Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Machinations of the Space Princess (Race Traits)

This is OSR done amazing. I'm really really really looking forward to running MotSP at Gam3rCon. 


A little bit about character creation. RACE TRAITS

Machinations of the Space Princess $11.99 at DTRPG

How do you represent millions of variations between billions of planets? Pretty easily it seems, you create a couple dozen categories of trope like alien species, such as a Humanoid Hunter Feline:

Hunter (Cultural)Hunter cultures value the hunting skill above
all others and consider it an important
cultural artefact. Even advanced species
can glorify the hunt as a rite of passage or a
connection to their more primitive forebears.
Warrior: +1 Close and Ranged Attack.
Weapon: +2 Skill levels with a particular type
of weapon.
Survival: +1 level to Survival skill.
Stalker: +1 level to Stealth skill.
Feline (Species)Feline species resemble Terran cats. They
are often individualistic and aloof and can
also seem cruel to other species.
Acute Hearing: You can hear noises higher
and lower than most and at greater distances
with greater clarity.
Graceful: +1 Dexterity.
Natural Weapons: You may take this
multiple times. Each time you take it the
damage you can do with your natural
weapons increases by one dice-type. EG: D4
(the starting amount) rising to D6, then D8.
You may not raise it above D12.
Night Vision: You can see in reduced
lighting as normal, but not in total darkness.
Rapid Reaction: Your Reflexes save is
increased by +2.
Wary: Your Reflex and Logic saves are
raised by +1 each.
Vibration Sense: You can sense movement
that disturbs that atmosphere ten metres in
all directions if your whiskers are exposed to
the air. 
Humanoid (Species)
The majority of successful species in the
galaxy are humanoids and thanks to science
and suspicious similarities in genetics many
of these species can interbreed. Humanoid
species benefit from being adaptable and
gregarious.
Adaptable: +1 Skill Point that can be spent
anywhere.

Now that seems pretty straight forward eh? And it is, except you only get to choose 3 of these options for free.

You can take up to three race traits before
you start taking penalties - the more alien
you are the less easy it is to relate with and
cope with interstellar society. If you take a
fourth - or more - your Attributes start to take
a hit. You lose four points of Charisma for
your fourth trait and after that another -4 to
another Attribute for every additional trait.
You can’t take more than -8 away from any
single Ability though.

So lets make a few of these humanoid feline hunters:

Felis Sapiens domesticus
Able to survive in nearly any environment, the domestic house cat...evolved.
Hunter: Survival: +1 level to Survival skill.
Feline: Graceful: +1 Dexterity.
Adaptable: +1 Skill Point that can be spent
anywhere.
"I'm gonna get you little fishy..." Cat makes his survival skill check.


Felis Sapiens bastet
Graceful
Hunter: Weapon: +2 Skill levels with a particular type
of weapon.Feline: Graceful: +1 Dexterity.
Adaptable: +1 Skill Point that can be spent
anywhere.
Vibration Sense: You can sense movement
that disturbs that atmosphere ten metres in
all directions if your whiskers are exposed to
the air.
-4 charisma
-4 charisma, not -4 comeliness!!!! 
Felis Sapiens tigris 
The tigris is scary, they are very predatory, and definitely eat meat, even human meat, sometimes they kill without thinking of the ramifications.
Hunter: Warrior: +1 Close and Ranged Attack.
Feline: Natural Weapons: d8 (3 traits)
Humanoid: Adaptable: +1 Skill Point that can be spent anywhere.
-4 Charisma, -4 Wisdom
Big ugly claws and teeth.
And now for the complete list of Aliens categories: (of 10)
Ammonia Based (Exotic)
Amoeboid (Species)
Amphibian (Species)
Aquatic (Species)
Austere (Cultura)
Avian (Species)
Boron-based (Exotic)
Canine (Species)
Caste (Species) - Like from a hive culture
Cephalopod (Species)

Cetacean (Species)
Chemosynthetic (Exotic)
Chiropteran (Species)
Cnidarian (Species)
Criminal (Cultural)
Cyborg (exotic)
Dead (Exotic) - Like the dea guy from Lexx.
Decadent (Culture)
Defensive Adaptation (Species)
Detached (Culture)

Duplicitous (Cultural)
Elemental (exotic)
Energy (Cultural)
Engineer (Cultural)
Exotic Attack (exotic)
Feline (Species)
Fungal (Species) - Humanoid Hunter Fungus...Ork?
Giant (Species) - Giant space Hamsters!!!!!
Herbivore (Species)
High Gravity (Species)

Humanoid (Species)
Hunter (Cultural)
Insectoid  (Species)
Intellectual (Cultural)
Libertine (Cultural)
Low Gravity (Species)
Metal-Oxide Based (Exotic)
Methane Based (Exotic)
Molluscan (Species)
Nocturnal (Species)

Ophidian (Species)
Pacifistic (Cultural)
Parasitic  (Species)
Photosynthetic (Species)
Piscean (Species)
Plant  (Species)
Poisonous (Species)
Predator (Species)
Primate (Species)
Psychic (Exotic)

Reptilian (Species)
Robotic (Species)
Rodentine (Species) - Giant space Hamsters!!!!!
Scavenger (Species)
Sessile (Species)
Shapeshifter (Exotic)
Silicon-Based (exotic)
Software (Species)
Spiritual (Species)
Swarm (Exotic)

Thermosynthetic (Exotic)
Tiny (Species)
Vacuum (Exotic) - Giant space Hamsters!!!!!
Venomous (Species)
Warrior (Culture)
Zero Gravity (Exotic)

YES!!! That is sixty-six different racial trait categories!!! Each with 3-7 traits...

And of course humans...

This one thing makes Machinations of the Space Princess worth the $11.99 price of PDF admission!!!!

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