I have started running Dead Stars and I was hoping to have a little more info on the Psychneuein in the book. From what I can see the only info about them is on page 353 of the core book and it leaves much to be desired in terms of physical description. I own a copy of the old school rogue trader book and I'll dig that out for ideas, and I've done a little poking around online but still feel a little uncertain about size and appearance of these "wasp like" creatures. The larva are puny, and if up to ten can fit in someone's head that gives me a good idea, but since the mature Psychneuein don't have a size classification am I to presume they are the size of human?

Suggestions?

Hereticool said:

Yes, they're roughly man-sized; only things bigger or smaller than humans have size traits.

As for their appearance... page 26 of Dead Stars has what I believe to be a picture of a Psychneuein - a man-sized, spectral-looking wasp-shaped thing.

Hereticool said:

Hi Hereticool,

please remember that this creatures are warp-born predators. The fact that 10 of them crawl out of a head do not mean that they were physically present in realspace there.

Talking "picture", from you stated (and what already have been posted) you seem to have access to all the available official ("once" or "now") sources available. The beasts are not very elaborated (like the GROX), but since they come in different strains (as the "mara strain" implies) feel free to cook something up. If later an other picture shows up, you simply blame it on "strain diversity".

Think of it like the idea presented in a little anime series called Furi Kuri. That space between the hemispheres of the human brain is a great "portal" to be used for other things to enter the world through.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Brother Praetus said:

OFF TOPIC: Hi Brother. Is the series "more addult" or "kiddy grade"? Worth watching?

Thanks for the suggestions! I did find a small piece of b&w art at the back of Dead Stars (page 64) that has a wasp like creature I'd wager is a psychneuein. It's much clearer in detail than the translucent apparition on page 26.

Thanks for the comments about the size not being really dependent on real space. I was thinking about that yesterday, particularly with the 25% chance of adult psychneuein popping out rather than larva. Either way it's going to be messy. I wish that the description of their appearance on page 42 (last paragraph) was more clear on what "the psycheneuein are staring out" would be like considering it's a pretty dramatic part of the adventure, but I'm sure I can come up with something suitable.

The adventure over all looks great and I'm looking forward to running more of it.

Gregorius21778 said:

FLCL or Fooly Cooly is normally how it is listed, at least if it's what I think your talking about Brother Praetus.

It is an adult show that is just weird and awesome at the same time. They randomly jump between animation styles even doing a South Park style segment. The plot also takes a bit of work to figure out, as it is not the most straight forward of things.

Gregorius21778 said:

A little bit of both, actually. It has some mature themes but is not overly lewd or inappropriate for teens; some people might feel the series is off for younger audiences. I found the series entertaining. And it is rather short; all of 6 episodes. So you can watch it and not spend hours and hours glued to the TV. ItsUncertainWho has the right of it, though. It is odd. Though, interestingly enough, I followed the plot pretty well. But I'm an extreme example of nonlinear thinking according to most people I know.

Overall, I'd say the series is worth checking out at least once.

-=Brother Praetus=-

You get a touch of the Psychneuein in the latest HH Book, A Thousand Sons by G Mcneil. Decent description on what they do, and how.

Off the topic of the Psychneuein, has anyone else caught the homage to John Carpenter's The Thing? The folks at FFG are awesome in this respect. The two sergeants are named Childres and Makrade. There are a Childs and a MacReady in The Thing; though FFG took the liberty to make Childres the scruffy one and Makrade the shaved-head one.

Oh, and if you've never seen John Carpenter's The Thing I highly recommend checking that out as well. A buddy and I used to watch it every year around Christmas before he got married. It has snow. It has "fireworks." It has things opening up and surprised looks on peoples' faces. It will also help explain where I'm drawing similarities from.

-=Brother Praetus=-

I don't know how helpful this is, but these were adapted to WFRP2 ,along with several other warp entities, originally for an article on the Warp in Warpstone 29. They were cut from the final article, but appeared in the free fanzine Legion 10, which can you get from www.warpstone.org

Cheers

Sparrow

Any idea on the pronunciation?

Sike-noo-ein?

Sike-on-ween?

Banjo Tango said:

I would guess:

sa?k-nyu-in (or sahyk-nyoo-een)

Graver said:

Graver's guide is about how I've been trying to wrap my tongue around the word. It is definitely a tongue teaser; like miracle berries but not as awesome.

-=Brother Praetus=-