They have done better in the expanded universe, featuring in four audios, two of which of do not include the Doctor, two home videos (one of which was subsequently novelised) and four further novels. In these stories, they often appear alongside the Sontarans – although this has so far not happened on TV – and frequently as lone individuals cut from the rest of the Host. As usual, they have also appeared in comics and short stories, although far less frequently than the Sontarans have.
Description and Biology
The Rutans are particularly alien-looking, appearing as something between a giant amoeba and a jellyfish. Their main body looks like little more than a ball of green slime with multiple long and thin tentacles stretching out from the underside. There are no visible eyes, mouths, or other identifiable features, with the surface looking relatively smooth and unbroken.
The novelisation of the home video, Shakedown, indicates that the “amoeba” look is not misleading – they really are just an undifferentiated blob, albeit with tentacles. But that’s not definitively the case for the TV show (which, naturally enough, says nothing about their internal anatomy) and it doesn’t make sense biologically. There is, after all, a reason that amoebas are microscopic. For one thing, Rutans are supposed to be of at least human-level intelligence, which implies that they have to have a brain of some sort. Realistically, a moderately-sized, active organism would also need a heart and respiratory organs, although it could perhaps do without a digestive system if it dissolves food by sitting on it and absorbing nutrients through the skin. They clearly don’t have a skeleton, and this, is, indeed, not mandatory, as creatures like octopuses demonstrate.
We’ll mostly brush over these issues, however, assuming that the Rutan isn’t entirely homogenous, but recognising that we don’t need the details. We’ll also assume that, while we have no idea what Rutans might eat, they do still need to eat something, as well as to breathe. The lack of eyes, however, suggests that whatever functions as their visual system does not rely on light. Shakedown states that Rutans reproduce by binary fission, which is hard to justify biologically but, again, we don’t have any clearer alternative and it does at least seem plausible that they’re asexual.
Game Attributes
The weedy-looking tentacles do not make it look as if Rutans have much in the way of physical strength, although they are reasonably good at climbing, something that’s often linked to strength in game systems. One could presume that the fine nature of the tentacles, and the number of them, makes the Rutan dextrous, although its slow movement also means that it can’t be very agile, so these could cancel out in systems that (like most) combine the two into a single figure. They are, however, highly resilient. Some of that could be reflected in a high innate endurance, but their internal organs may just be difficult to reach, or the slimy outer body resistant to damage. Their home planet is also said to be very cold, and they have at least environmental resistance to low temperatures.
When it comes to mental statistics, there’s the interesting issue that it’s implied in the TV story (and more clearly stated in the expanded media) that Rutans possess a hive mind. How this works is unclear, although it may involve some sort of telepathy, but it must have a range, meaning that the isolated individual in the story is cut off from the larger mind back on the mother ship. It’s likely that the hive mind, being composed of multiple brains working together, has a high intelligence stat, but that individual Rutans do not – and the statistics below will assume we’re talking about a single individual.
One thing this does mean, however, is that an isolated Rutan will likely have whatever skills the hive mind thought it would need before sending it off and this may actually be quite a lot. (The hive mind itself would presumably have everything imaginable, at least so long as it fits with the nature of their species and their technological knowledge). We’ll assume that our individual is a military scout since this seems the most likely way they would be encountered in a game.
Special Abilities
Rutans have two special abilities beyond their general gooey resistance to being injured. One is that their tentacles can carry an electrical current that can sting and incapacitate opponents. This is doubtless by analogy with the jellyfish that they physically resemble, although, in that case, it’s a poison sting, not an electrical one. Still, an electrical discharge from a living organism is perfectly plausible, as electric eels and torpedo rays demonstrate. This would work better underwater, which might suggest something about the evolutionary origin of Rutans, but it could still work on skin contact in dry air.
Secondly, Rutan scouts are shapeshifters. This is probably something technological, as its stated not be a natural biological property of their species. However it is done, though, it doesn’t require external equipment, so for our purposes it’s part of the creatures’ regular statistics. Unlike the Zygons, especially those in the new series, they need to examine the subject they will be imitating in some detail before being able to pull off the duplication and they aren’t at all good at fooling anybody for long due to their alien mindset, but its superficially quite effective.
5E - Rutan
Medium aberration, lawful evil
Armour Class: 15 (natural)
Hit Points: 57 (6d8+24)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 8 (-1) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 12 (+1) | CHA 6 (-2) |
Saving Throws: Constitution +2, Wisdom +3
Skills:
Damage Resistances: Piercing, slashing, poison, electricity
Senses: Passive Perception 13
Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to
hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (4d6) lightning damage.
Shapeshifting: The Rutan can use its action to
take the form of a specific Medium creature that it has previously been able to
examine in detail (at least 30 minutes uninterrupted, while the creature is
dead or unconscious). The Rutan’s statistics are the same in each form.
Challenge: 2 (450 XP)
BRP - Rutan
STR 2D6+2 (9) | CON 4D6+6 (18) | SIZ 2D6+3 (10) |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 14 | Move: 6 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: 0 |
Armour: 4-point gelatinous hide
Combat Skills: Brawl 60% (2D6 electrical damage),
Grapple 40%
Shapeshifting: The Rutan can take on the form
of a specific being that it has previously been able to examine in detail (at
least 30 minutes uninterrupted, while the creature is dead or unconscious). The
being must have a SIZ no less than and no more 5 points higher than the Rutan’s
own. For example, a SIZ 10 Rutan can take the form of a being with a SIZ
between 10 and 15. The Rutan’s statistics, other than its SIZ (and hit location
table, if relevant), are the same in each form.
GURPS - Rutan
ST 14 | DX 10 | IQ 10 | HT 12 |
Thrust: 1d-3 | Swing: 1d-2 | ||
Speed: 5.5 | Move: 4 | HP: 18 | Size: -1 |
Advantages: Clinging, Damage Resistance +4, Extra
Arms (x2, long, extra-flexible, weak), Innate Attack (2d burning, Contact
Agent, Melee Attack), Night Vision, No Vitals, Shapeshifting (morph, cosmetic,
preparation required [1 hour]), Slippery-1
Disadvantages: Invertebrate, Low Empathy
Skills: Brawling-12, Climbing-11, Computer
Operation/TL10-12, Electrician/TL10-11, Escape-10, Gunner (beams)-13, Intimidation-10,
Observation-13, Piloting (low performance spacecraft)/TL10-13, Spacer/TL10-11,
Stealth-10
Savage Worlds - Rutan
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d6 | Spirit: d8 |
Strength: d4 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills: Athletics d4, Electronics d6, Fighting d6,
Intimidation d4, Piloting d6, Stealth d4
Edges: Ambidextrous, Hard to Kill
Hindrances: Ruthless (minor)
Abilities: Armour +2
Electrical Attack: A strike from the Rutan’s tentacles does
4d6 electrical damage.
Shapeshifting: As an action, a Rutan can
change into the form of any creature with a size between -1 and +1 that it has
previously been able to examine in detail (at least 30 minutes uninterrupted,
while the creature is dead or unconscious).
Pace: 4 Parry: 5 Toughness: 8 (2) Size: 0
STA - Rutan
Control: 10 | Fitness: 12 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 9 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 1 | Security: 2 | Science: 1 |
Conn: 2 | Engineering: 1 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 14 | Resistance: 1 |
Attacks: Tentacles (Melee, 3^, 1H,
Intense)
Traits: Shapeshifting The Rutan
can change into the form of any creature of approximately its own size that it has previously been able to examine in detail (at least 30
minutes uninterrupted, while the creature is dead or unconscious).
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