	SM:	+0
Dodge:	9	Parry:	10 (unarmed)	DR:	4 (face and skull)

    Talon (14): thrust 1d-2 cutting or impaling, Reach C.
    Genetic Rearrangement: A sliver can rearrange its genetic code by retreating to a safe place and concentrating for 8 hours without interruptions. Effectively, a typical sliver has a pool of 20 character points that it can rearrange to give itself any racial advantages of other slivers in its hive. Many slivers develop this ability further, expanding this point pool.
    Hive Mind: Slivers possess a permanent telepathic rapport with the rest of the hive (up to 99,999 individuals). As long as they are on the same plane of existence and less than 0.1 light-year away, slivers can broadcast thoughts and sonar readings to the rest of the hive with no roll required.
    Hunting Sonar: The sliver can locate objects by directing ultrasound at them in air. The sound beam is directed straight ahead and 30° to left and right; the sliver can only spot things in that arc. The base range is 20 yards in air (multiplied by air pressure in atmospheres). The sliver has a resolution of one millimeter. It can spot small objects and determine their shape, but it must make a Sense roll to distinguish details (for example, to recognize a face). By taking an Aim maneuver, the sliver can lock onto objects and determine their precise range and speed; this gives it +3 to hit them with aimed ranged attacks.

    Traits: Amphibious; Blindness; Clinging; Cold-Blooded (50°); Double-Jounted; Early Maturation 2; Injury Tolerance (No Eyes); No Fine Manipulators; No Legs (Slithers); One Arm; Reduced Consumption 2; Restricted Diet (Carnivore); Short Lifespan 2; Temperature Tolerance 2 (Hot); Weak Bite; Wild Animal with Mute.
    Skills: Brawling-14; Survival (Plains)-14.
    Creature Type: Aberration.

The sliver was actually much more simple that I thought at first. So, let’s also make a humanoid sliver, mostly by removing certain traits from the normal sliver. Obviously, it now has legs, two arms, Sharp Claws instead of Talons, and it can probably vocalize now. It’s not blind anymore, but it also loses Sonar. Head armor is replaced by weaker uniform plating. Double-Jointed is replaced with Flexibility, and Amphibious and Clinging are removed. Bam, done! Humanoid slivers are, however, boring. I just made them here for completionism’s sake.

Humanoid Sliver [MtG]

172 points
Attribute Modifiers: DX+2 [40]; IQ-7 [-140]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will+8 [40]; Per+8 [40]; Basic Speed +0.25 [5].
Advantages: DR 1 [5]; Flexibility [5]; Reduced Consumption 2 [4]; Sharp Claws [5]; Temperature Tolerance 2 (Hot) [2].
    Genetic Rearrangement: Cosmic Power 20 (Immediate Preparation Required, 8 hours, ‑90%; Physical, +100%; Psychometabolism, -10%; Trait-Limited, Innate advantages of other slivers in the hive, ‑30%) [140].
    Hivemind [93]: Mindlink (10,000-99,999; Telepathy, -10%) [45] + Telesend (Broadcast, +50%; Racial, -20%; Telepathy, -10%; Video, +40%) [48].
Disadvantages: Cold-Blooded (50°) [-5]; Restricted Diet (Carnivore) [-10]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20]; Weak Bite [-2]; Wild Animal [-30].
Features: Early Maturation 2.
Creature Type: Aberration.

Typical Stats

ST:	10	HP:	10	Speed:	6
DX:	12	Will:	11	Move:	6
IQ:	3	Per:	11
HT:	11	FP:	11	SM:	+0
Dodge:	9	Parry:	10 (unarmed)	DR:	1

    Sharp Claws (14): thrust 1d-2 cutting, Reach C.
    Genetic Rearrangement: A sliver can rearrange its genetic code by retreating to a safe place and concentrating for 8 hours without interruptions. Effectively, a typical sliver has a pool of 20 character points that it can rearrange to give itself any racial advantages of other slivers in its hive. Many slivers develop this ability further, expanding this point pool.
    Hive Mind: Slivers possess a permanent telepathic rapport with the rest of the hive (up to 99,999 individuals). As long as they are on the same plane of existence and less than 0.1 light-year away, slivers can broadcast thoughts and sonar readings to the rest of the hive with no roll required.

    Traits: Cold-Blooded (50°); Early Maturation 2; Flexibility; Reduced Consumption 2; Restricted Diet (Carnivore); Short Lifespan 2; Temperature Tolerance 2 (Hot); Weak Bite; Wild Animal.
    Skills: Brawling-14; Survival (Plains)-14.
    Creature Type: Aberration.