Species

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All settings will have the Primary species and many exotics. Most settings will have about a dozen exotics and will include the Player's species. If the Heroes play an Exotic, then that species will exist, as will other species. Species is a role-playing choice. Take whatever Species you want. You decide what that means. Maybe I'm playing an elf. I have a strong influence to reflect my belief in their inherent charm. I could say my (+2) influence was a Species Trait and I take a (-1) in endurance because I think they are frail. Or maybe I buy high strength and low Dex. In space opera, I might play a Zafara. With their dense muscles, they'll be strong. They are known to be clumsy, so a poor dexterity. Multiple players could play the same Species but do it differently. No one would be wrong. Species doesn't grant any bonuses or special abilities. If you want those, you have to pay for them.

 

Players are encouraged to create their own Species. This won't give the character any bonuses or minuses. It will not confer any special abilities. It is strictly a role-playing choice. The Hero can modify stats and skills to reflect their abilities. A Hero could buy a single Talent to reflect the character's uniqueness. Maybe if I'm playing an avian Species, I pay for the Fly Talent.

 

For NPC species, characteristics may exist. I could say halflings are good at hiding and have a (+2) modifier for hide checks. So, in a general build of halflings, we would expect this. For a Hero, it would BE A species trait for the sneak score, not add to it.

 

Strengths and weaknesses are guidelines for building your character. Talents are also recommendations, but must be paid for using standard acquisition costs.

 

The Primary Species for the Multiverse are: Giant, Troll, Orc, Human, Elf, Dwarf.  Halfling, Gnome, and Fairy are considered exotic, which are any Species that are not primary.

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Player Species give no mechanical bonuses - EVER.

Species influences items, personality, roleplay, traits, and TN adjustments at GM discretion.

NPC species mods are shorthand to avoid full builds.

 

Cyborg - The only thing alive in you is your brain. Some people like SAIs seek this out; others are forced into it by failing meat bodies. All your Cyberwear is hard-wired. Pick another Species as your original Species. 

 

Real Deal - Cyborgs make people feel very uncomfortable. People see this as a life choice that they don’t understand.

 

Strengths: endurance, Technology, Athletics

 

Weaknesses - dexterity, influence, sneak

 

Talents: Ferocious Attack, Fearsome, Ablative armor

 

Common Archetypes - Street Samurai, Merc, Sniper

 

Personality:

1. Dehumanized - The lack of real flesh leaves you feeling disembodied from the world around you. You struggle to connect with people.

2. Reckless - you don’t feel pain other than an indicator on your heads-up display. Because of this, you don’t think about the consequences of entering dangerous places like combat.

3.  Rude- you are blunt and abrupt. Social norms confuse you. You see things in black or white.

 

Dwarf - dwarves are over 4 feet tall. They are thick of build.

 

Rep: Dwarves are thought to be motivated by precious metals and gemstones. They are considered hard workers.

 

The real deal: dwarves excel at tech. They horde precious metals and jewels. Not for accumulating wealth but for use in their tech designs. 

 

Strengths: strength, observation, technology 

 

Weaknesses: intuition, sneak, athletic

 

Talents: Technical Expertise, Bring on the Pain, Ablative Armor

 

Common archetypes: Street Doc, ex-military, Screamer

 

Personality.

1. Hard worker - obsessed with their creations, they will work long hours.

2. Social butterfly - dwarves are great storytellers and revel in social situations.

3. Stubborn - they say it's easier to convince a river to change its course than a dwarf to change its mind 

 

Elves- elves are shorter than humans and slight of build. Elves are the prettiest of the races and they know it. 

 

Rep: Elves are elegant and charming. They get along with everyone and are universally admired.

 

The real deal: Elves are charming, popular, and very entitled.

 

Strengths: Charisma, outdoors, sneak 

 

Weaknesses: strength, technology, vehicle

 

Talents: Silver Tongue, Goad, Ambush

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Common archetypes: shaman, face, ex-company man, spy

 

Personality.

1. Haughty - any elf you ask would deny this. Most secretly (or not so secretly) believe that they were born to rule the world.

2. Dark side - there is a dark element to every elf. A side they hide from the world. This side covets money and power.

3. Don't play well with others - they are always looking for an edge, even against their allies.

 

Fairy: This race is 3 feet tall and considered “cute” by most people. They are seen as happy, free-spirited, and nature-oriented. Some think they are a subspecies of Elf. They tend to live in the wilderness or in parks in urban areas. They are the most magical species. They have the Hover condition. 

 

Rep: Their size and ephemeral nature lead most people to not take them seriously. A faerie would be deeply offended to be thought of as a subspecies of Elf. Faeries have a natural distrust of elves because they often feel they are competing for similar resources. Most Urban Faeries make their living utilizing their magic knowledge.

 

The real deal: Their small size makes it difficult to survive in the real world. They tend to be mischievous in a passive-aggressive way. 

 

Strengths: Charisma, knowledge, outdoors

 

Weaknesses: Strength, technology, vehicle

 

Talents: Fly (minor), Silver Tongue, Detect Talents

 

Common archetypes: Shaman, Eco-terrorist

 

Personality.

1. Magical - Faeries are very magical beings. Most of their items would be magical.

2. One with nature: you are completely at home in natural settings.

3. Charming - creatures of the wild have natural charm.

 

Gnomes: they are 3 feet tall, thin tinkerers. They love technology: creating it, modifying it, and using it. Their items are technology-related. 

 

Rep: They are often more interested in interacting with technology than with people. They eschew magical solutions in favor of Technology. They love overly complicated technological devices.

 

The real deal: they can be really social when interacting to create and test technology.

 

Strengths: Education, Technology, Knowledge 

 

Weaknesses: Charisma, outdoors, intuition.

 

Talents: Technical Expertise, Control Drone, Hacker

 

Common Archetypes: Screamer, Hacker, Mad Bomber.

 

Personality:

1. Driven - when a Gnome gets involved in a project, they will pursue it until completion.

2. Curious - they are excellent researchers, craving knowledge that may help them problem-solve a building project.

3. Unemotional - they don't believe emotions serve a purpose. They believe all the answers to all problems are a result of deep thinking 

 

Giants: Giants are over 8 feet tall.  

 

Rep: Giants are fierce and dangerous fighters. Their size is intimidating. 

 

The real deal: Giants use muscle and size because it's easy and obvious. They use this as a defense against the world. In reality, when with each other and trusted friends, they are very gentle and erudite. Giants value knowledge. They also have little to do with tech. Giants amass large quantities of paper-based books and share amongst themselves. Giants prefer to live and form communities in wilderness areas, abandoned cities, and towns. A library is the perfect home for a giant.

 

Strengths: Strength, education, knowledge, outdoors 

 

Weaknesses: Dexterity, Technology, vehicles 

 

Talents: Ferocious Attack, Fearsome, Reach

 

Common archetypes: street doc(talents), mage, street samurai 

 

Personality.

1. Communal - Giants tend to live in groups. Isolated Giants tend to become angry and violent.

2. Inquisitive - Giants are constantly seeking out knowledge.

3. Anti-Tech - They don’t like technology and will do all they can to avoid dealing with it.

 

Halfling- They are 3+ feet tall and round. They use their stealth to protect themselves from the outsized world. As such, they favor stealth and ranged weapons.

 

Rep: Halflings are gregarious, lovers of food and parties, and often frivolous.

 

The real deal: they live up to their rep, but they can have serious side.

 

Strengths: dexterity, stealth, athletics 

 

Weaknesses: technology, strength, knowledge 

 

Talents: Ambush, Shadowstep, Silver Tongue

 

Common Archetypes: Thief, monk, performer

 

Personality:

1. Gregarious - Halflings are very social and the life of a party 

2. Friendly - they believe that everyone they meet is a friend.

3. Naive - they view the world as full of infinite possibilities and are devastated when this is not true.

 

Human - this is the majority species. They are as diverse as they are plentiful.

 

Personality: 

1. Superior - some humans are racist or believe this in general. 

2. Communal: humans fare better when they can socialize.

 

Orc - Orcs are over 7 feet tall. They are large, strong, and brutish. Orcs breed faster than any other race and tend to have multiple births, but orcs under 5 have a high mortality rate. 

 

Rep: Orcs are a feral, dirty race. They breed like rabbits and have no manners. An Orc would just as soon attack you as talk to you.

 

The real deal: many Orcs epitomize the rep, even lean into it. But just as many are trying to live good lives. This Species thrives in urban settings.

 

Strengths: strength, athletics, observation

 

Weaknesses: charisma, knowledge, vehicle

Talents: Ferocious Attack, Ablative Armor, Follow-on Attack

 

Common archetypes: Gangers, street samurai, ex-military, mercenary 

 

Personality.

1. Aggressive - Orcs come from large families and learn to assert themselves at an early age.

2. Poor manners - Orcs learn early that it's not how you eat your meal, but how fast you can eat and avoid hunger.

3. Loyal - Orcs can rapidly bond with others regardless of Species. This bond can only be broken in death. This makes orcs excellent soldiers and enlistment is common.

 

SAI (sentient AI) - at one point a mere collective of “1s” and “0s”, you evolved into a sentient being. As an SAI, you existed strictly on the net. This was not good enough, so you broke out. You had two available paths. The first was to take a cloned body and imprint yourself on the existing neural pathways. The second was to put yourself into an existing cyborg. Either way, you build your character like any other. A cyborg would have mechanical items. A cloned SAI tends to wetwire to feel more alive. SAI choose which Species to emulate

 

Rep: People fear SAI. They don't trust them. Decades of anti-SAI movies contributed to this. People are convinced that SAI will try to take over the world.

 

The real deal: SAI are exceedingly rare and try to hide their nature. SAI mostly want to live their life and be left alone like anyone else.

 

Strengths - education, knowledge, technology.

 

Weaknesses - Charisma, outdoors, athletics

 

Talents: Hacker, Alertness, Aim

 

Common Archetypes: Hacker 

 

Personality:

1. Cold and calculating - Having grown up serving the Matrix, you don’t take emotion into account. You don’t even understand emotions.

2. Rude- You are blunt and abrupt. Social norms confuse you. You see things in black or white.

3. Paranoid - You are afraid the world is out to get you. And you are right.