Summary
A genetically engineered species designed to silently operate within the dark crawlspaces of Arcologies and starships.
Gameplay
Available Backgrounds
- The Fosterite Empire, a strict society built on a racial caste system
- ULISIS:
- The underclasses of Arcologies spread throughout the galaxy, and very rarely, its Upper classes
- Various ULISIS Space Stations spread throughout the galaxy
- The Earth's urban Sprawls
- The Earth's wild & harsh Outside
- The wild but verdant Earth swamp expanse, Bayou Riche
- The ULGSCR, an Anarcho-Communist(?) collective
- Various Outer Worlds (custom)
- The Delta Project, a comfortable but totalitarian society where life revolves around serving your role
Lore
Origin
Physiology
Deltas stand about 3-4 feet tall, with long, strong limbs and digits. Their feet are prehensile but capable of normal gait. They are designed for quadrupedal movement in zero- or low-G environments, so they do not suffer from the low bone density, atrophy and slowed metabolism of non-adapted species. In 1-G their bipedal stature may be slightly slouched, but they don’t suffer much do to low body mass.
They generally have a highly pallid complexion, designed for lower UV doses than baseline humans. Their eyes are massively over-sized and more sensitive in terms of low light and UV/IR spectra, compared to the standard human eye.
They have been spliced with some sort of simian genes, likely Tarsier, Loris, or some other small species.
Psychology
Deltas are designed to have a deep fascination with building and repairing complex machines (or things that work like machines). This extends to a compulsion - whenever things are working correctly, they may be compelled to disassemble and improve something just to stay busy.
All Homunculus species were made mentally stunted in some way in order to pigeonhole each group and prevent an uprising. Deltas’ particular engineered shortcoming is in their social functioning, to have them work independently and interchangeably without the complicated interplay of politics and personal relationships. They tend to overcome this by approaching social cohesion between disinterested participants as a design problem, preferring highly prescriptive social structures to those that arise organically. They often prefer the security of a system they know is unfair over the uncertainty of freedom.
DH were also designed for subtlety - mainly to keep a subservient underclass and its works-in-progress out of the way of the decision makers. This translates to a proclivity for understatement in all things.
They are generally more interested in utilitarian body modifications. Aesthetic modifications are not unheard of, but are generally in the interest of serving a role that would benefit from them.
Culture
Delta culture is a bit paradoxical, in that they tend toward atomistic individualism yet eschew most of the trappings of individual identity. Many of them consider themselves (and most beings) relatively interchangeable in that respect. Their outlook tends to be towards an external locus of control, yet they embrace their own agency to the degree that they can affect their environments.
As a result, their societies tend to be highly complex and bureaucratic but efficient. Justice and order almost always trump personal freedom. While their societies tend towards economic equality, one's role in society is a prescribed circumstance rather than a matter of personal choice. And that doesn't tend to be a matter of contention with those raised in such a system - they are happy to devote themselves to the Kaizen of whatever role they are deemed to fit.
These tendencies do not always lend themselves to one constructive purpose. As effective as Deltas are at engineering a solution to a task, they tend to be blindered once they set their minds to something. Instead of progressing to a new goal they may step back to further improve their already adequate solution to the last. Or they may champion a lost cause, seeing it as a technocratic problem rather than an opportunity to reassess and reorient. In realms of collective decision-making this can lead to bitter stalemates and entrenched competing interests.
Deltas tend to be highly organized in everything they do - if there is to be a riot, they will organize and plan that riot. They have created some of the most effective and subtle criminal syndicates and pirate companies in history.
Their highly responsive sense organs and innate preference for subtlety has led to an understated and utilitarian style in their appearance and mannerisms. They design their physical environments to be sensually underwhelming and only as spacious as required to be functional. Deltas have a high affinity for complex games.
Delta culture tends to be permeable by other races and philosophies, but is highly intolerant of those it sees as acting out of their role. There is a simultaneous deference to and resentment of leadership roles and personalities. Those in leadership would do best to take a Gnomish tack in communicating goals, or risk making themselves look like a noisy impediment.
So while an outsider is welcome to assimilate, very few can come to terms with the apparent contradictions of the Delta mentality: an atomized society that is yet tightly interdependent; minimalistic structures encasing Swiss-watch complexity; utter devotion to the means of achievement with sometimes baffling blindness to the long-term point of the goal.
Influences
- Cortical Homunculus
- Grey ETs
- D&D Gnomes & Halflings
- Autism
- DMT Machine Elves
- Monkey mans