Mystical Throne Entertainment

The first iteration of Mercenary Breed was meant to present character races as a toolkit used at the beginning of a campaign. Players would construct the species they wished to play and, along with the GM, would then flesh out the details surrounding that character race. Although this concept still exists, it’s no longer the main focus of handling races during character creation. Instead, with Mercenary Breed 2.0, we decided to change our focus by presenting 6 core races that pertain to the Core Expanse (you’ll learn more about that in the Galaxy Guide) within the Gemini Sector (also within the Galaxy Guide). We cleaned-up the original 4 entries (which, besides the gemini, were meant as examples of how to create player character races) and added two new ones.

Instead of presenting these as just samples, they are presented as the core races of Mercenary Breed. Why only 6? Because in a sci-fi setting, the number is virtually endless, so we just went with 6. The Racial Edges within the Mercenary’s Handbook thus pertain to these 6 races (although the gemini are still the humans of the Argo Galaxy). We’ve also chosen new artwork for the original 4 races and included artwork for the 2 new ones. One of the new ones is the hhilachi.

Hhilachi (hih-lah-chee)

Hhilachis are a misunderstood species that hail from Travall, a warm planet covered mostly by wetlands, swamps, and fresh water lakes. They are humanoid and amphibious, but lack an appearance resembling a gemini. Their features appear threatening, but they are far from. They are instead a fairly gentle species that stands strong in defense, but have never made an offensive strike. Although they don’t strike first, they are a force to be reckoned with in a battle as their warriors fight brutally to keep their families safe.

Hhilachis are able to adapt to a variety of warm climates, but once the environment drops near the freezing point, they are either forced into hibernation or face dying. They are cold-blooded and need the heat to keep their bodies from freezing. Within optimal environments, they can live up to 95 years. If trapped in a cold environment, it can be a matter of days before they perish.

Their sizes vary little between males and females, ranging from 6 ft. 4 in. to 6 ft. 10 in. The males are typically larger than the females. Their skin feels soft and oily, and they can all produce mucus that allows them to climb walls. This allows the hhilachis to live on the top of the bluffs while their children are born in the water below. Living atop the bluffs keeps them safe from water-born predators. Their feet are webbed like a frog and are used for swimming quickly.

For your viewing pleasure, here’s a sneak peek at the layout of the Mercenary’s Handbook. Both the PDF and print-on-demand versions will be in color. The artwork pretty much needs to be color as it doesn’t look good enough in grayscale. However, RPGNow has a fairly low-cost color print option so the book will still be affordable.

Next week we’ll look at equipment descriptions.