Hello Folks,
What follows is an attempt to design a GURPS version of the Gargun, discarding some things given in canon, and retaining others - all with intent to make a viable "alien" race.

Criteria I wish to preserve:

Gargun are generally, subsurface dwelling creatures, although there are exceptions to this. They are approximately 80 lbs in weight (depending on species) as adults, and are reasonably functionally intelligent (ie human level sentience). With a smaller mass in general, and a smaller cranium overall, the observation that animal like senses (such as a blood hound's sense of smell, or a cat's hearing) would not be the norm. In addition, the species engages in a form of egg laying for reproductive purposes, and that the egg must contain as much mass in nutrients, as the final "baby" form will have upon emerging from the egg. Thus, if the baby weighs 3 lbs in mass when born, it will need at least 3 lbs in nutrients for the egg itself.

From what I'm reading of the species, they are warm blooded, which means that their eggs need to be kept at a warm temperature instead of being left untended in colder regions - although one has to wonder what would happen if the eggs were in a somewhat cooler region.

They also enjoy a high level of instinctive behavior, termed "Genetic Memory". I don't know how GURPS would handle this overall, but I suspect that it will basically boil down to a given racial skill bonus for those creatures who have it. What follows will be the various steps I go through as I read GURPS SPACE on Alien Creation, and see where it gets me.

For now, lets go with the presumption that the Gargun were originally oxygen breathers, and that their genetic structure is similar to that of Humans. In addition, their ability to digest protiens on Harn without starving means that their biochemistry is similiar to Human and/or Dwarven etc.

The question arises however, as to what their native habitats are. At present, I'm going to speculate that like man, they have no real specific type of habitat that they prefer other than caves and the like. Per GURPS SPACE, it appears that Artic can be ruled out, because larger sized creatures can retain heat more efficiently than smaller creatures, and smaller creatures tend to do more favorably in difficult terrain such as woodlands, jungles, mountains, and swamps.

Carnivors: Gargun are definitely carnivorous, and GURPS separates these types into Scavengers, Omnivors, Trappers, Pouncers, Chasers, and Hijackers. Of these all, the one that most fits the Gargun seems to be "Chasers". They work together to hunt prey larger than themselves. Certain racial advantages come into play such as high endurance, faster speed, and at least one improved sense.

Speed: Walking speed is proportional to leg length, and with a height that is half that of a human, assuming human proportions, the gargun's leg length will be half that of a human's. If the Gargun came from a world with gravity about the same as that of Earth or Harn, then we're looking at sqrt(Gargun height/Human Height x Gravity). In this case, the Sqrt of 2, or .71% that of a human's. If a human's speed is normally 5.0 when running, the Gargun's natural unenhanced speed would be 3.53. Harn Master implies that these beasties are capable of running at a speed on par with Humans, so that will have implications later on. For now, Speed is .7 times that of a human's in this exercise.

Square-Cube law: GURPS SPACE discusses what the effects are on having a creature whose size and shape is similiar to humans. In a nutshell, if you double the height of a creature - its musculature and structural strength will go up by a factor of 4, while its mass will go up by a factor of 8. Conversely, halving the height will quarter the mass and reduce its relative mass by a factor of 8. In any event, GURPS pegs a size of 1.5 yards as weighing roughly 80 lbs. Hmmm. Matches the Gargun almost perfectly. ST on the other hand, is based on (in general) 2 x the cube root of mass. With a mass of 80 lbs, the typical strength of the Gargun should be around 8.6, rounded to 9. Not bad, a little under that of a Human being.

Skin types

We already know that Gargun have fur, but what kind? I'm guessing short fur. GURPS suggests that Long hair/fur covered skin would provide some Damage resistance, and that short hair/fur provides only protection against sunburn and something along the lines of colder temperatures. So for now, lets go with the shorter fur - granting protection against sunburn and a mild level of temperature tolerance (permitting the Gargun to live in a broad spectrum of temperature climates).

Reproduction
Gargun utilize a two sex system for reproduction. Their reproductive strategy seems to be the R-Strategy of multiple births, with minimal effort in raising the young.

Senses:
Hearing - it is a given that Gargun can hear better than most humans, and even GURPS SPACE suggests that Human's hearing is as low as it is due to subjecting ourselves to a noisy environment. A species with Hearing +2 is not out of the ordinary. So, lets see where this takes us.

Smell: I don't see mention of Gargun being able to track by scent, so I'm going to assume that their senses are human normal in that regard. Some Gargun attach meanings to smells, so for those gargun, I might go the route of asssuming a +1 sense of smell, but that the linkage of meaning is more of a sybology type of thing than anything else.

Sight: Gargun are noted suffer from lower vision capabilities than a normal human, but that their night vision suffers not at all. This could imply then, that the world the Garguns originally came from, was a low light world. Might be interesting to speculate on perhaps a K class star?

Mating behavior: Hive type. Strong R strategy reproduction with a strong K strategy of raising the young so they survive. (Note: R Strategy is many brood per litter, K is small numbers per litter or even 1 per litter). So Hive mating behavior combines the best of multiple births with protecting the young.

Imagination: this describes just how receptive the race is to coming up with new ideas and such. Harn's gargun seem to be less inclined towards new things. As such, one might describe them as being "Dull" or "Hidebound" as a result of their genetic memory. In any event, the "social structure" of the gargun rarely changes due to their genetic memory. Gotta think on this a bit.

Probably the best way to handle "racial memory" regards to skills in GURPS is to treat them as racially learned skills. Thus, for certain gargun, armoury(Bows) would be a racially learned trait. If one treats it as Armoury(Bows) [1], the gargun automatically starts off with a skill level of IQ-1, which for average Gargun, will be a 9 skill (roughly 37.5% chance of success). The Gargun doesn't even have to have a teacher to teach him his skills, as he "instinctively" knows the skill upon birth. He can of course, increase his skill with bow making as time progresses, but as ever, his bows will always be limited to self-bows at skill equal to IQ-1. Contrast this against a baby human, who doesn't know any skills at all, and that's pretty impressive.

my 2d: I haven't looked at through Gurps Space 4e yet, but my take on them was as a genetically engineered race so I built them as bioroids using Robots 3e. I always included in my Gargun was to give them the advantages Reduced Consumption I (food) and Cast Iron Stomach. Only way I could ever understand such huge colonies of carnivore only was if they could survive on about a pound a day average, with an ability similar to lions to gorge and then not eat for several days. Cast Iron Stomach let them eat everything but the offal used for the hatchery. Maybe take a -x% on the Cast Iron Stomach advantage as it only applies ot animal products.

-wylie

Hi wylie,
Gargun with cast iron stomachs would certain make for an interesting "race" of bipedal creatures to be sure! Talk about walking, talking army ants!

Hal