Pigskins

This article is about the xenotype. For the textile, see pigskin.

Pigskin

Pigskins are human-pig hybrids which are capable of two-legged movement, tool use, and speech, but which also retain many pig-like qualities. They are hardy and can eat almost anything without getting sick, but their trotter-shaped hands leave them at a disadvantage when attempting to precisely manipulate tools and objects. They don't see well at a distance, so pigskin gangs usually focus on close-range weapons. They also have a strong taste for explosives.
Pigskins were made for their organs. Uncomfortable with the idea of harvesting organs from baseliner humans, a long-gone government merged human DNA into pigs to make the animals produce more easily-transplantable hearts and lungs. They succeeded, but the resulting creatures became more humanlike than anyone anticipated.

Base Stats

Type

Human – Xenotypes

Technical

defName

Pigskin

Pigskins are a xenotype, genetically engineered for their organs.

Lore

Human-pig hybrids, Pigskins were initially created for organ-harvesting operations by a long-gone government that was uncomfortable with the thought of exploiting baseliners. However, they found success in their attempt to merge human DNA with that of a pig - to make easier transplantable organs such as hearts and lungs - creating a more humanlike being than anticipated.

They retain similar characteristics to baseliners; capable of speech, tool usage and bipedal movement. However, they do maintain piglike elements. Pigskins have a robust digestive system and can eat almost anything without getting sick, however, a notable drawback of the xenotype is their trotter-shaped hands that make it more difficult to manipulate tools and objects and their nearsightedness results in their preference for close-range - or explosive - weaponry.

Occurrence

The table below describes the chance for a given pawn from each faction being a pigskin. Note that this value does not account for chances in xenotype chance from ideoligion or from pawn kind, it only shows the base value before those factors.

Summary

In-game, pigskins are not in any way related to pigs. They don't mind wearing pigskin clothes or eating pork, nor do they produce either when butchered.

Genes

Pigskins have a gene complexity of 16 complexity. With a −1 metabolic efficiency, they have a hunger rate of ×125%.

All pigskins have these germline genes:

Assorted:

Pig nose	Trotter hands	Nearsighted	Strong stomach	Robust digestion	Reduced pain	Strong immunity

Cosmetic:

Pig ears	Hulk body	Fat body	Pig voice

Skills:

Poor cooking

Rough pig unions

Pigskins congregate and usually form factions known as the rough pig union. Essentially, a loose alliance of rugged pigskin townships that prefer to interact with their own kind - but, have been known to make friends with 'thinsnouts'. However, they're far more ready to toss a bomb and gnaw human gristle when it suits them, which is their general approach unless one cosies up to them. Earn their respect, and they'd be a worthwhile ally, reading to offer a trotter to those they think of as friends.

Analysis

Pigskins are formidable opponents. Thanks to reduced pain, pigskins require twice as much damage to be downed from pain shock - the most common way to disable a pawn through combat. Rough pigskin unions often use a combination of shotguns, grenades, and melee weapons to make up for their nearsightedness. While not as tough as a neanderthal, pigskins move as fast as a baseliner and have access to industrial technology.

As colonists, pigskins come with a few quirks. Trotter hands reduces Manipulation, meaning pigskins are 85% as fast at doing most work. Nearsighted means an accuracy penalty when shooting from 26 tiles or more. And they eat more food than a baseliner. In return, pigskins can eat raw food safely, are resistant to disease, and have reduced pain.

Early on, both food poisoning and disease can be major setbacks. Their traits are also useful in a caravan. But in an established colony, the negatives will often outweigh the benefits. Yet the negatives are tolerable. You shouldn't reject an otherwise good colonist just for being a pigskin. Like with the rough pig union, colonist pigskins are most effective wielding shotguns, grenades, melee, or launchers, which all circumvent the nearsighted gene.

Despite their lower metabolic efficiency and manipulation, pigskins only require 75% the plant level of an otherwise identical baseliner to sustain themselves by foraging.

Gene extraction

Some of the more valuable genes pigskins have to extract are:

• Strong stomach - Full immunity to food poisoning, which is still possible (if rare) even with the best cooks.
• Strong immunity - 110% immunity can be helpful to save on medicine and potentially save lives. Even when medicine is no longer an issue, this gene helps pawns recover from disease faster.
• Nearsighted - Can be installed on brawlers, melee fighters, noncombatants, and anyone using a ranged weapon with a range under 26 tiles without penalty, giving a boost to metabolic efficiency. For a full list of unaffected ranged weapons, see here.
• Robust digestion - Increasing the nutrition from raw meat by 80% is key to sustaining a large number of ghouls.
• Poor cooking - Since most pawns don't need to cook, it's an easy way to gain 1 point of metabolic efficiency. Furthermore, given high enough manipulation, a level 16 cook can reach the maximum Butchery Efficiency and Cooking Speed and the minimum Food Poison Chance.

Version history

• 1.4.3531 - Adjust prevalence of nicknames among pigskins.

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Biotech (DLC)

Families

Relationships (Reproduction • Children)
Life stages (Babies • Children • Adults)
Furniture (Crib • Baby sleeping spot • Growth vat • Toy box • Baby decoration • School desk • Blackboard)

Mechanoids

Laborers (Agrihand • Cleansweeper • Constructoid • Fabricor • Lifter • Paramedic • Tunneler)
Combatants (Centurion • Legionary • Militor • Scorcher • Tesseron)
Commanders (Apocriton • Diabolus • War queen • War urchin)

Mechanitors

Control (Mechlink • Band node • Mech boosters • Mech signallers • Control pack • Airwire headset)
Mechanoid creation (Basic subcore • Standard subcore • High subcore • Subcore encoder • Subcore softscanner • Subcore ripscanner • Mech gestator)
Maintenance (Mech recharger)

Genetics

Xenohumans (Dirtmoles • Genies • Highmates • Hussars • Impids • Neanderthals • Pigskins • Sanguophages • Wasters • Yttakin)
Genes Germline • Xenogene • Metabolic efficiency
Genetic Modification Genepack • Gene extractor • Gene bank • Gene assembler • Gene processor • Xenogerm • Archite capsules
Deathrest (Deathrest accelerator • Deathrest capacity serum • Deathrest casket • Glucosoid pump • Hemogen amplifier • Hemopump • Psychofluid pump)

Pollution

Nature (Toxalope • Toxipotato plant • Waste rat • Gray pine tree • Pebble cactus • Rat palm tree • Witchwood tree • Stasis cocoon)
Mitigation (Wastepacks • Atomizers • Pollution pumps • Polux trees)
Adaptation Face mask • Gas mask • Tox grenades • Tox pack • Tox shell • Toxic needle gun • Toxbomb launcher • Detoxifier kidney • Detoxifier lung
Nonchalance Toxifier generator