Race 101: Character Race 101 Character Race Start here if you are creating the history for a new character. If you have not yet decided the character's race, use this table to decide if a character is a human being or one of the other alien races (or mutants, as the case may be) common to most science fiction roleplay games. Note that the word "race" is used here in the sense of species, rather than subdivisions of the human (or other) race by skin color or other physical differences. This table supports the supposition by many game systems that player (and Nonplayer) characters will be primarily human. Instructions: If you have not already selected a character race, roll a d10 on this table. Otherwise, continue on to Table 102: Technoculture. Choose a race from your game system that most closely matches the selected table entry. If dealing with the Post Holocaust future history, results indicating an alien race refer to a mutated organism (a mutant). Record relevant information on line 101 of your History Worksheet. Don't forget to read the roleplay guidelines. Mutant Note: Mutant characters should make a die roll on Table 859: Talents, Mutations & Modifications tor an extra ability. Roleplay: Racial heritage, whether a character is human, an alien, or a wierd mutant from a post holocaust future, is the basis for a character's background. Humans are easiest. As players, we have something in common with them. Yet some times, it's difficult to remember that nonhumans are just that, not human. Like human characters, they have childhoods, the agonies of adolescence, the pangs of love, and the responsibilities that adulthood brings. While alien beings are obviously going to think differently than humans, Central Casting relies on their being similar enough to use this book without major modifiations. Consider the following before playing an alien like humans: • Aliens will generally have a unique value structure. What a human considers trivial may be of great importance to an alien being. Example: exactfamily ties could be totally irrelevant to a hive-like society or be the cornerstone of another society. • Aliens find the appearance of humanity just as hideous as humans find them to be. • Most races, human, alien and mutant alike, tend to be ethnocentric. They favor dealings with their own race above dealings with others. Prejudice and bigotry are probably as rampant in future societies as they are in our own (though this is no excuse). The more physically or culturally different that a race is from another, the greater will be the initial distrust. • On the other hand, author Alan Dean Foster's insectoid Thranx race is a model for exactly the opposite behavior. The Thranx and humanity formed a bond closer than found between many human cultures. • Make humanoid or human-like races just as alien and unfathomable as you might make a race of three-legged, silicon-based toadstools. • Have fun with aliens attempting to use human speech. Spice up dialog by creatively muddling phrasing in alien speech: "So to be star-travelling you are, eh." Do the same with accents. Most aliens won't speak with a radio announcer's perfect diction. Buzz, click, chirp and humm to your heart's delight. dlO 101: Character Race (rolladlO) 1-7 Human. Standard issue human being, possessed of all the foibles, faults and failings that have plagued humanity since the race's beginnings. 8 Mutant Human. This is your basic genetically altered human. He's stronger (+1d3 Strength), smarter (+1d3 Intel ligence), and faster (+1d3 Dexterity) than the standard issue human. He's also chock full o' problems. GM Only: see entry #101 on Table 967: GM's Specials. 9-10 Alien being. The character is an exotic alien being. Roll a d4 twice. The first die result is the first digit and the second represents the second digit. The die results are not added but read like a two-digit number. Example: a 1 and a 4 are read as 14. Match the results against the subtable below. Select an alien race in your campaign that most closely resembles the race determined by this table. If nothing matches, roll again. 11 Human-like. These beings so closely resemble humankind that only a few characteristic features set them apart, such as pointed ears or an exotic skin color. Typical of aliens from games based on TV shows. 12 Amoeboid. Amorphous, malleable shape. 13 Bestial. A "humanized" version of a common animal, such as wolf-like, cat-like or ape-like beings. 14 Aerial. Flyers, often with bird-like or bat-like wings. 21 Amphibian. Dwell in water or air equally well. 22 Bipedal. An upright stance, walking on two feet. After that, just about anything goes. 23 Insectoid. Closely resemble bugs or spiders. 24 Radially symmetrical. A starfish is an example of a radially symmetrical being. 31 Multipedal. Many feet and possibly a corresponding number of manipulative limbs. 32 Piscean. Fishlike beings. May or may not be restricted to water-filled environments. 33 Reptilian. Reptile-like beings usually with scales and often with tails. Includes snake-like beings. 34 Humanoid. Though similar in form to a human, they may be vastly different in the specific details of physical appearance. 41 Cetacean. Whale or dolphin-like beings. 42 Botanic. Plant-like beings, including molds & fungi. 43 Non-organic. This is a broad classification that includes, mineral-based life forms, energy-based beings and even robots. 44 Combined alien.Roll twice more on this table and com- bine the results. Example: multipedal reptilian. From Here - Continue on to Table 102: Technoculture ... 16 102: Technoculture 102: Technoculture 102: Technoculture For some reason, it's easier to pidgeonhole fantasy cultures into convenient classifications: "This is a Barbarian culture and Barbarian cultures have limited technology, are superstitious and bathe only on alternate leap years." Science fiction literature and gaming doesn't allow for such luxurious simplicity. The technology and social climate of a culture are related to one another, but are never locked in a simple "if this culture, then that technology" arrangement. Throw in the unpredictability of the truly alien races found in science fiction and literally any logical (or illogical) combination of technology and culture is possible. Instructions: Forthe sake of clarity, Central Castingkeeps the technology level and cultural style of a given culture separate. Unless the player orGM is creating a new culture, it might be wiser for the GM to create a table that includes the major cultures, civilizations and worlds of his game campaign. Use the following steps: One. Assign Tech and Culture Levels to each of the worlds, civilizations or major races in the game. Two. Put each of these onto a separate line of the table. Three. Select a type of die (d10, d20, etc.) that best matches the number of table entries. In general, assign one die result number to each entry. Weight the chances so that the chance to select a common culture is greater than that for rare ones. Four. Give a copy of your table to players in your campaign. Otherwise, begin by following the Instructions below for Table 102A: Tech Level. 102A: Tech Level Tech Level, or Technology Level, acts as a rough measure of a society's technical achievements: the inventions, weapons, modes of transportation and means of communication in common use. It does not deal with their social enlightenment, forms of government orethical values-that's Culture, and we deal with it later. Alien Technology: If you are creating the Technoculture for an alien race, use Table 102C: Alien Technology\\rs\. And follow the instructions you find there. Instructions: Rollad20. If desired, the player may add his character's FutMod to the roll (f utu re modif ierf rom Future Histories, page 13-14.) Match the die roll or the total against Table 102A: Tech Level. The die roll result is the Tech Level of the character's culture (from 1 to 19). Record this number on the Technology Modifier (TekMod) line in the upper right corner of the History Worksheet. This modifier value will be used later in the book. Write the Tech Level on line 102A of the worksheet. After completing this table, continue onward to Table 102B: Culture. Education Points: As a character grows up, he usually receives a formal education (see Table 210: Education). Technology level provides the base value for the number of points the character may spend once he reaches that Table. Higher Tech levels provide more points than lower level. Record this on the Worksheet on the line labeled "Education Points." Literacy: The number in brackets after each Tech Level is the base chance for a character to be literate in his native tongue (see Literacy rules on page 6). Record this chance in the space following the Literacy skill under the SKILLS section of the worksheet. Be prepared to change this value. Roleplay: Remember, not every culture within agivenfuture history will be operating at the same level of technology. Generally speaking, a character who is exposed to the achievements of the Tech Level one level above him may understand what he sees, but go up two Tech Levels, and the technology seems like "magic." d20 102A: Tech Level (roll a