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Grav miner

The Grav are a minor spacefaring race in the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]

Overview[]

The grav are short, stocky humanoids who have the innate ability to manipulate gravity, and live in a strictly regimented and stratified society.[1]

Description[]

Grav are short, squat and square, with a small head in comparison to the rest of their bodies. Gravs are as tall as dwarves but are wider at the shoulders. Miners (workers) wear dingy gray clothes and mining gear such as helmets, gloves, and belts. The Elite (overseers) are more slender than their worker underlings but are still squat. They wear refined, foppish clothing and seldom sully their hands with manual labor. Some Elite wear leather protection under their showy clothing.

All grav are dense, with three times the mass of a being of similar size. Consequently they have larger air envelopes, allowing them more time to search wildspace for potential mining sites.[1]

Personality[]

The grav are a peaceful race who mine ore and gems from unclaimed asteroids and moons. Intent on their mining, the grav leave other races alone and expect the same courtesy from others. Thievery is totally alien to the grav race; any suggestion of stealing merely puzzles a grav.[1]

Combat[]

If provoked, grav retaliate by reducing gravity beneath a target (and thus its weight). A grav can only affect a single target within 60-feet at a time. However, the target may contain many objects; for instance, after mining gems, the grav move them into large crates and then float the crates onboard their vessel.

The grav can reduce a target's weight by one-quarter every minute. After 4 minutes, the target will begin to float, and can be made to hover or float away. If a target floats beyond a grav's range, it plummets to the nearest gravity plane. A grav can just drop a particular target or may instead gently lower it to the ground. If a grav's concentration is disrupted, as by a blow, the target drops immediately, taking normal falling damage.

Gravs use their gravity manipulation ability to intimidate or scare their opponents. If confronted, a grav first demonstrates its power on an inanimate object. If this intimidation doesn't work, the grav suspends its opponent in the air, incapacitating them.

Though peaceful by nature, gravs hate silatics, which eat metal. Even the Elite attack silatics on sight.[1]

Society[]

In the strictly stratified grav society, the Elite command the Miners, who obey almost without thinking. Miners who question this centuries-old social-system are promptly "brought in for questioning" and "moved to a position better fitting their talents" – usually servitude to some minor Elite on their homeworld. This is considered the ultimate shame.

If outsiders try to subvert Miners against their overseers, the Elite politely ask them to leave. If they persist, the Elite attempt to have them removed without harming them.

The name and location of the grav homeworld is unknown. However, conversations with Elite gravs has revealed that their homeworld is divided into fiefdoms, each ruled by a single Elite family whose status and prestige is dependent upon their wealth. Some say the scarcity of information about their homeworld is merely an attempt by the Elite to foil potential thieves. Others suggest the Elite are ensuring that outsiders cannot disrupt the social system that has kept them in power for centuries.[1]

Signature Spelljammers[]

The grav have developed their own unique ship design known as the Argosy. An Argosy is similar in construction to a small dwarven Citadel, except that the ship's exterior is unchanged and resembles an asteroid. The ship's stone surface is pitted with craters like a moon; though some craters are actually concealed portholes. The lower section of the ship is flattened, allowing it to land and take on precious cargo. An Argosy is powered by spellcasting Elite, and its armament is strictly used for defense.[1]

Appendix[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Scott Davis, MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Grav entry
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