Uncle Jimbo's Bug Huntin' Range
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High character High concept High violence |
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To cover the basics of the Nebuleon setting, I'd probably just need to describe the Gren, Baleks, Dremin, Kirans, Andromedaeans and Haga, which might give some idea of the complexity of politics in this setting. J'hat Itar and Dras are each interesting and might come into play on their homeworlds or through roving individuals. Understanding the setting's history adequately might also require mention of AI (such as the Tiradi example character) and Thri-T'Kree. I've discussed possible connections between the Nebuleos and the Star*Drive setting in the context of Humans and added some details for the Trigannitaroes, mentioned in Rehendi Prison: The Grave. Gren The five sub-species of Gren, descended from carnivorous ancestors with many traits that humans might recognise from large felines, share a basic conflict between their violent, impulsive, atavistic personalities and the philosophies of reason and respect for others that underpin their higher society. Numerous institutions of Gren culture express this striving for better conduct, particularly their veneration of the teachings of Jara Lek Tsun. Common Gren Traits Free Broad Skills Leap: All Gren have the ability to jump long distances, multiplying all distances listed in the Athletics-jump skill by a factor that varies for different sub-species. Claws: Gren natural weapons cause significant damage on a successful Unarmed Attack-brawl check. Refer to the specific sub-species for damage ratings. Enhanced Senses: All sub-species of Gren have excellent hearing, sight (especially in low light) and smell. Sensations that are difficult for other species to perceive are one step less difficult for a Gren (Slight sound, lighting or faintness of odour becomes Marginal, Moderate becomes Slight and Extreme becomes Moderate). Particular sub-species may have more acute senses. The GM should decide, for things particularly difficult to sense, whether the Gren can make an attempt at Extreme difficulty or the situation simply presents no stimulus to detect (such as a sealed and lightless room). Emperor Gren Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skill: Add Stamina (CON). Rager (Kezzeren) Gren Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skill: Add Stamina (CON). Digger (Tezzreck) Gren Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skill: Add Stamina (CON). Swift (Chemise) Gren Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skill: Add Stealth (DEX). Black (Shea-T'Kar) Gren Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skill: Add Stealth (DEX). The slick-skinned Balek arise from a life-rich, swampy world, unfortunately also rife with dangerous diseases. Their loose, individualistic society has restricted the species' capacity for concerted interstellar efforts such as colonisation or empire-building. Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skills Spit: A Balek can produce a highly acidic secretion that damages an enemy on a successful hit as an acid splash. The damage for each die rolled decreases by 1 point for each spit the Balek has already used that day, recovering its potency at a rate of 1 point per day. The range of a Balek's spit is 2/3/4 metres. Any Balek can make a spit attack as a DEX feat check or increase her skill by gaining ranks in the species-specific skill Primitive Ranged Weapons-spit attack. Luminescent Eyes: A Balek's eyes emit a faint glow that counts as Moderate illumination in dark conditions, also allowing other individuals to see the Balek as if the lighting conditions were Marginal. Mog Almost every society in the Nebuleos, with the exception of the fanatical Haga, grants free movement and broad latitude to the peculiar little Mogs due to their amazing healing talents. Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skills Healing Enzyme: Mogs have the remarkable ability to stimulate rapid recovery of injuries simply by the touch of their hands, applying an enzyme from glands near their wrists that appears to trigger cellular regeneration by supporting rapid, controlled protein replication. This substance seems to benefit almost any protein-based life-form, but its action may be mediated by the Mog's nervous system or even psionically active, as it is ineffective if extracted or synthesised. On a successful Resolve-physical resolve check, the Mog heals 1 Wound point of damage to a creature, including himself, or on an Amazing success may choose to heal either 2 Wound points or 1 Mortal point. A Mog can attempt this ability a number of times equal to his Fatigue score, regaining one attempt for each minute that he rests. Once a Mog has made a number of healing attempts equal to his CON in a day, he must succeed in a Stamina-endurance check for each further attempt or lose the ability to heal for that day. Hand-Feet: A Mog can grip and manipulate objects with his hand-shaped lower limbs just as easily as his upper limbs. This does not grant any extra actions. Starlight Vision: A Mog can see without penalty in any lighting conditions down to Extreme visibility, though not if there is literally no light in the environment at all. However, he must protect his vision with dark goggles or similar means in Marginal or better lighting conditions, or suffer a +2 penalty to any actions that require sight.
Though the sourcebook says, and I tend to agree, that Andromedaeans should remain NPCs only, it unfortunately doesn't give any NPC listings to work with, so I'll describe them as a playable species. Andromedaeans The thin limbs, bulbous heads and stark skull-faces of the Nebuleos's master traders and manipulators mark an influence that few species, however militant or bizarre, can brush aside. The beings from Andromeda use no common name for their species, beyond purely biological jargon, regarding themselves modestly as persons in the primary tier of importance among sentients (a position occupied only by Andromedaeans) above the 'Dangerous Races', currently the Balek, Gren and Toaffi, and the Ginti, or 'Lesser Races'. Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skills Medical Augmentation: The Andromedaean lifestyle makes them intimately familiar with systems that support and enhance biological functioning. An Andromedaean pays 1 skill point less for the Life Science, System Operation and Medical Science broad skills and their specialty skills (this adds to the cost reduction for a Tech Op), and requires only 5 skill points to use cybergear. Foment: Andromedaeans have a knack for inducing the lesser races to fight against each other while ignoring the seemingly harmless merchants. An Andromedaean can use an encounter skill on members of another species to worsen their attitude by one step towards another target (in place of its usual effect) and gains a -1 bonus on Leadership checks towards other species for the purpose of encouraging them to attack or continue fighting. Fractious: Lack of empathy towards their own species and xenophobia towards aliens imposes a +1 penalty on any character attempting to use Leadership skills on an Andromedaean. Er-Hataar Agent Game Data The Er-Hataar society much resemble organised criminals of other civilisations and indeed the Haga think of them in the same terms, and worse. However, by taking on themselves the sin of associating with other, unclean species and ritual removal of their taint from useful produce, for which they will surely feel endless punishment in the afterlife, they have performed a vital economic and strategic function for the Theocracy throughout recorded history. This Good SCM is a typical hedonistic, vicious, but commercially skilled denizen of the trading fringe world of Kobi. STR 12 (3d4+4) * Swiftness: Haga can move deceptively fast and fluidly for such powerfully-built beings, calculating Action Check and movement rates as if their Dexterity was 4 points higher. Attacks Defenses Skills Equipment: Modified military mesh CF softsuit, needler pistol, sensor gauntlet, comm gear
The Kolkesh Empire of Kiros, built from top to bottom on principles of militarism, nevertheless forms one of the more stable and reasonable members of the Republic of Free Worlds, as its nobles exercise a subtle and strategic restraint - little understood by the brawling lesser ranks in their society - focused on obtaining the resources that the Empire requires by economic expansion and colonisation. Kirans impatient with such inglorious labour have offered their services as soldiery to many other nations of the Nebuleos, notably the famed Andromedaean Marine Divisions. Ability Scores Free Broad Skills Grim: The importance, close to obsession, placed upon physical combat and endurance in Kiran culture conditions their minds to exceptionally brutal and effective hand-to-hand tactics. A Kiran may choose any one of these skills to receive a -1 bonus to all broad and specialty skill checks: Melee Weapons, Unarmed Attack, Stamina or Resolve. A Kiran Combat Spec does not stack this bonus with that provided by his profession, but may apply both a species bonus and a profession bonus to different broad skills. Great size, limited speech and an undeveloped culture once gave a mistaken impression of the reptilian Dremin as little more than smart animals, kept by the Haga as useful servitors, until their revolt in the Years of Pain and seizure of a swathe of planets cast them as the sector's newest interstellar power. Ability Score Limits Free Broad Skills Leap: Double the distance that a Dremin can cover using the long jump application of Athletics-jump. Heat-Sensing Tongue: A Dremin's thermal sense is almost as detailed as sight. Natural Armour: Flexible but tough, smooth overlapping scales provide an armour value of d4LI/d4-1HI/d4-1En. Body Language: Dremin have only a limited range of vocalisations and most find it difficult to form spoken language without using computerised translators (speak other languages as if they had a maximum of rank 2, regardless of the Dremin's actual rank in the language). They communicate between themselves by complex body language, governed by the Culture-Dremin body language skill, in which all Dremin start with 3 ranks as a native language. Other species can learn this skill, but those who lack a tail to form many of the more advanced expressions can only use Dremin body language as if they had a maximum of rank 2, regardless of the alien's actual rank in the language.
The timeline given in the sourcebook gives me some concern, since humans played a prominent role in the Second Millennium, which, as the name suggests, places them in the Nebuleos at least 1100 years before the present day.
The Thri-T'Kree, whose complex and learned culture and still-unfathomable technology once reduced the sentients of the Nebuleos to slaves and brood-hosts, are described in the core rules only as hidden, devolved pockets of savages. The smaller Seeker mutants have developed functional wings. Thri-T'Kree Savage Warrior Game Data Attacks * The Thri-T'Kree warrior can make two claw attacks together with a bite or sting without incurring penalties to its checks. Defences Skills
After the mayhem of the Trade Wars and AI Insurrection, societies throughout the Nebuleos - particularly the Andromedaeans - restrict and monitor robots closely to ensure that such events cannot recur, though in some measure they also respect and consider the interests of artificial lifeforms to a new degree. The obscure 'Masters' within the AI ranks who instigated and kept alive the great revolt still strive for the ascendancy of artificial beings. Robot Systems: The Toaffi's advanced experience in artificial intelligence systems has produced a processing architecture of inexact logic, noted for its capacity for rapid computation and adaptability to unpredictable environments, though programs for these processors are much more complex. (Base Qualities) (PL 7) Holo-Projectors (Casing, PL 7) Cost (SP): 8 This network of small projectors, casting coordinated 3-dimensional images around the robot's form, allows for various artistic or informational displays, as well as allowing the robot to appear as a different robot model, or even a living creature or other object, of the same or greater dimensions. An onlooker who has reason to suspect the robot's appearance is fake may attempt an Awareness-perception check, applying a -2 bonus if the robot moves in an uncharacteristic way or otherwise gives itself away. The holoprojectors alter only visible light unless adapted for other spectra. They do not alter the robot's feel, sound, smell, heat signature, or response for a variety of other sensors. Tiradi Game Data These insidious infiltrators and perpetrators of brutal acts of destruction hide among ordinary working robots, reprogramming them to kill the disgusting fleshies. PL: 7 STR 16 Attacks Defenses Skills
Trigannitaroes |