Description and Biology
Primords are created when a human comes into skin contact with Stahlman’s Ooze, a viscous green fluid extracted from deep beneath the Earth. (Some of the tie-in novels have tried to explain how it got there, but it’s not relevant for our purposes and isn’t mentioned in either of the two main stories to actually feature the race). The transformation can take a few hours, during which time the victim develops green skin and eventually undergoes the more drastic physical changes to reach the final form.
A fully transformed Primord has green skin and long hair
across much of the body and face, giving them a ‘werewolf’ look. Also like some
interpretations of werewolves, their teeth become heavy and elongated and the
nose bulbous. They develop a stooped posture giving them a shambling gait and,
of course, there are significant mental changes as well, leaving them with no
drives beyond creating more of their kind.
Presumably, in other respects, they are anatomically human.
What effect Stahlman’s Ooze would have on other creatures is not explored in
the TV story although there’s no obvious reason why it wouldn’t affect at least
other warm-blooded animals, and this is actually mentioned in one of the novels.
Cold-blooded creatures, and especially those with extra-terrestrial
physiology, might be a different matter.
Game Attributes
Primords have remarkable physical strength and are
sufficiently resilient to shrug off small arms fire. On the other hand, they do
not seem especially agile and may even be clumsier than regular humans, as
indicated by the stooped posture. All of this may be due to a denser body
structure, which perhaps the human skeleton isn’t quite so good at supporting
as it might be. While they are difficult to injure with most weapons, they
don’t seem particularly hard to kill once you can find something that hurts
them, with falls from a height being an obvious means of dispatching them used
in the TV story.
It’s very notable that Primords lose essentially all of
their human intelligence, although they may retain some animal cunning. They
cannot speak and have only a limited grasp of tool use, being driven largely by
instinct. Even so, they’re probably just above the level of the typical animal,
and systems that normally don’t give intelligence stats to animals may still
give very low ones to Primords. Other mental statistics, such as those related
to perception, may be at more typical human levels, although their willpower
seems relatively weak since they can easily be driven off by anything that
might injure them.
Primords are inherently drawn to heat, which also accelerates their transformation, if it isn’t yet complete. As a result, they seem to tolerate intense heat that might injure other beings, although it’s unlikely that they’re entirely resistant to fire. On the other hand, they are very definitely vulnerable to cold so that, for example, a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher can seriously injure them.
Special Abilities
Because they are themselves suffused with Stahlman’s Ooze, Primords transform their victims into new Primords by touching them. How long a contact this has to be isn’t clear, although for game purposes, it’s probably best if there’s some duration involved, and a saving throw or equivalent to throw it off. Having said that, it still works even if the Primord is dead – although not through clothing or other material – and there’s no indication of a cure in the original TV story nor of any chance of recovery once the transformation has started. The audio story Primord does, however, see the Doctor devise a cure that transforms living Primords back into their original selves so such a thing should at least be possible.
5E - Primord
Medium humanoid, chaotic neutral
Armour Class: 17 (natural)
Hit Points: 26 (4d8+8)
Speed: 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) | DEX 8 (-1) | CON 15 (+2) |
INT 5 (-3) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 10 (+0) |
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +5
Damage Resistances: Fire, piercing
Damage Vulnerabilities: Cold
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Heat Sense: The Primord has advantage on all
Wisdom (Perception) checks to sense heat or cold.
Brawling: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to
hit, reach 5 ft. one creature. Hit: 5 bludgeoning damage. The Primord
can either grapple or brawl in any given combat round, but not both.
Grappling:
Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit:
The creature is grappled. If it is grappled at both the beginning and end of a
combat round, unless it is entirely enclosed in protective material, it may be
affected by Stahlman’s Ooze (see below). The Primord can either grapple or
brawl in any given combat round, but not both.
Stahlman’s Ooze: If a living creature is in
skin contact with the Primord (living or dead) for a full round, it must make a
DC12 constitution saving throw or be infected with Stahlman’s Ooze and
transform into a new Primord over the next three hours. Creatures that are
immune to Poison are unaffected.
Challenge: ½ (100 XP)
BRP - Primord
STR 3D6+6 (16-17) | CON 3D6 (10-11) | SIZ 2D6+6 (13) |
INT 1D6+3 (6-7) | POW 2D6 (7) | |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 12 | Move: 10 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: +1D4 |
Armour: 8-point resilient flesh
Combat Skills: Brawl 60%, Grapple 40%
Vulnerability to Cold: The Primord takes
double damage from all cold-based attacks.
Stahlman’s Ooze: If a character or animal is in skin contact with a Primord, living or dead, for a full round or more, for
example, as the result of a successful Grapple attack, they may be affected by
Stahlman’s Ooze. The Ooze has a Potency of 12, resisted by the victim’s CON; if
this roll fails, the victim transforms into a Primord over the following three
hours.
GURPS - Primord
ST 18 | DX 8 | IQ 5 | HT 12 |
Thrust: 1d+2 | Swing: 3d | ||
Speed: 5 | Move: 5 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance-10 (limited to physical attacks), Dominance, Fit, Infravision, Temperature Tolerance-8 (60 to 156°)
Disadvantages: Bestial, Cannot Speak, Hunchback, Vulnerability
to Cold
Skills: Brawling-14
Savage Worlds - Primord
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d4 | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d12 | Vigour: d10 |
Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d6
Edges: Armour +2, Brute, Fearless, Resilient
Hindrances: Environmental Weakness (cold), Mute
Stahlman’s Ooze: If a living creature becomes Bound as the
result of a Grappling attack from the Primord, they must make a Vigour roll. On a failure, they
transform into a Primord over the following three hours.
Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 9 (2) Size: 0
STA - Primord
Control: 7 | Fitness: 12 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 10 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 6 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 0 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 14 | Resistance: 2 |
Vulnerable to Cold: Any attack against the
Primord that involves freezing temperatures is treated as having one extra
Challenge Die and ignores the Primord’s Resistance.
Stahlman’s Ooze: If the Primord inflicts a
Grappled Complication against a character and the character does not break free
on their next Turn, they must make a Fitness + Security roll against a
Difficulty of 3 or transform into a Primord over the following three hours.
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