Serpentine Squiggles

Mantis Look tables

To get you started, look at these tables, and roll on any that catch your eye. Do not roll on all of them; this is just to get a few key details, to jumpstart the imagination. Choose about 3‍-​6, though you should definitely have a chitin color and body size. Pick whatever you want, or roll if you can’t decide.

When you need to roll the degree of something, roll 1d6. 1 is quite low, 2 is low, 3 is average, 4 & 5 are high, 6 is quite high.

For body size, roll 1d6 each for short vs long, thin vs thickset.

For chitin, roll 1d6 for dark vs light, then get a color:

RollResult
2Purple
3Pink
4White
5Red
6Brown
7Green
8Muted (roll again)
9Yellow
10Black
11Blue
12Multicolor

Race (2d6):

RollResul
2‍-​3Islander
4‍-​5Half‍-​winged
6‍-​7Welkinmarked
8‍-​9North apter
10‍-​11South apter
12Foreign (full‍-​winged of the east, formicoid, sylvan, felmant, Seaborn Apter, ???)

Innate feature tables (1d12):

  1. Chitin Pattern:
  1. Plain Chitin
  2. Mottled Chitin
  3. Gradient Chitin
  4. Blotched Chitin
  5. Stripped Chitin
  6. Complex or Combined Chitin pattern
  1. Chitin texture:
  1. Glossy chitin
  2. Rough chitin
  3. Smooth chitin
  4. Bumpy chitin
  5. Plated chitin
  1. Antennae
  1. Smooth antennae tufts
  2. Filamentous antennae tufts
  3. Curly antennae tufts
  4. Poofy antennae tufts
  5. Spiky antennae tufts
  6. Bald antennae
  1. Eyes
  1. Round eyes
  2. Pointy eyes
  3. Bulging eyes
  4. Wide‍-​spaced Eyes
  5. Raised eyes
  6. Stretched eyes
  1. Palps:
  1. Bearded palps
  2. Bald palps
  3. Wet palps
  4. Dextrous palps
  5. Fuzzy palps
  6. Slender palps
  1. Manibles:
  1. Sharp
  2. Yawning
  3. Crooked
  4. Exposed teeth
  5. Missing teeth
  1. Head:
  1. diamond shaped head
  2. triangular head
  3. arched head
  4. round head
  5. square head
  1. Auricles/Tympanum
  1. Pointy Auricles
  2. Hairy Auricles
  3. Auricles Folded back
  4. Splayed auricles
  5. Bulging Tympanum
  1. Face
  1. Angular face
  2. Pinched face
  3. Knobbed face
  4. Hairy face
  5. Plated face
  6. Soft face

(10‍-​12) A facial feature (1d6: eyes/antennae/mandibles/palps/labrum/auricles) is

  1. Large
  2. Small
  3. Differently colored
  4. Missing or deformed
  5. Promenient
  6. Pretty

Dress style: #. Concealing #. Ornate #. Practical #. Imposing #. Stylish #. Strange

  • fabric (silk, hideleather, mycoleather, chitin, cotton, amadou)
  • adornments/joints (metal, polymer, wood, ivory, chitin, )

1d12 accessories ‍-​ hat ‍-​ scarf ‍-​ cape ‍-​ chains ‍-​ bandages ‍-​ mask ‍-​ eyecap ‍-​ auricle‍-​muffs ‍-​ cane ‍-​ toothpick/strawchew ‍-​ smoking pipe ‍-​ visor

1d6 Garment (masculine) ‍-​ Ribbons ‍-​ Dress ‍-​ Skirt ‍-​ Wide sleeves ‍-​ Longcoats ‍-​ Makeup

1d6 Garment feminine ‍-​ shirtless ‍-​ shibari ‍-​ fishnets ‍-​ small coats ‍-​ vest or corset ‍-​ tight clothing

  1. Additional features (1d6):
  1. Tatooed Chitin
  2. Piercings
  3. Sunwounded
  1. 1d6 Hair grooming
  • messy antennae tufts
  • well‍-​combed antennae tufts
  • Regularly trimmed antennae
  • neatly trimmed palps
  • awfully cut antennae tufts
  • Slicked antennae tufts
  • tied antennae tufts
  • clipped antennae tufts
  • covered antennae
  • dyed antennae
  • twisted antennae tufts
  • antennae extensions
  1. Scarred Body 2d6 location
  1. All over
  2. Lower thorax
  3. Midlegs or hindlegs
  4. Hands
  5. Forelegs
  6. prothorax
  7. Uppper Face
  8. Lower Face
  9. Upper Abdomen
  10. Abdomen
  11. All Over

1d6 Source 1. Weapons or tools 2. Raptorial spines 3. Bites 4. Burns 5. Liqued 6. Strange

  1. 1d12 Lingering Sickness
  • pitted chitin

  • pustules

  • swollen flesh

  • wrinkly

  • withered

  • softened

  • cracked chitin

  • flaking chitin

  • melanized chitin

  • scratched‍-​at chitin

  • marked chitin

  • oozing chitin

  • panting

  • coughing

  • sneezes

  • drooling

  • shallow breath

  • shakey breaths

affects (1) Palps ‍-​ Scowling ‍-​ Smiling ‍-​ Baring mandibles ‍-​ Smirking ‍-​ Splayed palps ‍-​ Hidden Mouth

(2) Eyes

  • flushed eyes
  • focused eyes
  • empty eyes
  • knowing eyes
  • distant eyes
  1. Antennae
  • spiralled antennae
  • drooping antennae
  • antennae held high
  • entwined antennae
  • face hidden behind antennae
  • arched antennae
  1. Tarsi
  • nervous hands
  • hands held together
  • shuffling feet
  • practiced stance
  • graceful moves
  • twitchy moves
  1. Legs
  • six legged gait
  • three legged gait
  • confident steps
  • limping gait
  • impatient gait
  • steady gait

Demos

Abun, they/them tiercel of clan Henaba

Welkinmarked, of indigo chitin with yellow accents, they wear an ornate fungal dress decorated with chains. His palps are always a bit shiny.

Failed something important, so they wants to serve something greater. Became a pawn at a young age before deserting. Then become a known troublemaker. Worships the vespers, and wants to spread the faith. Repairs things.

  • Roles: War‍-​haunted Rogue, Repairmant

  • Styles: Sneaky Approach, Reckless Assault

  • Status: Lost heir, Vesper acolyte

  • Specials: Bound by ritual

  • Trouble: Family wants to drag them back (2)

  • Ideal: Serve the vespers (2)

  • Leth 3 / Arro 2 / Cont 1 / Subt 1 / Disi 2 / Occl 1

  • Grit (6)

  • Will (6) xx

  • Poise (6)

  • Flesh (1/1/1)

  • Psyche (1/1/1)


Maen, he/him tiercel, clan Sallowbane

A mixed race tiercel of mottled cyan chitin, he wears concealing robes with wide sleeves, walks with three legs. His antennae are finely clipped.

He has been tutored by the best, courtesy of his family. After being wrongly framed for a great crime, he left to discover the truth. He became a hunter after being discraced, and converted to orthodox welkinism.

  • Roles: Determined hunter, dedicated student

  • Styles: The Sallowbane Secret

  • Status: Disgraced scion, Welkin devout

  • Specials: Dirty blood

  • Leth 1 / Arro 2 / Cont 2 / Subt 3 / Disi 1 / Occl 1

  • Grit (6)

  • Will (6)

  • Flesh (1/1/1)

  • Psyche (1/1/1)


Let’s same Abun is fighting two goons hired to beat them up.

  • Role: Disposable Thug A

  • Prof 2

  • Grit (3)

  • Flesh (1/1/)

  • Psyche (1//)

  • Punching (Prof)

  • Cowardice (Prof)

  • Menace (Prof)


The sun had sang just enouh that its lowest rays now needed to slip between the rank of buildings. Tall regular banestone surrounds Abun.

They stick to the shadows, slipping down an alleywalk to cut between two wide, stinking streets. Halfway down the alley, a mantis clad in thick gambeson steps from cover, blocking their exit.

Abun pauses, spends a second peering to catch the naked yet hesitant hostility in their gaze. They shift their head minutely, not even needing to turn all the way around to catch the shifting blob of color in their peripheral. Another mantis would be blocking them from the other end.

It’s a fight.

// Alleyway has five zones, with one zone between Abun and either goon.

Abun tells them to back off.

// Posture roll (Arro). 2d = {6,4}.
// Goon contests with Menace. {6,2}.
// Tradeoff.