User Guide

Some vessels become locked in strange currents of the warp,
emerging in real space from time to time, only to be helplessly
sucked bock into the void. They have no control over their
destination and may travel in the warp for centuries. Often these
ships ore still manned with living crew
- lost beings, prisoners of
the void. Often these beings will scavenge the wrecks of other
spacecraft, joining the remains to their own vessel in order to
increase
living space or fashion an escape vessel. These shoddy
conglomerations of space junk con become, after centuries of
accumulation, monstrosities
-several miles long as well as wide.
Humans call these lumbering ships space Hulks and regard them
with well-deserved suspicion. For
a space Hulk con be a derelict
ship with priceless treasures from the post-or it con be a
harbinger of evil., the home of treacherous alien beings.
The Genestealers
Savage eyes burning in the dark. Four arm-like appendages to
grasp and tear. A horror of teeth and claws. The Genestealer is a
biological perfection -- an intelligent, ruthless killing machine that
knows neither the tingle
of fear nor the pain of remorse.
Like all living organisms, the Genestealers have simple goals-to
survive and multiply-but the means by which they further their
race is totally unique among known lifeforms. What sets these
horrific creatures apart from other highly evolved organisms?
Reproduction
The most conspicuous characteristic of Genestealers is their means
of reproduction. Genestealers don’t mote - there ore no moles or
females among their numbers. Instead, Genestealers reproduce by
infecting other races with their genetic material.
Using
a powerful hypnotic gaze, a Genesteoler paralyses ik victim
in much the some way that a snake terrifies its prey into immobility.
Once the victim is psychologically dominated, the Genestealer
deposik on egg in the victim via
a long, supple tongue lined with
oviposters, or egg-layers. The Genestealer inserts its tongue into the
victim’s oral cavity in a hideous parody of a kiss, piercing the
victim’s tissue and depositing on egg. After the victim is infected ,
he or she is released.
Whether as a result of the Genestealer’s hypnotic gaze or as a by-
product of the egg’s hormonal secretion, the victim has no memory
of the implantation -the entire episode is remembered only as a
nightmare of fear and burning eyes. A subtle psychic link is
established between the Genesteoler and the victim. The
Genestealer con influence the victim’s thoughts and actions without
the victim’s knowledge. The Genestealer uses this power to give its
victim one overwhelming desire: to mate and hove children.
Driven by powerful subconscious urges, the victim proceeds to
reproduce with his or her own kind. Because of the damage to the
victim’s genetic material, the children will be hybrids: part victim
race, port Genestealer. Until the fourth generation, the hybrids are
sterile, procreating only by the Genestealer method.