Star Ace Classic Species

Each Star Ace species, apart from humans, typically has a restricted ability score that has a maximum score (implying, as the authors point out, that the other ability scores receive the better rolls at character creation). NPC species (species other than those that make up the majority of the Star Teams) also have one or several minimum ability scores and each species has special abilities.

I'll convert minimum and maximum scores using the notes that I made for Time Master, lift Alternity ability scores that don't draw from the Star Ace restricted score to at least 6 minimum, use the Star Ace suggestions for abilities to be increased to lift some maximum scores to 15 or 16, and tweak as seems appropriate.

Kleibors

Kleibors strongly resemble polar bears in body form and size, but have had a starfaring technological society for far longer than humans, contacting many of the other sentient species over a wide area of space. Their mitten-like hands are less capable than those of humans but they carry out many tasks using strong noëtic (psionic) abilities.

Kleibors are omnivores who live in complexes of ice caves below the mostly-frozen surface of their homeworld. Brought up in the nurturing surroundings of a communal cave dwelling, the bodrum, the typical Kleibor faces the complex society of the galaxy with an attitude that may be a bit too naive and friendly for his own good.

Ability score limits
STR 6 - 14
DEX 4 - 12
CON 6 - 14
INT 4 - 13
WIL 6 - 16
PER 6 - 15

Free broad skills
STR Athletics
CON Stamina
INT Knowledge
WIL Resolve
PER Interaction, Telepathy

Species abilities

• Increased Durability: Calculate a Kleibor's Durability scores using his Constitution x 1.5. [This isn't mentioned in Star Ace, but pretty much goes along with being 12 foot tall and built like a polar bear.]
• Noëtic Society: All Kleibors gain Telepathy as a free broad skill and are psionic talents. Unlike other psionic talents, a Kleibor can learn any number of psionic broad and specialty skills, may raise one psionic specialty skill to rank 6 and all others up to rank 3.

• Penetrate Minds: A Kleibor can attempt to perceive the mental patterns of any creature that uses a normal language (the GM has discretion as to what is a normal language). This does not allow the Kleibor to read any specific thought, but each round, the Kleibor may make a Personality feat check opposed by the target's Intelligence resistance modifier (representing the complexity of its mind). On a success, the Kleibor immediately and permanently gains rank 2 in the target's native language. The Kleibor must take an action to activate this power but can retry failed checks at the end of each subsequent round, without using further actions. The power does not require PEPs.
• Transfer Stamina: A Kleibor may reduce the Fatigue damage another creature suffers by one point per minute of effort, taking himself the same amount of Fatigue damage. This cannot reduce the Kleibor below 1 Fatigue point. This power does not require PEPs.
  

Crassites

Ability Score Limits
STR 5-14
DEX 4-13
CON 4-12
INT 7-15
WIL 7-16
PER 6-15

Free Broad Skills

INT Business, Knowledge
WIL Awareness, Investigate
PER Deception, Interaction

• Heat Intolerance: A Crassite's body is compact and heavily insulated with fat to conserve body heat. Although a Crassite has a -1 bonus to Stamina-endurance checks to resist cold conditions at the lower range of H2 conditions, he must face an exhaustion challenge each hour if the temperature exceeds 16°C, or once per 10 minutes if the temperature exceeds 27°C.
• Short-Winded: A Crassite has a Stun rating equal to 2/3 of his Constitution score and Fatigue rating based on 1/3 of his Constitution score.
• Mercantile Mindset: The Crassite brain, as the saying goes, knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. A Crassite has a -2 bonus to all Business checks, a -1 bonus to Deception-bribe and gamble and to Interaction-bargain, but a Crassite cannot gain an Amazing success with any of these skills.
• Wearable Wealth: A Crassite character begins play with extra wealth equal to the starting amount that he rolled again (that is, double starting wealth), but this extra amount must be spent on personal equipment and clothing and cannot be put into vehicles or other large assets or kept as cash on hand.

Green Gorlons

Ability Score Limits
STR 7-15
DEX 6-14
CON 8-15
INT 4-13
WIL 5-14
PER 4-15

Free Broad Skills

STR Athletics
INT Knowledge
WIL Awareness, Resolve
PER Interaction, Leadership

• Lose Limbs: When a Gorlon is struck by an attack that would cause wound damage, he may have a limb severed rather than rolling normally for wound points lost. The character takes 2 wound points of damage and a randomly determined limb is completely severed. Apart from obvious effects:
  ● A Gorlon who has lost one leg can only move by hopping or fast hopping. A hop move is half as fast as a walk move and the character is considered running for purposes of actions. A fast hop move is half as fast as a run, and the character is considered to be sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  ● A Gorlon who has lost both legs can only move by crawling, which is half as fast as a walk move and restricts the character's actions as if he were sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  ● A Gorlon who loses an arm suffers a +2 penalty to STR-based checks and +1 penalty to DEX-based checks, unless the action logically requires two arms.
  On an Ordinary or Good hit, the Gorlon's player decides if a limb is severed, but on an Amazing hit the attacker decides.
• Regrow Limbs: A Gorlon who has lost a limb may make a complex Constitution check to regrow the limb - one check per day, 5 successes required. After he scores at least one success, the limb visibly begins to regenerate and possibly may be used to grip items, though the listed penalties remain until the complex check is complete. A Gorlon who does not have adequate food suffers a point of wound damage for each regeneration check.
• Fast Healing: A Gorlon may make a Resolve-physical resolve check to recover Wound points each 3 days rather than each week.
• Slime-Sucker: A green Gorlon gains a -1 bonus to Athletics-climb and jump and to Movement-swim and trailblazing checks.
• Dominance: When a green Gorlon succeeds in an Interaction-intimidate check, the victim loses its next action in addition to being intimidated, unless its action directly follows an order given by the green Gorlon. This extra effect applies a maximum of one time per round for each green Gorlon.
• Violent Upbringing: A green Gorlon may purchase Unarmed Attack, Melee Weapons, Modern Ranged Weapons and their specialty skills at 1 skill point less than normal. This stacks with the cost reduction due to the Combat Spec profession (but no skill can be reduced to less than 1 point base cost).
• Lost Childhood: A green Gorlon begins play with 5 fewer skill points than other characters (10 points less than a human character).
• Unsubtle: A Gorlon has a +2 penalty to any encounter skill that is not a Combat Spec skill. From 4th level onwards, a Gorlon may pay 4 skill points to reduce this penalty to +1. From 8th level onwards, after reducing his encounter skill penalty, a Gorlon may pay a further 6 skill points to remove the penalty entirely.

Brown Gorlons

Ability Score Limits
STR 6-14
DEX 7-15
CON 7-15
INT 3-13
WIL 5-14
PER 3-11

Free Broad Skills

STR Athletics
CON Survival
WIL Awareness

• Lose Limbs: When a Gorlon is struck by an attack that would cause wound damage, he may have a limb severed rather than rolling normally for wound points lost. The character takes 2 wound points of damage and a randomly determined limb is completely severed. Apart from obvious effects:
  ● A Gorlon who has lost one leg can only move by hopping or fast hopping. A hop move is half as fast as a walk move and the character is considered running for purposes of actions. A fast hop move is half as fast as a run, and the character is considered to be sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  ● A Gorlon who has lost both legs can only move by crawling, which is half as fast as a walk move and restricts the character's actions as if he were sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  ● A Gorlon who loses an arm suffers a +2 penalty to STR-based checks and +1 penalty to DEX-based checks, unless the action logically requires two arms.
  On an Ordinary or Good hit, the Gorlon's player decides if a limb is severed, but on an Amazing hit the attacker decides.
• Regrow Limbs: A Gorlon who has lost a limb may make a complex Constitution check to regrow the limb - one check per day, 5 successes required. After he scores at least one success, the limb visibly begins to regenerate and possibly may be used to grip items, though the listed penalties remain until the complex check is complete. A Gorlon who does not have adequate food suffers a point of wound damage for each regeneration check.
• Fast Healing: A Gorlon may make a Resolve-physical resolve check to recover Wound points each 3 days rather than each week.
• Rock-Crawler: A brown Gorlon gains a -1 bonus to Athletics-climb and jump and Stealth-hide checks.
• Suppressed Potential: A brown Gorlon has an additional 3 points to distribute among his ability scores. This cannot raise any score above its species maximum.
• Prehensile Tail: A brown Gorlon's tail can be used to grip objects, keeping extra items ready to hand. The tail counts as a limb for purposes of randomly severing limbs and likewise regrows as described above. Loss of his tail does not cause extra penalties to a brown Gorlon except for the loss of the extra grip.
• Rage: A brown Gorlon's downtrodden spirit can erupt into a fit of fury given a suitably violent outlet. The player can choose to enter a rage in combat, giving a -1 bonus to all Strength-based attack skills, +1 damage from melee attacks but reducing each of his resistance modifiers by 1.
• Unsubtle: A Gorlon has a +2 penalty to any encounter skill that is not a Combat Spec skill. From 4th level onwards, a Gorlon may pay 4 skill points to reduce this penalty to +1. From 8th level onwards, after reducing his encounter skill penalty, a Gorlon may pay a further 6 skill points to remove the penalty entirely.

Note: Star Alliance Communities: Brown Gorlon characters who were brought up in the separate brown Gorlon communities within the Star Alliance do not gain the Rage trait and have these additional free broad skills: INT – Knowledge, WIL – Resolve, PER – Interaction.

Humanoles

The inhabitants of the planet Gazzi, hidden from all human contact within the galactic Storm Zone, were named Humanoles by the first Star Team members to encounter them, in reference to the anole or American chameleon. They are of reptilian appearance, very similar to the Gorlons, but are even better climbers than the Empire's soldiery and have the remarkable quality of changing their skin colour.

Humanole personality is intense, excitable and erratic, governed by a perception of moral rightness that is at the same time near-absolute and rapidly changeable, leading the species to extreme and often violent actions - no better displayed than in the wildly popular full-contact sport of stiinta.

Ability score limits
STR 6 - 14
DEX 6 - 16
CON 6 - 14
INT 4 - 13
WIL 4 - 13
PER 5 - 14

Free broad skills
STR Athletics, Melee Weapons
DEX Modern Ranged Weapons
CON Stamina
INT Knowledge
PER Leadership

Species abilities

• Wall walking: A Humanole can walk or run on vertical surfaces at the same speed as on the ground. With a successful Strength check, the Humanole can walk across a ceiling (failure on this check merely indicates that the Humanole cannot walk on the ceiling until he uses another action and succeeds on the check - he may choose to remain where he is or walk on the wall instead, in the present phase).
• Colour change: A Humanole's skin changes colour between green and brown, depending on what colour he has most recently touched. See the chart in Star Ace Classic: Aliens for specifics. When a Humanole touches a colour that would cause his skin colour to change, he begins making Constitution checks at the end of each round, success indicating a colour change. This is not voluntary, but a Humanole can try to prevent a colour change by making a successful Resolve-physical resolve check - this takes an action, and he must check again the next round if still in contact with the contrasting colour.
  The reason that this is important and requires charts and rules is that Humanoles closely resemble Gorlons, to whom the social divide between green and brown castes is a vast biological imperative. The GM should strictly track colour changes in any situation involving contact with Gorlons.
• Lose Limbs: When a Humanole is struck by an attack that would cause wound damage, he may have a limb severed rather than rolling normally for wound points lost. The character takes 2 wound points of damage and a randomly determined limb is completely severed. Apart from obvious effects:
  A Humanole who has lost one leg can only move by hopping or fast hopping. A hop move is half as fast as a walk move and the character is considered running for purposes of actions. A fast hop move is half as fast as a run, and the character is considered to be sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  A Humanole who has lost both legs can only move by crawling, which is half as fast as a walk move and restricts the character's actions as if he were sprinting. The character also suffers a +1 penalty to STR-based checks.
  A Humanole who loses an arm suffers a +2 penalty to STR-based checks and +1 penalty to DEX-based checks, unless the action logically requires two arms.
  On an Ordinary or Good hit, the Humanole's player decides if a limb is severed, but on an Amazing hit the attacker decides. Note: Gorlons also have this ability.
• Regrow Limbs: A Humanole who has lost a limb may make a complex Constitution check to regrow the limb - one check per day, 5 successes required. After he scores at least one success, the limb visibly begins to regenerate and possibly may be used to grip items, though the listed penalties remain until the complex check is complete. A Humanole who does not have adequate food suffers a point of wound damage for each regeneration check. Note: Gorlons also have this ability.
• Temper: When something occurs that is likely to annoy a Humanole (GM's discretion) the character must succeed in a Resolve-mental resolve check or immediately attack the source of his irritation, and must succeed in a mental resolve check also to stop attacking before he has injured the offending creature or object. The Humanole need not use his most deadly form of attack and can stop when he sees that the target has suffered some damage.