Valence

Valence Science-FictionRoleplaying 

Valence Valenc e is copy copyright right © 1993-2 1993-2004Val 004Valent ent Game Games. s.All Allright rights s reser reserved. ved.Vale Valence nceis is a trad trademark emark ofVa ofValent lent Games.ThisbookisthesecondeditionofValence592,alsowrittenandpublishedbyValentGames. Valencewascreatedonseveralgenerations Valencewascreatedonsev eralgenerationsofMacintoshcomputers,andassem ofMacintoshcomputers,andassembled(inthisversion)using bled(inthisversion)using AdobeInDesignandAdobeAcr AdobeInDes ignandAdobeAcrobat. obat.Artwork Artworkwasscaledandtouched wasscaledandtouched upwithAdobePhotos upwithAdobePhotoshop.T hop.Thisbook hisbook usesthefontsGaramondandOptima.ValentGamescanbefoundonlineathttp://www.valentgames.com/ 

Credits

Writer’sNotes

2ndEdition

Itstartedmorethantenyearsago,andwhenIlook atallthoseoldcomputerlesItendtocringe.Somany thingshavechan thing shavechangedsincethen, gedsincethen,and and theyallneeded changing,mostofthem badly ...andyettheseedswere ...andyettheseedswere there.

Writer:ColinFredericks Eriic Tap aplley ey, , Eri ricc Ga Garr rris ison on,, Ka Kate te Contributors: Er Tapley,SarahCampbell,andJamesKilbride. Editors:DanDiTursi,AnnaTatro Jenni nnife fer r Me Meye yerr, An Andy dy Worl orld, d, He Heat athe her r  Artwork: Je Vellante,andTauCetiDeichmann Distributors: Valence can be found at both www.RPGNow.comandwww.DriveThruRPG.com.

1stEdition(Valence592) WritersandDesignTeam: EricTapley,EricGarrison, CameronBetts,NikHeikkila,ColinFredericks,James Kilbride Editors:ColinFredericks,HeatherVellante Printers:DeHart’s

Valenceisalaborofloveforallofus.Eventhough most mo st of th the e or orig igin inal al de desi sign gn te team am ha has s fa fall llen en by th the e wayside,ormovedontootherthings,noneoftheold guardcansaythattheyaren’tstillatleasta little bit interestedinwhat’sgoingonwiththeiroldcreation. I’mgladtokeepthetorchlit,tokeepValenceupto dateandkeepimprovingit,andIhopetheylikewhat I’vedone. Formostofyou,thisisthersttimeyou’veseenthe game,andallthisnostalgiameansnothing.Solet’sget onwithit,right?Whatisthisgameabout?Whyplay it?Y it? You’v ou’vegotyourchoiceofdozensofsciencection egotyourchoiceofdozensofsciencection games;what’sgoingtomakethisoneanybetter?

• History History,bothin ,bothinandoutof andoutofgame. game.Ingame Ingame,you’ ,you’ve ve gotaten-million-yeartimelinetopullideasfrom, hist hi stor oric ical al de deta tail ils s fr from om al all l te ten n sp spec ecie ies s an and d th the e present-da prese nt-day y cultu cultures, res, and andplent plenty y of of“sec “secretsfrom retsfrom  Jam  J ames es Ki Kilb lbri ride de, , Ja Jaso son n Ra Raff ff, , An Andr drew ew Kon onop opak aki, i, the pas past” t”hid hidden den inthe bac backst kstory ory. . Out of ofgam game, e, SeanEdwards,BrianKoshnick,DaveVershaw,TauCeti wethewritershavebeencontinuallyupdatingand Deit De itch chma mann nn, , an and d doz dozen ens s of fr frie iend ndly ly co con-g n-goe oers rs at improvingthegameforyears,andweliketothink Genericon Generi con (T (Troy roy, , NY), ConBus ConBust t (Nort (Northampt hampton, on, MA), thatit’sgainedacertai thatit’ sgainedacertainamountofpolishbecause namountofpolishbecause andOurCon(Amherst,MA)forthelastsever andOurCon(Amherst,MA)forthe lastseveralyears. alyears. ofit.

Playtesters

• Culture.This Culture.Thisbookdoesn’ bookdoesn’tassum tassumethat ethatspecies speciesand and culturearethesamething.Wehavethousandsof cultur cul tures es her here e on Ear Earth; th; wh why y sho should uld ali aliens ens ha have ve  justoneapiece?Cultureisn’tjustamiscellaneous piec pi ece e of ba bacckg kgro roun und d in info form rmat atio ion, n, ei eith ther er: : it it’’s an in inte tegr gral al pa part rt of ch char arac acte ter r cr crea eati tion on. . Di Ditt tto o fo for r characterbackstory. • Inte Intern rnal al co cons nsis iste tenc ncyy. The wo worl rld d of Val alen ence ce, , li like ke almo al most st al all l sc scie ienc nce e c cti tion on wo worl rlds ds, , ha has s it its s ow own n idi dios osyn yncr craasi sies es and od oddi dittie ies. s. It wou oulld ha hard rdly ly be sc scie ienc nce e c cti tion on wi with thou out t th them em. . Wh What at’’s mo more re impo im port rtan ant t (i (in n ou our r vi view ew) ) is th that at th the e wo worl rld d ha hang ngs s toge to geth ther er pr prop oper erly ly. . In a ga gala laxy xy wi with th ex expe pens nsiive inte in ters rste tell llar ar tr traave vel, l, yo you u wo won’ n’t t n nd d st star arsh ship ips s th that at haulironore—itdoesn’tmakeenoughmoney. Novvel an No and d in inno novvat atiive so solu luti tion ons s to a pr prob oble lem m don’ do n’t t di disa sapp ppea ear r ov over erni nigh ght t on once ce th the e pr prob oble lem m is gone. When WhenEart Earth h wasdevasta wasdevastated,people ted,people didn’ didn’t t forg fo rget et ab about out it or le leaave it al alon one. e. The here re ha have ven’ n’t t

been tec been technol hnologi ogical cal dar dark k age ages s in ina a gal galaxy axy whe where re informationtransferandstora informationtrans ferandstorageisubiquitous, geisubiquitous,and and thereareno“spacebarbarians.”Peoplewhoshun OfalltheTVshowswewatched,ofalltheones tech te chno nolo logy gy an and d Lo Lord rdin ing g en end d up ma marg rgin inal aliz ized ed. . pulled led int intere eresti sting ng plo plot t poi points nts and the themes mes fro from, m, Planetsdon’thaveuniversalclimates,terrains,or we pul Babylon5 lon5wouldhavetobethebig wouldhavetobethebig one.Mostofit’ one.Mostofit’s s even ev en cu cult ltur ures es. . It ma make kes s th the e ga gala laxy xy mu much ch mo more re Baby hiddenin hidden in themetapl themetaplot,butit’ ot,butit’sthere.Ofcourse,scisthere.Ofcourse,scicomplex...andmuchmorebelievable. encectionwouldprobablybenowherewithoutStar • An en enor ormo mous us se sett ttin ing. g. The ga gala laxy xy ha has s bi bill llio ions ns of TrekandStarWars,andeveryoneinthesci-market planets,andnotallofthemareexplored.Theones owesthematleastalittle.

Inspirations

thatarehavehundredsofmillionsofindividu thatarehavehundredsofmillio nsofindividuals. als. In a so some mew wha hat t re rela late ted d ca cate tego gory ry, , Ma Macr cros oss s an and d Within With in the bounda boundaries ries of the game game’’s tec technolog hnology y Robo bote tech ch pr prov ovid ide e so some me in insp spir irat atio ion n fo for r th the e sp spac aceeandothersuchfactors,almosteverytypeofculture Ro you cou could ld ima imagin gine e exi exists sts. . True rue, , the there re are som some e relatedpartsofthegame.Valencedoesindeedhave mecha,thoughyou’llhav ou’llhavetowaitfor etowaitfortherules. therules. hugeculturesthat hugecult uresthatspanhundredsofthousa spanhundredsofthousandsof ndsof mecha,thoughy starsystems,buteventheyare starsystems, buteventheyaren’tev n’teverywhere. erywhere. OurfavoritesciencectionauthorsincludeIsaac Asimo movv, Ors Orson on Sco Scott tt Car Card, d, Art Arthur hur C. Cla Clarke rke, , Dia Diane ne • Separatedmetaplot. Separatedmetaplot.T Themetaplotfor hemetaplotforVal Valenceisn’t enceisn’t Asi Duane, ne, Mad Madeli eline ne L’En ’Engle gle, , Urs Ursula ula K. LeG LeGuin uin, , Lar Larry ry going goi ng to be int interw erwov oven en thr throug ough h ev every ery boo book k we Dua publish publ ish —i —it’ t’s s goi going ng to be becon contai tained ned in ina a sin single gle Niven,andDavidWeber.Thereareothers,ofcourse, volu vo lume me, , th the e Li Litt ttle le Bo Book ok of Me Meta tapl plot ot. . Tha hat t wa way y buttheseprovidedaformativeimpactforValence.If peoplecanfeelfreetoincludeorignoreitasthey weeverpublishabooktoadvancethetimeline,look seet.It’sa seet.It’ sastrong strongmetaplot, metaplot, butit’ butit’snotone snotone that forhigh-techstufffromWilMcCarthy,DanSimmons, andCharlesStross—allgoodauthors,buttheirtechis literallyeveryonehastodealwith. abitbeyondwhatweuse. I’mnotsayingValenceisperfectforeverykindof game.Itdoesn’tworksowellforgrittynoircyberpunk, BuckRogersstylespaceopera,or“hard”sciencection(afterall,thereisamagic-likepowerinthegame, andFTLtravel,andsomecloakingdevices—it’sdifcult cu lt to pla play y har hard d sci sci- - wit withou hout t str stripp ipping ing tho those se out rst).

Dungeo Dung eons ns an and d Dr Drag agons ons wa was s ou our r r rst st RP RPG, G, ju just st likemostgamersourage.Cornermeataconvention andI’lltellyouaninterestingstoryabouttheBudetug, Dwarv Dwa rves, es, and the ear early ly da days ys of Vale alence nce. . Str Strang angely ely enough eno ugh, , the they y aren’t  wh wher ere e we go got t ou our r di dice ce-r -rol olli ling ng system...

WhatValencedoeswellisstoriesaboutblackops WhatVale ncedoeswellisstoriesaboutblackops teams, tea ms, gov govern ernmen ment t and mil milita itary ry ope operat rativ ives, es, cul cultur ture e clash,interstellaradventure,andchangingtheworld. Ifthosethingssoundlikeyourcupoftea,you’vecome totherightplace.

Sadly,therehavebeenfewgoodsci-moviesout thereoverall.Mostofthemcrossintohorrororfantasy or bot both, h, and the wri writin ting g is gen genera erally lly uni unimpr mpress essiv ive. e. Most Mos t of the bet better ter one ones s con concen centr trate ate on the themes mes tha that t Vale alence nce isn isn’t ’t con concer cerned ned wit with. h. Her Here’ e’s s hop hoping ing som some e betteronescomeoutsoon.

Whatwehavewrittenisonlythebeginning.

WhatareRole-Playing Games? Sothen,what is role-playing?Isitpeoplewith diceandbooks,playingouttheadv diceandbooks,pla yingouttheadventurersofchar enturersofchar-actersinsomelong-forgottenworld?Isittwokids with wit h car cards ds and cou counte nters, rs, gh ghtin ting g for con contro trol l of a ctitiousisland?Isitthathighschoolplayyouwere inwhereeveryonewasgivencharactersandhadto makeupthestoryastheyperformed? Inessence,arole-playinggameisoneinwhich youandyourfriendssitdownaroundatableand determinethefateofyourownimaginaryuniverse. RPGs RP Gs ha have ve be been en co comp mpar ared ed to pl plaayi ying ng Cop Cops s an and d Robbers,toimprovisationaltheater,andtointeractivestorytelling.Allofthesehavesomeelementof thetruth,buttheyfailtocapturethebasicappealof RPGs. Role-playinggamesareappealingbecauseyour charac cha racter ters s can do any anythi thing ng tha that t yo you u wou wouldn ldn’t ’t or .You wou would ldnev never er ste steal, al, runawa runaway y acr across oss the can’t .You world,orjumpthroughacrowd world ,orjumpthroughacrowdedroomwithguns edroomwithguns blazing.Youcan’tconquertheworld,makeabillion dollarsonthestockmarket,orjumptallbuildings inasinglebound.Yourcharacterinarole-playing gamecan. Isthisaformofescapism?Certainly.Role-playinggamesarejustasescapistaswatchingamovie once on ce a we week ek, , or re read adin ing g a bo book ok ev ever ery y ni nigh ght, t, or going goi ng to see a pla playy. Eac Each h of the these se act activ iviti ities es tak takes es youaway youaw ayfromtherealworl fromtherealworldanddropsyouint danddropsyouintoa oa fantasy fanta sy world world.The .The diff differenc erences es are, are,rst, rst, that thatRPGs RPGs requ re quir ire e yo you u to be so soci cial al an and d ha hang ng ou out t wi with th yo your ur friends,andsecond,thatRPGsallowforagreater controlofthestory’seventsandfeel. controlofthestory’ seventsandfeel.Allyoucando Allyoucando ifamoviesucksisrefusetoseeitagai ifamoviesuck sisrefusetoseeitagain(or n(or,ifyou’ ,ifyou’re re reallyunimpres reall yunimpressed, sed,walkout walkoutinthemiddle). inthemiddle).When When abooktakesaboringornonsensicalturn,youhave twochoices:waititoutinthehopesofbetterwriting later,orstopreading. If, on the If,on theother other hand, your rolerole-pla playinggames yinggames aren’twhatyouwantedorexpected,youcanchange things thi ngs. . Aft After er all all, , tha that’ t’s s the poi point: nt: ch chang ange e a wor world, ld, evenifit’sjustanimaginaryone. RPGsaretypicallyplayedbyhavingoneperson act ac t as th the e “G “Gam ame e Ma Mast ster er” ” an and d th the e ot othe hers rs ac act t as “Players.”TheGMdescribestheworld,andtheplayersinteractwithitandeachother.Eachplayercre-

atesacharacterforthestorythatthey’rein.Thereare somerulestodescribewhencharacterscanorcan’t dothings,andtoaddsomeextraa dothings,andtoaddsom eextraavortothegame vortothegame. . Therulesprovideacommonframeworkthatagroup ofpeoplecangettogetherandworkfrom. Valenceisagameaboutthefarfuture,roughlya thousandyearsfromnow.Ittakesabitofcreativity, imagination,andsuspensionofdisbelieftorole-play inasettinglikethat.Youandyourfellowplayerswill probab pro bably ly ha have ve ch char aract acters ers who loo look k and act not nothhinglikeyou.Thisiswhygamingisoftencompared toimprov toimpro v the theate ater:you r:you nee need d toplay a acer certai tain n rol role e without witho ut muc much h prepa preparati ration. on. Gamin Gaming’ g’s s adv advanta antage ge is thatyoucreatethecharacter.Youcouldplayalmost anyt an ythi hing ng — a pr prin ince ce or a pr prin ince cess ss, , a sc scie ient ntis ist t or magician, magi cian, apolitici apoliticianor anor ageneral ageneral.T .Thisbreadth hisbreadth of possibilityprovidesopportunitiesf possibilitypro videsopportunitiesforexpressionthat orexpressionthat areunavailab areunav ailablein lein mostotheractiv mostotheractivitie ities.How s.How ofte often n doesyourChemistryteacherletyoupretendtobea six-foot-sevenwingedhumanoidbentonrevenge? SinglestoriesinValencearecalledAdventures. Thesecancoveronenightofrole-playing,orafew weeks. wee ks. Th They ey typ typica ically lly foc focus us on a sin single gle goa goal, l, and nishwhenthatgoalisachievedorsomeotherend comes come s about about. . Fo For r exam example, ple,if if the theadv adventure enture’’s goal istolocateaprince,andhediesbeforeyourgroup ndshim,yourgoalwasnotmetbuttheadventure willendanyway.Adventurescanbepartofalarger  P   a story,orcanstandonthe story ,orcanstandontheirown. irown.   g  e  5  A st stri ring ng of in inte terr rrel elat ated ed ad adve vent ntur ures es is ca call lled ed an Epi Epic. c. (Ot (Other her gam games es use the ter term m “ca “campa mpaign ign..”) Mostepicskeepthesamecharactersthroughtheir entirety enti rety, , and andcan canlast last for formany many adv adventur entures.Within es.Within  V   a  l    anepi an epic c a cha charac racter ter and her fri friend ends s cou could ld sta start rtas as  e  n peasants,amasspowerandwealt peasants,ama sspowerandwealththroughtheiradhthroughtheirad-  c  e ventures,andeventuallyruleasqueens.Role-play-  M  a inggroupsdonothavetoengageinepicplay,butin  i     n ourexperiencethemostfun ourexperience themostfuncomesfromdev comesfromdeveloping eloping  R   u acharacterandplayinghimorherinalotofcon-  l     e  b    o nectedstories.  o  k    :   n Nowthatyouhaveanideaofwhatrole-playing  I     t    o is,weencourageyoutoreadaheadandexplorethe  r   d    u worldwehavecreatedforyou.  c  t    i     o  n

WhatYouNeedtoPlay

TipsforPlayers

To pla playVal yValence enceever every y pla player yer needs a piec piece e of Hereareafewthingswhichwillhopefullymake pape pa perr, th thei eir r fa favo vori rite te wr writ itin ing g ut uten ensi sil l (p (pen en, , pe penc ncil il, , thingseasierforyou,theotherpl thingseasierforyou,theotherplayers ayers,andtheGM: ,andtheGM: Palm almVII,etc),andsometen-sidedandtwenty-sided VII,etc),andsometen-sidedandtwenty-sided dice(atleastoneofeach,easilyfoundatahobbyor • Kn Know ow th the e rule rules s th that at ap appl ply y to you our r cha hara ract cter er. . gamingstore,andsomecomicbookshops).That’s Everyone should know the basic game aboutit. meccha me hani nics cs (l (lik ike e sk skil ill l us use e an and d He Hero ro Poi oint nts) s), , butt you sho bu houl uld d esp speeci cial ally ly kno now w you our r ow own n Youprobably ouprobablyalsowantat alsowantatleas leastfourpeople,so tfourpeople,so character’scapabilities.Ifyou’ character’ scapabilities.Ifyou’reasoldier,know reasoldier,know youcanhaveoneactingastheGameMasterandthe thecombatrules.Ifyou’readiplomat,knowhow otherthreeasPlayers.Youprobablydon’twantmore toparticipateinabattleofconviction.Ifyou’re than th an ab abou out t ni nine ne pe peop ople le, , as a pa part rty y of ei eigh ght t Ma Main in an ar arcchm hmag age, e, kn know ow th the e ca capa pabi bili liti ties es of you our r CharactersisalotforanyGMtohandle. spells.Thiswillspeedthingsupimmensely.

StartingtheGame Assumingyouhaveallthematerialsmentioned above,you’rereadytostart.

• Tryto rytobeunderst beunderstandingw andingwhenbad henbadthings thingshappen happen to you our r cha hara ract cter er, , as th they ey in inev evit itab ably ly wi will ll. . It happen hap pens s to ev every eryone one, , and it’ it’s s an una unavo voida idable ble partofthestory.

• Rem Rememb emberthat erthat whe whenyour nyour GMsay GMsayssome ssomethi thing ng Mostpeople Mostpeopl ewh who opla playRPGs yRPGs pla playthemabout ythemabout that th at co cont ntra radi dict cts s th the e ru rule les, s, you ca can n br brin ing g up onceaweek,soyouneedt onceaweek,s oyouneedtosetupat osetupatimeandlocaimeandlocatherules,butyourGMhastherighttochange tionthatallthePlayersandtheGMcanagreeon. them. While Whi le cra crashi shing ng in the li livin ving g room wor works ks jus just t ne formostpeople,placeslikepubliclibraries,gaming • Bring Bringsnac snacks. ks.Ever Everyone yonelik likesfo esfood. od. shops,studentcenters,anddormloungesarealso neplacestoplay(aslongasyouhavepermission, • Get into your character! Try to have your anddon’tgettooloudanddisturbing). characteractasheorshewould,notnecessarily asyouyourselfwouldact.Knowyourcharacter’s     6 Therstsessionofplayshouldbereservedfor cultureandspecieswell.    e    g charactercreation.ThatwaytheGMcanunderstand    a     P whoallofthecharactersare,andthosecharacters • Mostimp Mostimportant ortantly ly,bepolite ,bepolitetotheotherpla totheotherplayer yers. s. canmeeteachothertoo.Whilesomemoviesand Yourcharactercanbearudebastardtoeveryone booksstartoffwiththemaincharacteradventuring else el se’’s cha harrac acte terr, bu butt you sho houl uld d be ni nice ce to aloneforalittlewhile,it’sbesttokeepthattoaminithe oth other er pla playe yers rs or peo people ple wil will l sta start rt tak taking ing it    n mum. mum.InVal InValence enceall allof of thepla the player yers’ s’ charact cha racters ersare are pers pe rsona onall llyy. An And d re reme memb mber er: : if yo your ur ch char arac acte ter r    o     i     t    c maincharacters,andnooneshouldgetmoreplay is a ru rude de ba bast star ard, d, th the e ot othe her r ch char arac acte ters rs ar aren en’’t    u timethanany oneelseifyoucanhelpit. oucanhelpit.     d timethananyoneelseify necessarilygoingtobenicetohim necessarilygoing tobenicetohimorher orher..    o    r     t    n     I Beforetheplayersstartcreatingtheircharacters,    :     k    o theGMshouldlaydownthelawastowhereinthe    o     b galaxythegamewillhappen,whatsortofcharacters    e     l    u areallowed,andanyotherimportantdetails(such     R asextraback groundpoints).Thepla Theplayersshouldalso yersshouldalso    n asextrabackgroundpoints).     i    a talktoeachotherandensurethattheydon’tallcome     Mupwiththeexactsamecharacterconcept.    e    c    n    e     l Charactercreationusuallytakessometimecon   a     V sultingwiththeGM.Youdon’thavetowaitforother peopletocreatetheircharactersbeforeyouworkon yours—youshouldprobablytrytoputsomeideas downonpaperwhileyouwait.

Introductions

certainlythemostintelligent.Theyhadlittletodo withgalacticpolitics.

Nowthatwehavetherealbasicsoutoftheway, let’ le t’s s ta talk lk ab abou out t th this is ga game me fo for r a mi minu nute te. . Wha What’ t’s s it about?What’sgoingoninthegalaxy?

The Archangels(ARK-ain-gels)wereamysteryto  Archangels(ARK-ain-gels)wereamysteryto ourscientistsasmuchastoeveryotherspeci ourscient istsasmuchastoeveryotherspecies’. es’.A A built-ininabilitytolie?Awarriorculturethatseemed tohaveintentional tohaveintent ionallydestroy lydestroyedmostof edmostof itstechn itstechnolology?Itwasbizarre,buttheretheywere,largerthan life.

CurrentAffairs Thegalaxyis Thegalax yis pic pickin king gits itself elf upfromoneof the biggestdisastersit’severfaced.Itwastheendofan empire—andnotanobleend,either empire—andnotanobleend,ei ther,asEarthitself ,asEarthitself wasrendereduninhabitablebyanarticialasteroid strike. Humanity Humani tysha shares res the gal galaxy axy wit with h a num number ber of otherspecies,allofwhomhavebeenaroundsomewhat wha t lon longer ger tha than n us. Whe When n we weuse use the pas past t ten tense se below,itistoremindyouthatthegalaxyisnolonger organizedbyspecies,nottoimplythatanyofthese specieshavedisappearedorbeenhuntedtoextinction.Allofthemareali tion.All ofthemarealiveandwell. veandwell.

Species

The pl plan antl tlik ike e Nesti  (NESS-tee) were the Valori alorians’ ans’ polar opposi opposites tes — warl warlike, ike, argum argumentaentative,anddumbasapost.Theyoftenfoundithard totintopastempires, totinto pastempires,andtheCara andtheCaractingessenwere ctingessenwere theironlyrealallies. TheSa’crontor (sa-CRON-tor)wereyoungcomTheSa’crontor  (sa-CRON-tor)wereyoungcompared par edto tomos most t spe specie cies,but s,but sti stillmanag llmanaged edto towor worm m their thei r wa way y intoevery partof the thegala galaxy xy.They .They were ambitious,talkative,andagi ambitious,talka tive,andagile,andlovedin le,andlovedinvestigatvestigatingnewthings. The two Ogre (OH (OH-gr -grr) r) spe specie cies s wer were e the mos most t recentspeciesbeforeHumanitywasdiscovered.Not verybright,butstrongandloyal,theyhadservedthe Caractsasbodyguardsand Caractsas bodyguardsandshocktroopsbef shocktroopsbeforetheir oretheir liberation.

The Inuueliting  (IN IN-y -you ou-E -ELLLL-iihh-ti ting ng), ), as th thee galaxy gal axy’’s old oldest est spe specie cies, s,wer were e our rs rst t con contac tact t and our int interm ermitt ittent ent all allies ies in our que quest st for an emp empire ire. . Becauseoftheirageandexperience,thesespeTheyarephysicallythemosthuman-likeofallthe initially ally undere underestima stimatedHumanity tedHumanity. .Beca Becauseof useof  P  speciesinthegalaxy,sharingourgeneralshape speciesinthegalaxy ,sharingourgeneralshapeand and cies initi  a that,itwasmucheasierforustocreateagalactic   g formwithafewalterations.  e empireintherstplace—Humans,asitturnsout,  7  galaxy’ y’s s fast fastest-t est-thinki hinking ng and most creat creative ive Theappearanceofthe Budetug (BOO-deh-toog) are the galax Budetug(BOO-deh-toog) matchessomeofourworstnightmares,withadozen species.Takingtheinventionsofotherspecies,imlegs,greatcrab-likepincers,andahardexoskeleton. provingthem,andadaptingthemtoourneeds,we spreadoutlikewildrea ikewildreandinam ndinamerehundredy erehundredyears ears  V   a Inno In nova vati tive ve an and d pr prag agma mati tic, c, th they ey tu turn rned ed ou out t to be spreadoutl  l     e much less fear fearsomein somein perso personali nality ty than thanin in appea appearr- hadessentiallyconqueredthegalaxy.  n  c  e ance.  M Cultures  a  i     n The Caractingessen (ca (carr-A -ACT CT-in -in-GE -GESSSS-en) en), , on  R  the oth otherhand,werejust erhand,werejust asfears asfearsome ome astheyapIntheend,ourimpactwasfeltnotinconquering  u  e peared.Sincetheirappearancewasthatofadino- thegalaxy,norinthelawscreatedbyourill-fated  l     b   saur sau r cro crosse ssed d wit with h a dra dragon gon, , one can ima imagin gine e tha that t empire. empire.Theinnov TheinnovationHumansintroducedwasthe ationHumansintroducedwasthe  o  o  k   theirtemperswereanythingbutmild. idea ide a of ofgro groups ups bas based edon on ide ideolo ologie gies s and cor corpor porate ate  :   I    struct str ucture ures s ra rathe ther r tha than n gen geneti etic c dif differ ferenc ences, es, and the  n  t    r  TheHalla The (HALL-ah)wereanotherspeciessome- conceptcaughtonlikewildre.Theseculturesstill  o Halla(HALL-ah)wereanotherspeciessome d    u whatlikehumanityinappearance,butsmallerand playahugeroleinthegalaxytoday.  c  t    i    quite wrink wrinkly ly, ,withjustenough withjustenough phy physica sical ldiffe difference rence  o  n tobeunsettling.Theirshort-livedtradingempirehad (JEEN-tek),arguablythemostpowerGenetech(JEEN-tek),arguablythemostpowerGenetech collapsed colla psed a few hundre hundred d yea years rs before Human Humanity’ ity’s s fulcultureinthegalaxy,controlsaboutathirdofit. appearance,leavingchaosandinstability. Theirpullstemsfromanexceptionallystrongmedia pres pr esen ence ce an and d po powe werf rful ul pe pers rson onal alit itie ies. s. Be Behi hind nd th the e TheamphibiousValorians Theamphibious (val-OR-ee-ans)were sc Valorians(val-OR-ee-ans)were scen enes es, , th thei eir r Ultramercenaries (dr (drugug-con contro trolle lled, d, possib pos siblythe lythe mos most t qui quietspeci etspeciesin esin the gal galaxy axy, , and

geneticallyengineeredcombatants)keepthepeace whennothingelsewill.

Duelists,whocansuspendthelimitsofLordingin Duelists,whocansuspendthelimitsofLordingin veryspecicways.

The CoalitioncontrolsanotherthirdofthegalTheCoalition controlsanotherthirdofthegalaxy,beingtheremnantsoftheoldHumanEmpire. They Th ey are a str strong ong cen centra tral l gov govern ernmen ment, t, con contro trolli lling ng their the ir tho thousa usands nds of wor worlds lds thr throug ough h la law w and ord order er. . Theyrecruitnewworldswithhumanitarianaidand theappealofamoremoralsociety.

were re an anot othe herr. The hese se po port rtal als s al allo low w Tesseracts we starshipstocrossvastdistancesinstantaneously,and takeverylittleenergyto takeveryl ittleenergytocreate.Itw create.Itwasthroughthese asthroughthese portalsthattheInuuelitingcametooursolarsystem. Whilewehadhopedforhundredsofyearstond some so meth thin ing g th that at wo woul uld d ca carr rry y us be betw twee een n th the e st star ars s withoutspending witho utspending mille millenniainthe nniainthe journe journeyy,we had thoughtitphysicallyimpossible.TheTesseractDrive proveduswrong.

 Ægis(A-jiss),formerlyanarmordesignrm,is  Ægis(A-jiss),formerlyanarmordesignrm,is nowhometothegalaxy’sculturalandtechnological bestandbrightest.Theyarealsooneofthestrongest voicesforpeaceandunication,thoughsadlythese suggestionsareignoredmoreoftenthannot.

YourCharacters

Whetherthegalaxywillrecoverandndstrength once ce ju just st a we weap apon ons s inunity,orcrumblebackintoafactionatedmessis  Armageddon Indus  Armageddon Industries tries,, on broker brok er, , isnow the hom home e for all man manner ner of ofrou roughgh- stilltobeseen.Yourcharacterscomeintothisworld and-tumblesortswhoprefertolivetheirliveswith withthepotential withthepotentialandpowerneededtoc andpowerneededtochangeit. hangeit. vigor,gusto,andbigdangerousweapons.Theysupplymuchofthegalaxy’srenedmaterialsaswell. Starti Sta rting ng ch chara aracte cters rs inVal inValenc ence e are not ine inexpe xpe-rienced rienc ed “newbi “newbies. es.”They ”They can be seas seasoned oned comba combat t The here re ar are e al also so doz dozen ens s of Communal  cul cultur tures es veterans, well-connected politicians, starship-ownscatteredacrosstheoutergalaxy,whoarestartingto ingmerchants,orUltramercswhosurvivedtheirrst becomemoreorganizedandcohesiveasthegalaxy miss mission.The ion.They y hav have e seen seenthing things s like the theinte interior riorof of rebuilds. astarandthedarkne astarand thedarknessbetween ssbetweenour our gala galaxy’ xy’sspiral sspiral arms. arms . Moreo Moreover ver, , they are well well-posi -positione tioned d to effe effect ct The Th erem remnan nantsof tsof the pro proudand udand anc ancien ient t Inuuel realchangeinthegalaxy.Inshort,iftheworldisthe aswellasthereinventedBudetugCore, re- sameattheendofanEpic,itisbecausetheyhave Empire,aswellasthereinvented Empire, BudetugCore,remainstrongvoicesinthegalacticmilieu.Whilethey actedtopreservethestatusquo,notbecausethey aretinycultures culturescomparedtotheothers, comparedtotheothers,theyhave theyhave wereineffectual.     8 aretiny    e    g theauthorityofageandexperience,andstillpulla    a goodamountofpoliticalweight.     P Wehopethatthisbriefintroductionpiquedyour interestandorientedyoutothegalaxy.Now,onto TheUnexpected  themeatofthegame.    n WhenHumansmettheInuueliting,therewere    o     i     t    c afewthingsthattheInuuelshowedus.Some,like    u     d efcientfusionengines,weexpected.Theywerea    o natura ural l out outgro growth wth of tec techno hnolog logy y we alr alread eady y had had. .    r nat     t    n     I Otherthingscameasatotalsurprise,andthetwo    :     k most st im impo port rtan ant t we were re (a (and nd st stil ill l ar are) e) Lo Lord rdin ing g an and d    o mo    o Tesseracts.     b    e     l    u     R A na natu tura ral l ab abil ilit ity y fo for r wh whic ich h hum human ans s ha had d li litt ttle le    n     i dire rect ct co cont ntro rol l of th the e la laws ws    a aptitude, Lording is a di     Mof nature by bywill. will.Thoughlimited Thoughlimitedin in area area, , it’ it’s s very    e    c powerfulineffect,andcandothingsthataretotally    n    e imp imposs ossibl ible e to acc accomp omplis lish h tec techno hnolog logica ically lly. . It als also o     l    a vario rious us lim limits its, , mos most t not notice iceabl ably y its ina inabil bility ity to     V has va affectlivingmatter.Allspecieshavesomecapability forthispower,thoughnottothesameextent,and thereareevensomehumanswhopracticeitinthis day da y and age age.The .There re are als also o ind indiv ividu iduals als kno known wn as

TheSpeciesof theMilkyW theMilky Way Thi his s se sect ctio ion n de deta tail ils s th the e in indi divi vidu dual al sp spec ecie ies s of thegalaxy,describingthemphysicallyandsocially, andgivinganoverviewoftheirhistory.Thesocial commentsshouldnotbetakenasgospel—many individualsdifferfromthenorm,especiallyamong themorecreativespecies,andculturetendstobe moreimportantthanspeciestothoselivingin592. Thinkofthismoreasacommonheritagethanasan overridinginnernature.

Inuueliting Homeworld:Ll’Anderanth Homeworld:Ll’Anderanth Inuuel;Wisps,Golds,Silvers, CommonNames:Inuuel;Wisps,Golds,Silvers, CommonNames: Darks,orPlatinums,dependingonrace.  AverageLifespan: 700-900Years 6MillionBC TesserCapability:6MillionBC TesserCapability:

TheInuuelitingareabipedalhumanoidspecies brokenintoave-castesystemw brokenintoave-ca stesystemwhichhaspredomihichhaspredominatedtheirsocietyforover6millionyears.Theybelievethemselvestobetheoldestraceinthegalaxy andpridethemselvesonbeingtheEldestoftheve Elder Elde r race races s (the Inuuel Inuueliting iting, , Cara Caracting ctingesse essen, n, Halla Halla, , Speciesarelistedintheorderinwhichtheywere Bud Budetu etug, g, and the Valo aloria rians) ns). . Mos Most t sta stand nd bet betwee ween n introducedtothegalaxy. sixandsevenfeettall,dependingonageandclass. OlderInuuelitingaretalle OlderInuueliting aretallerthantheir rthantheiryoungerbrethyoungerbrethAlsoincludedattheendofeachspeciesdescrip- ren,astheysl ren,astheyslowlygrowov owlygrowoverthecenturies. erthecenturies. tionaregamestatisticsforeachspecies.Thestatistics givenareinthefollowingformat: The Th e ve cas castes tes, , det detail ailed ed bel below ow, , ser serve ve va vario rious us func fu ncti tion ons s fo for r th the e In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g so soci ciet etyy. The la larg rges est t Thebaseattributesforamemberofthis casteistheMaltec’inuueliting,theworkercaste.As  Attributes:Thebaseattributesforamemberofthis  Attributes: spec sp ecie ies. s. The me mean anin ings gs of th thes ese e at attr trib ibut utes es ar are e theoneswhoprovidefoodandgoodstheyarethe explainedonpagexx.Thetypicalrangeis1-10. mostrespectedcasteinInuuelitingsocietybuthave The e app approx roxima imate te ra range nge at whi which ch mem member bers s theleastpower.Theothercastestendtorespectthe Vision: Th of thi this s spe specie cies s can dis distin tingui guish sh one ind indiv ividu idual al wis wishes hes of Mal Maltec tec’in ’inuue uuelit liting ing in all mat matter ters s exc except ept from fr om an anot othe her r by si sigh ght, t, as assu sumi ming ng go good od vi visu sual al foreignaffairsandmilitarymatters.  P  conditions.  a Therange at atwh whic ich h a qui quietconve etconversa rsatio tion n Hearing:Therange Hearing: Afterthefall Aft erthefall oftheir Emp Empire ire in1.4milli in1.4millionBC onBC   g  e can beheard beheard, , ass assumi umingthatthere ngthatthere islittl islittle e els else e the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng wit withdr hdrew ew fro from m the their ir col coloni onies es and  9  around. refocusedtheireffortsontheoldestsectorsoftheir Thersttwonumbersaremetersperround spa Speed:Thersttwonumbersaremetersperround Speed: space. ce. Man Many y now bel believ ieve e the their ir ra race ce is in dec declin line e whenwalkingorrunningin whenwalking orrunningincombat,respectively. combat,respectively. andspendtheirt andspendtheirtimetryingtore imetryingtorecordorrerecordthe cordorrerecordthe  V  Thelastnumberisdailymovementinkilometers, vastInuuelitinghistoriesandbiographiesforothers  a  l     e assuminganeight-hourmarch. tolearnfrom.Otherslivetheirlivesindenialthat  n  c Thespecies’built-inarmorvalue. NaturalArmor:Thespecies’built-inarmorvalue. NaturalArmor: theirgreatempirecouldeverhavefallenatall.Itis  e  M amount unt and typ type e of dam damage age commonforanInuuelitingtorefusetakinganaction  a  Attack  Attac k Dama Damage: ge: The amo  i    donebythespecies’naturala donebythespec ies’naturalattacks. ttacks. oracceptnewideasandbeliefsbecauseitis“notin  n  R   u Thespecies’sizerating,usedforguringhow tunewithwhattheancestorshavedone.” Size:Thespecies’sizerating,usedforguringhow Size:  l     e manywoundlevelsthechar manywoundlev elsthecharacterhas. acterhas.  b    o Thebonusesorpenaltiesthisspecies SavingThrows:Thebonusesorpenaltiesthisspecies SavingThrows: Inuueliting refer to each other by their  o  k   hass to sa ha savves ver erssus bl bliind ndne ness ss, , de deaafn fneess ss, , or ca cast ste e na name mes, s, so a Da Dai’ i’in inuue uueli liti ting ng wo woul uld d gr gree eet t a  :   S   disease. Dais Da isha hain inin ing’ g’in inuu uuel elit itin ing g wi with th “D “Dai aish shai aini ning ng” ” or   p  e Otherabilitiesordrawbac esordrawbackswhich kswhichdo do not “S Special:Otherabiliti Special: “Sha hain in..” For orma mal l gr gree eeti ting ngs s (a (at t po poli liti tica cal l or so soci cial al  c  i     e tintheabovescheme. events),alwaysincludetheInuuelitingrace-namefor  s  honor’ssake. honor’ ssake.Thiscustomhascarrie Thiscustomhascarriedoverintotheir doverintotheir dealin dea lings gs wit with h oth other er rac races, es, cau causin sing g the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng endless endle ss grief grief.Their .Their greet greeting ingof of “Huma “Human, n, good day toyou,”isusuallyviewedasarrogance,nothonor. BudetugareparticularlysensitivetotheInuueliting customofracial-nameaddress,aproblemwhichis compoundedbythetendencyofDai’inuuelitingand

Daishaining’inuuelitingtomispronounce Daishaining’inuuelitingto mispronouncetheirname theirname “bu-det-ug.”

InuuelitingHistory  The In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g ev evol olve ved d fr from om tr tree ee-t -topop-dw dwel ellling in g an anim imal als s 10 mi mill llio ion n ye year ars s ag ago. o. Ov Over er th the e ne next xt four fo ur mi mill llio ion n yea ears rs th they ey sl slow owly ly ev evol olvved in into to th the e caste-racesoftodayonvedifferentcontinentson their homew homeworld,Ll’Ander orld,Ll’Anderanth. anth.Tra Trade de betwe between enthe the differentcastesbeganandaglobalcivilizationdeveloped. Inuueliti Inuuel iting ng spa space ce exp explor lorati ation on beg began an wh when en the Maltec’in Malte c’inuueli uueliting ting ran out of resou resources rces onVerda onVerdas, s, the thi third rd con contin tinent ent of ofLl’ Ll’And Andera eranth nth, , and tur turned ned to theplanet’smoonsformineralsandraremetals. theplanet’s moonsformineralsandraremetals.They They slow sl owly ly de depl plet eted ed th the e re reso sour urce ces s on th the e mo moon ons s an and d wereforcedto wereforce dto tra traveltootherplanet veltootherplanetsin sinthesyste thesystem m to suppor support t the thegrowi growing ng Inuue Inuueliti liting ng soci society ety. . By that timeinghtingbetweenthecasteshadbegunasthey strugg str uggled led for res resour ources ces and spa space ce on hom homewo eworld rld. . The Dai’i Dai’inuueli nuuelitingand tingand Silk Silke’in e’inuueli uuelitingforgedan tingforgedan allianceandbegantoengageinopenwarfareagainst the Mal Maltec tec’in ’inuue uuelit liting ing and Dan Danlec lectin ting’i g’inuu nuueli elitin ting g castes.

othercastes,onceagaincausingghtingtoerupt othercastes,onceagaincaus ingghtingtoerupton on thehomeworld. The Da Daiishaining’inuueliting worked out a compro com promis mise e wit with h the oth other er cas castes tes lat late e in the wa war r as Ll Ll’A ’And nder eraant nth h la layy aro roun und d th theem in ru ruin in.. The Malt Ma ltec ec’i ’inu nuue ueli liti ting ng wou ould ld be th thee wo work rker er cas astte as a pu puni nish shme ment nt fo for r th thei eir r at atte temp mpt t to co cont ntro rol l th the e Poo ool l of Ra Radi dian ance ce, , bu but t th they ey wo woul uld d be al allo lowe wed d to grow gro w the their ir pop popula ulatio tion n to dw dwarf arf the oth others ers so tha that t no Ma Malt ltec ec’i ’inu nuue ueli liti ting ng wo woul uld d li live ve in fe fear ar of be be-ing ov overp erpowe owered red aga again. in. Onl Only y the Dai Dai, , Sil Silke, ke, and Malt Ma ltec ec’i ’inu nuue ueli liti ting ng wo woul uld d be al allo lowe wed d to su subm bmit it cand ca ndid idat ates es to th the e Poo ool l to be le lead ader ers s of th the e ra race ce. . Thes hese e can candid didate ates s wou would ld be sub submer merged ged at bir birth th in the Pool and the then n rai raised sed by the oth other er cas castes tes unt until il theyreachedmaturityandtooktheirrightfulplaces asleaders.Histori asleader s.Historiansoftenrefer ansoftenreferto tothisdeci thisdecisionas sionas theCompactofRadiance. Overtimeeachcastebecameaccustomedtothe changesandhonoredtheothersfortheirstreng cha ngesandhonoredtheothersfortheirstrengths. ths. Withthetesserpower Withthe tesserpoweroftheDaisha oftheDaishaining’inuueliting ining’inuueliting shipsbegantotraveloutsidetheirhomesystemand colonieswerestartedonotherworlds.

CarefulresearchbyMaltec’inuuelitingscientists resultedintherstmechanicaltesserdevice,based on the Dai Daisha shaini ining’ ng’inu inuuel ueliti iting ng sto stone, ne, 5.5 mil millio lion n The ne netw twor ork k se setu tup p by th the e Ma Malt ltec ec’i ’inu nuue ueli liti ting ng ye years ars ago ago. . Wi With th the cap capabi abilit lity y to exp explor lore e wit withou hout t     0 to tofer ferry ryres resour ources ces into int o the planet pla net from fro m around aro und the theaideofaShain,theInuuelitingbeganexpand    1 solarsystemwasslowlydestroyed,andallthecaste    e ingatafasterrate.TheyencounteredtheBudetug,    g    a societies ties bega began n to coll collapse. apse.The The Malte Maltec’inu c’inuuelit ueliting ing Caractingessen,Halla,andValoriansby3.1million     P socie sufferedthehighestcausalitiesandtheirpopulation BC. began beg an to plu plumme mmet t bel below owtha that t of the oth other er cas castes tes. . The Danle Danlecting cting’inuu ’inuueliti eliting ng reali realized zed that no singl single e By3millionBCtensionbetweentheInuueliting castecouldunitetheInuuelitingsotheyperformed and Budetug resulted in a galactic war. The apowerfulritetocreatethe“PoolofRadiance,”a In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g wo won n an and d fo forc rced ed th the e Bu Bude detu tug g ba back ck to chamberpoollledwithaspecialsubstancewhich the    s their ir hom homewo eworld rld, , a hum humili iliati ating ng def defeat eat the they y ha have ve    e     i    c wouldcreateanewbreedofInuuelitingfromthose neverforgotten.Forthenextoneandahalfmillion    e    p whoweresubmergedintoit. yearstheBudetugworkedasathorninthesideof     S    : the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng Emp Empire ire, , na nally lly ov overt erthro hrowin wing g the their ir     k    o InuuelitingsubmergedintotheP Inuuelitingsubmerge dintothePoolofRadiance oolofRadiance rulein1.4millionBC.    o     b we were re imbu im bued ed with wi th plat pl atin inum um-c -col olor ored ed skin sk in and an d a    e     l    u Sincetheirdisposaloveramillionyearsagothe     R smallstoneintheirforeheadscapableofproducing a tesser tes seract act once onc e they the y reach rea ched ed maturi mat urity ty. . With Wi th this thi s    n Inuuelitingpopulationhasdecreasedbymorethan     i    a newpowerthefewDanlecting’inuuelitingwhounfty ft y per percen cent, t, and the their ir hom homewo eworld rlds s ha have ve sto stoppe pped d     M derwenttheinitial derwen ttheinitialtransfor transformati mationbegantoendthe onbegantoendthe ne    e new w re ressea earrch, col olon oniz izat atio ion, n, an and d exp xpllor orat atio ion. n.    c    n ghtingandgaintherespectoftheothercastes. However,someofthemprovedmoreadaptable,and    e     l    a itisthismorehardybreedthatisoftenseenacross     V A sm smal all l ba band nd of Ma Malt ltec ec’i ’inu nuue ueli liti ting ng, , ca call llin ing g thegalaxy. themselv thems elvestheAl’na estheAl’navRoshen,tried vRoshen,tried totakecontrol of the Pool for the themse mselve lves s so the their ir peo people ple wou would ld neve ne ver r ag agai ain n ha have ve to fa face ce th the e wr wrat ath h of th the e ot othe her r castes.TheyfailedtotakethePoolandinfuriatedthe

The great greatest est Inuue Inuueliti liting ng scie scientis ntists ts hav have e alw always ays been be en Ma Malt ltec ec, , in incl clud udin ing g th thos ose e wh who o un unlo lock cked ed th the e sec ecre rett of th the e te tess sser er sto tone ne fo foun und d in th thee Sha hain inss’ Dai,commonlyreferredtoastheWispsorHigh, foreh foreheads. eads. Many ofthesescienti ofthesescientistsbegantoresent stsbegantoresent are tall tall, , winge winged d Inuue Inuuelitin liting g peopl people.They e.They are typi typi-- theupstartHumanswhosweptthroughthegalaxy callythemostbeautifulanddelicatecaste,boasting and imp improv roved ed upo upon n in inve venti ntions ons whi which ch Mal Maltec tec had broad broa d but butter teryy-lik like e win wings gs twi twice ce the their ir hei height ght wit with h workedonforages. wingspansof8metersandintricatecolorpatterns. Theirskinisapalehuewhichoftenresemblesthe coloringintheirwings.

Dai’inuueliting,orDai 

Danlecting’inuueliting,orDanlec

Daitypicallylive incloudcitiesonestablis Daitypicallylive incloudcitiesonestablished hed Inuu In uuel elit itin ingg wor orllds an and d are th thee le lead adeers of the heiir Danlecareoftenreferredtoas“Darks”bythose society socie ty. .The These se citi cities es are compl complex ex oati oating ng cav caverns, erns, outsid outside e Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng soc societ ietyy. Thei heir r ski skin n abs absorb orbs s the riddledwithchambersandpassagewaysonlynavilightfromstarsandsousually lightfromsta rsandsousuallyappearstobea appearstobeashade shade gableduringight. ofdullblack.Whennotinstarlighttheirskinhasa goldentint,similartothatoftheSilke.Theirhairis tintedwithsilverorgoldenhuesandstreaks.

Silke’inuueliting,orSilke

The ene The energy rgy abs absorb orbed ed by the Dan Danlec lec is usu usuall ally y bled ble d off slo slowly wly, , but can be ch chann annele eled d in inburs bursts ts if the heyy wi wish sh.. In add ddit itio ion n to th theeir ene nerg rgyy ab abil ilit itie ies s Danlec Dan lec ha have ve an unc uncann anny y af afnit nity y for the Lor Lordin ding. g. Budetu Bud etug g mot mother hers s tel tell l the their ir ch child ildren ren hor horror ror sto storie ries s aboutDanlecsneakingintotheirroomsandblasting themwithhorribleburningreiftheyarebad.

The Silke are four-armed, golden skinned Inuu In uuel elit itin ing g co comm mmon only ly re refe ferr rred ed to by mo most st ra race ces s as “G “Gol olds ds..” The hey y co cons nsti titu tute te th the e ma majo jori rity ty of th the e homeworld homew orld milit military ary, , boast boasting ing great greater er stre strength ngth and stamin sta mina a tha than n the oth other er cas castes tes. . Gol Golds ds ra rarel rely y gro grow w tall ta ller er th than an 17 170 0 cm cm, , bu but t ar are e th the e st stro rong nges est t of th the e Inuueliting.Mostgoldsarebornambidextrous,alAfter Aft er the cre creati ation on of the Po Pool ol of Rad Radian iance ce the lowingthemtousemultipleweaponsatoncewith- Danlechaveseenthemselvesastheprotectorsofthe outmuchincreasedeffort. Inuueliting.Theyliveasreclusesincornersofpopu P   a lated lat ed Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng wor worlds lds, , sec secret retly ly kee keepin ping g tab tabs s on   g Mikl Mi klar ar’h ’hal alie ien n Si Silk lke’ e’in inuu uuel elit itin ing, g, ge gene nera rall lly y re re-- the Daish Daishainin aining’in g’inuueli uueliting ting and the candi candidates dates for  e gardedasthegreatestwarriorinInuuelitinghistory, thePoolofRadiance.Someestimatethatthereare  1   1  isespeciallyreveredamongtheGolds.Hisexploits fewerDanlecthantheothercastes,butbecauseof duri du ring ng th the e r rst st In Inuu uuel elit itin ing/ g/Bu Bude detu tug g wa war r he help lped ed theirnaturenooneis theirnaturenooneisreallycertain reallycertainhowmanyexi howmanyexist. st. clinchvictoryduringthatstruggle.Onceeverytwo hundredyearsthebestwarriorsofthecastegather Sinc Si nce e th the e ar arri rivval of Hu Huma mans ns on th the e ga gala lact ctic ic onaforestedmoonorsmallplanetandparticipate scen scene, e, Danle Danlec c hav have e been seen outsi outside de Inuuel Inuueliting iting inwargameshonoringMiklar’halien,hopingtore- cir circle cles s for the rs rst t tim time e in mil millio lions ns of ye years ars. .T This  V   a  l    ceivethecovetedme ceivethe covetedmedalwhichs dalwhichshareshisname. hareshisname. moreoutgoingbehavior,despitethecollapseofthe  e  n HumanEmpireandthetypicalInuuelitingtendency  c  e toshu to shun n oth others ers and the new ide ideas asthe they y bri bring, ng, isa  M  a  i    goodsignforthegalaxyasawhole.  n Maltec’inuueliting,orMaltec  R   u  l     e Commonly Commo nly refer referred red to as “Silv “Silvers, ers,” ” the Malt Maltec ec  b    o  o aretheshortestoftheInuuelitingpeople.Theystand Daishaining’inuueliting,orShain  k    :  roughly roug hly ve and a hal half f fee feet t tal tall l and loo look k lik like e thi thin n  S     p Humanswithlongerarmsandawidermidsection. Daishainingarethetall,platinum-coloredlead-  e SilversperformmostoftheworkinInuuelitingsoci- ersofInuuelitingsociety,bornofcastemothersbut  c  i     e etyasaresultoftheCompactofRadiance,andthose alteredinthePoolofRadiance.Humanstypicallyre-  s  wholiveoutsideoftheAncientInuuelsocietyare fertothemas“Platinums,”butotherraceshonorthis oftenseencontinuingthislegacy. castewiththeterm“Shain,”atermwhichmanyalso usetohonorgreatleadersintheirownsocieties.

Onlycandidateswhoarepureofheartandmind surv su rviv ive e th the e su subm bmer ersi sion on in th the e Poo ool l of Ra Radi dian ance ce. . Aftertheritualthosewhosurvivereappearasplatinum-skinnedInuuelitingwithatesserstoneintheir forehead.Theyinheritthesamefeaturesandbody struct str ucture ure as the their ir ear earlie lier r cas caste te but usu usuall ally y fee feel l no allegiancetotheirparentcaste.Someclaimlaterin lifethattheyfeltthecallingofthePoolasyouths,but asmostcandidatesaresubmergedonlyweeksafter birththeseclaimsareoftenmetwi birththeseclaims areoftenmetwithskepticism. thskepticism.

Budetug Homeworld:Portenthar Homeworld:Portenthar Budetug,Bugs,Crackers CommonNames:Budetug,Bugs,Crackers CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 180-220Years 52MillionBC TesserCapability:52MillionBC TesserCapability:

The Bud The Budetu etug g are a ra race ce of ins insect ectoid oid cre creatu atures res characterizedbytwelvethinlegs,dexterouspincers, AfterconversiontheShainareraisedbymem- andwideskinapswhicharcoutfromeitherside bersofallthecastes except other Shain Shain.They .They are of th thei eir r he head ads. s. Bu Bude detu tug g ar are e rou rough ghly ly v ve e fe feet et ta tall ll requiredtoworkalongsidetheirfellowInuueliting, whenstanding whenstandingontheirrears ontheirrearsixlegs,t ixlegs,theircustomary heircustomary so mo most st be beco come me fa fami mili liar ar wi with th g ght htin ing, g, re rese sear arch ch, , postureinpublic.Whenmovingonall12oftheir warfare,andLording.Oncetheyhavereachedma- spindlylegstheyusuallyonlystandthreefeettallat turityandhavecompletedtheireducationtheShain theshoulder. onceagainenterthePoolof onceagainentert hePoolofRadiancetopro Radiancetoprovetheir vetheir purity puri ty. . Onl Only y the then n can the they y tak take e the their irpla place ceasthe asthe Bude Bu detu tug g bo bodi dies es ar are e co cove vere red d wi with th chi hiti tino nous us honoredleadersofallthecastes.Mostsurvivethe exoskeletons,buttheyalsohaveacomplexinternal second sec ond sub submer mergen gence. ce. Th Those ose wh who o don don’t ’t dis disapp appear ear skeletalsystemtosupporttheirweight.Theyareborn intothedepthsofthePool. with4bodysections,butbymaturitythemiddletwo

TheInuuelinGameTerms  Attributes:MostsubraceshaveAgility9,Creativity1,  Attributes:MostsubraceshaveAgility9,Creativity1, Dexterity 9, Intelligence 5, Lording 6, Ment Me ntal al En Endu dura ranc nce e 2, St Stam amin ina a 1, St Stre reng ngth th1 1, , Visualization 1. Golds have Dexterity 5,     2 Strength2,andStamina2.     1 2kmindaylight,1kmatnight Vision:2kmindaylight,1kmatnight Vision:    e    g    a Hearing: 40meters Hearing:40meters     P 15/30/30.HighInuueliting haveconcealable haveconcealable Speed:15/30/30. Speed: wingswhichallowthemtoyat25/50/50. 0,Goldshave2 NaturalArmor:0,Goldshave2 NaturalArmor: Nonewhatsoever. SlapDamage:Nonewhatsoever. SlapDamage: 5 Size:5 Size: agai ains nstt bl blin indn dnes ess s or Saving Savi ng Th Throws rows:: -2 to save ag    s    e     i deafness    c    e Special: All but Gol Gold d Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ngha have ve ve very ryfra fragil gile e    p     S bones,andmustbecarefulnottobreakthem.    :     k    o GoldInuuelhaveHuman-likebones.Goldshave    o     b four fou r amb ambide idextr xtrous ous arm arms, s, but mus must t pa pay y dou double ble    e     l    u costforanyarmortheypurchase.Theyalsohave     R anA’Darngland,describedonpagexx.Platinum    n     i    a InuuelhaveaTesseractStoneembeddedintheir     M fore fo rehe head ad, , de desc scri ribe bed d on pa page ge xx xx. . Al All l In Inuu uuel el    e    c except exce pt Silv Silvers ersstart start with with15 15 Bac Backgroun kground d point points s    n    e     l insteadof20.    a     V

growtogetherintoanhourglass-shapedmidsection. MostBudetugtattootheirmidsectionsasa“riteof passage”oncetheyhavereachedmaturity,usingthe familysymbolsoftheirmothers’ancestors. UnlikemanyEarthinsectstheBudetugarenot controlledbyasingular controlledby asingularqueenorhiv queenorhivemind,i emind,instead nstead each eac h has an ind indiv ividu idual al per person sonali ality ty and nat nature ure. . In grou gr oups ps of th thei eir r ow own n ki kind nd, , ho howe weve verr, th the e Bu Bude detu tug g willoftensuppresstheirindividualityforthegreater whole.This whol e.This trai trait t and thei their r multi multiple ple“hands “hands,,” make theBudetugwellsuitedtoconstruction.Theyareoftencontractedtobuildc tencontract edtobuildcities,space ities,spacestations, stations,homes, homes, andplanetaryinfrastructure. Most races harbor a great respect for the Budetu Bud etug g and the their ir dil dilige igent nt wor work k eth ethic. ic. How Howev ever er, , some Inuue Inuueliti litingstillharborgrudges ngstillharborgrudges left ove overfrom rfrom theThirdWarinwhichtheBudetugoverthrewtheir Empire Emp ire, , and Hum Humans ans are con consta stantl ntly y off offend ending ing the Budetu Bud etug g by cal callin ling g the them m “bu “bugs, gs,” ” ins instea tead d of usi using ng their the ir rea real l nam name. e. Bud Budetu etug g eld elders ers on Port ortent enthar har are especiallysensitiveaboutthepronunciationoftheir racialnameandhavebeenknowntokilloffending parties. The surface of Portenthar, the Budetug homeworld,isconstantlybombardedwithhighlevelsofionizingradiationduetotherelativelyyoung ageofIthnos,itsF-typesun.T ageofIthnos, itsF-typesun.Thisradia hisradiationlead tionleadsto sto veryhighmutationrates,andconsequentiallyshort lifesp lif espans ans, , for an anyth ything ing tha that t li live ves s pri primar marily ily on the

surfac surf ace. e. Lo Long ng be befo fore re th they ey ha had d an any y so sort rt of fo form rmal al science,theBudetugknewthatexposuretothesun wasunhealthy,andtheybecamecavedwellers.Their naturalaptitudeforconstructionledthemtomodify andexpandthesecaverns,aprocessthatcontinued forliterallymillionsofyears.Theresultisthatevery squaremileofPortenthar’ssurface—whetheritbe plain,mountain,orocean—hasbeenhollowedout tomakeroomforthesprawlingc tomakeroomforthe sprawlingcitiesandtunnels itiesandtunnelsof of theBudetug.

Budetug Budetu g slo slowly wly yie yielde lded d to the gre greate ater r Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng forces.BeateninspiritandbodytheBudetugnally relentedwhenallbutafewoftheircolonieshadbeen destroyedorcaptured.Inthereofhatredafterthe wartheInuueliting wartheInuuel itingsweptoutintothegalaxyagain sweptoutintothegalaxyagain andorganizedintowhatwouldlaterberecognized asthesecondphaseoftheInuuelitingEmpire. Conictcontinuedintermittentlyovermillionsof yearsasthe yea rsasthegrowi growingBudetug ngBudetugpeoplesencount peoplesencountered ered resistanc resi stancefromtheInuueliti efromtheInuuelitingagainandagain.By ngagainandagain.By two tw o mil millio lion n BC the two ra races ces had par partic ticipa ipated ted in thousa tho usands nds of min minor or wa wars rs and bre brewed wed pot potent ent ani ani-mosity.WithinBudetugcoreworldsaplanstarted whichwouldpreparetheraceforagreatwaragainst the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting, ng, bui buildi lding ng up to suc such h a con conic ict t for hundredsofthousandsofyears.

OntheirhomeworldstheBudetugsleepduring the da day y and mob mobili ilize ze at nig night ht to sea searc rch h for foo food, d, eitherhuntingorscav eitherhuntingor scavenging. enging.Whenhuntingthey Whenhuntingtheyofoftengatherinfamilypacks tengatherinfam ilypacksof100ormoreandcomb of100ormoreandcomb thelandinsearchoffood.Intimesofscarcitythe Budetughave Budet ughavebeenknowntostripanimal beenknowntostripanimallifefrom lifefrom milesofwilderness,buttheytraditionallyareselectiveabouttheirhuntin tiv eabouttheirhunting,preferr g,preferringtobe ingtobecaret caretakers akers In1.4millionBCtheBudetugswarmedoutfrom ofthelifeontheirplanet. their colon their colonies iesand and fough fought t feroc ferociousl iously y to over overthro throw w the th e Em Empi pire re. . The hey y pe pers rsev ever ered ed ag agai ains nst t in incr cred edib ible le Budetug Budet ug were wereonce onceerc ercely elyagai against nstgenet genetic ic al- odd odds, s, oft often en str strugg ugglin ling g for da days ys for see seemin mingly gly los lost t terations tera tions and diSil diSilke ke mutat mutations. ions. Histo Historical rical recor records ds causes.TheThirdWar,asithascommonlyknown, show“cleansingtests”onPortenthartomakesure is l lle led d wi with th ta tale les s of Bu Bude detu tug g he hero rois ism m in wh whic ich h newbornchildrenhadnotbeenaffectedbythera- manyBudetugfoughttothedeath.TheInuueliting diationontheplanet.Today’sBudetugCoreWorlds warmac warmachine—anditsspiri hine—anditsspirit—wasbrokenbythe t—wasbrokenbythe Collectiveshunsthisancientpractice,andanywho tir tirele eless ss pus push h of the Bud Budetu etug g wa warri rriors ors. . Ela Elated ted, , the trytocarryoutsuchmeasuresfacestrongpunishBudetugdrovethemback Budetugdrove thembackintotheircore intotheircoreworldsand worldsand ments. pushedforthtoexplore pushedforth toexplorepreviouslyunkno previouslyunknownpartsof wnpartsof thegalaxy.  P   a   g  e BudetugHistory  TheBudetugEmpireexploredandcolonizedas  1  manyworldsduringits1.4millionyearreignasthe  3  The Inu nuue ueli liti ting ng we were re the r rsst rac ace e to ma make ke Inuuelit Inuuelitinghad inghadinnearlyve innearlyvemillionyears. millionyears.They Theybuilt built contactwiththeBudetugandimmediatelyrealized greatcitiesa greatcitiesandtemplesonallofthe ndtemplesonalloftheirworlds,erectirworlds,erecttheirpotentialasworkers.Industrious,resilient,but ingunderground“monumentstotime”sosplendid “obviouslyinferior,”theBudetugwouldmakeanex- theyrivalthemajestyoftheInuuelitingcloudcities. cellentslaveforcetofueltheexpandingInuueliting MostoftheoldBudetugworldswerehonoredwith  V  society socie ty.So .So itwasthatBudetug fami families lies weretrans weretrans-- gre great at spa space ce sta statio tions ns whi which ch bec became ame hub hubs s of com com--  a  l     e ported to Inuue Inuueliti liting ng worl worlds ds to const construct ructthe thegreat great merceandact  n merceandactivityearly ivityearlyinthenewEmpire. inthenewEmpire.  c cloud clo ud cit cities ies of the Dai Dai’In ’Inuue uuelit liting ing or wor work k in inva vast st  e  M miningcommuniti minin gcommunities.Duringthistimethe es.Duringthistimethe Budet Budetug ug DuringtheirreigntheBudetugfocusedinward  a patientlyresentedtheircaptors,learningmoreabout ontheirworlds  n ontheirworlds,creatingw ,creatingwondersbutnegle ondersbutneglectingthe ctingthe  i     R  theirweaknesses,technology,andhabits. otherracesintheprocess.TheEmpireslowlybegan  u  l    tocrumble,rstbylosinginuencewiththeother  e  b   The r rsst Bu Bude detu tugg-I -Inu nuue uellit itin ingg war oc occu curr rreed race races. s. Late Laterr, trad trade e route routes s shif shifted tedto to take adv advanta antage ge  o  o  k   around three mill million ion BC.The Budet Budetug ug had sprea spread d of the lucr lucrati ative ve inte interstel rstellar lar comme commerce rce encou encourage raged d  :   S   thro th roug ugho hout ut th the e In Inuue uueli liti ting ng co colo loni nies es, , an and d th thoug ough h bytheotherraces.Itwaswithgreatshockthatthe   p  e still vas vastlyoutnumbere tlyoutnumbered, d,lled lled man many y keypositions Bu Bude detu tug g me met t th the e Ca Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en at th the e Ba Batt ttle le of  c  i     e in the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng mac machin hine. e. Whe When n gh ghtin ting g sta starte rted d Lisharnokin Lisharnokin2315BC,andev 2315BC,andevengreaters engreatershockwhen hockwhen  s  thousa tho usands nds ofworld ofworlds s gro ground und to toa a sto stop,leav p,leaving ing the theEmpirefelllittlelessthanathousandyearslater InuuelitingtofendforthemselvesasBudetugscur- totheverysamefoe. ried rie d aro around und wre wreaki aking ng ha havo voc c on vit vital al sys system tems s and steali ste aling ng wh whate ateve ver r wea weapon pons s and shi ships ps the they y cou could. ld. Thewarcarriedonforthousandsofyearsandthe

TheBudetuginGameTerms Agil ilit ity y 2, Cr Crea eati tivi vity ty 5, De Dext xter erit ity y 55-9 9  Attributes: Ag Intelligence3,Lording2,MentalEndurance4, Stamina5,Strength1,Visualization6 500metersindaylight,500metersatnight. Vision:500metersindaylight,500metersatnight. Vision: Infraredvisionatarangeof400meters. 20meters Hearing:20meters Hearing: special,seebelow. Speed:special,seebelow. Speed: 2 NaturalArmor:2 NaturalArmor: 5Blunt PincerDamage:5Blunt PincerDamage: 4 Size:4 Size: Nomodiers SavingThrows:Nomodiers SavingThrows: Budetugarebornwithtwelvelegsandtwo Special:Budetugarebornwithtwelvelegsandtwo Special: large pince pincers. rs.Ordin Ordinaril arily y theywalk on six sixlegs legs andusetheothersixas“hands.”Thisgivesthem a5Dexterityandamovementrateof9/18/18. Theycanusemorelegstomanipulateobjects, increasingtheirDexteritybyonepointforeach setoflegs,andcancurltheirbodiesuptouse thei th eir r pi pinc ncer ers s as we well ll (p (pro rovi vidi ding ng a to tota tal l +4 to Dext De xter erit ity) y). . Al Alte tern rnat atel elyy, th they ey ca can n us use e mo more re of theirlegstowalk,givingthem+3/+6/+6totheir movementrateforeachadditionalpairoflegs usedtowalk,toamaximumof18/36/36withall legsinuse.

    4     1    e    g    a     P

Caractingessen Homeworld:Necrontor Homeworld:Necrontor Nors,Sentels,Gess CommonNames:Nors,Sentels,Gess CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 3,500-4,500Years 2.7MillionBC TesserCapability:2.7MillionBC TesserCapability:

“We “W e ar are e th the e Peo eopl ple e of Tim ime, e, an and d re reme memb mber er    s    e     i muchthatothersforgetastheir forgetastheirparentsandpare parentsandparents’ nts’    c muchthatothers    e    p parentsquicklyliveanddie.WearethePeopleof     S    : Sig Sight, ht, tho thosegrant segrantedwith edwith lon long g li live ves s tha that t ena enable ble us     k    o tondinhistorythatwhichothersoverlook.Weare    o     b thePeople oftheUniverse,abletoharnesstheg ,abletoharnessthegreat reat    e thePeopleoftheUniverse     l    u powersthatare,toshapeourworldsandourselves.     R    n WearetheCaractingessen.     i    a     M When Whe n the rs rst t of our Pe Peopl ople e cr crac acked ked his she shell ll    e    c    n andspreadhisedglingwingstodryinthelightof    e     l Necrontor’ssuntwogrea ssuntwogreatgiftswerebe tgiftswerebestowedupon stowedupon    a Necrontor’     V us:anunderstandingofourselvesandthestrength neededtoremainstronginthelightoftruth.Over timethePeoplehavecultivatedthesestrengthsand nowboastlegendarycontrolovertheLording,im-

mense mens e ph phys ysic ical al st stre reng ngth th, , an and d th the e wi wisd sdom om wh whic ich h comeswithyears. Our so Our sold ldie iers rs an and d ar arch chma magi gi ha have ve wr wrou ough ght t th the e eventswhichhavehelpedshapethegalaxyandour scholarshavebeenpresenttorecordthosechanges forposterity.Wehavehelpedtheyoungerracesin theirtimesoftrialandfoughtagainsttheelderraces intheirtimesoftyranny. It is thr throug ough h the gre great at Car Caract acting ingess essen en tha that t the Universeshapedwhatwasandforgesthatwhichis tobe.OursisanEmpireofEternity,theembodiment ofDestiny.Shareinourjoyonthis,therstdayof forever.”

— Ex Exce cerp rpt t fr from om th the e In Inau augu gura rati tion on sp spee eecch of Lord Lo rd Ol Olan an Sh Shan anok ok, , r rst st an and d la last st Em Empe pero ror r of th the e CaractingessenEmpire The Car The Caract acting ingess essen enare are a ra race ceof oflar large, ge, liz lizard ard-like li ke cr crea eatu ture res s whi hicch ev evol olvved on a la larg rge, e, gr gree een, n, lushworld.Theyarecharacterizedbyalong,scalecoveredbodywithsquare cov eredbodywithsquare jaw jawsand sand bodie bodies,block s,blocky y heads,andalongtail.Caractingessenhavetaloned clawsoneachoftheirfourfeetwhichtheyaresometimesseensharpeningagainstat,ceremonialrocks, in age age-ol -old d Car Caract acting ingess essen en wa warri rrior or tra tradit dition ion. . They boastabouttheirsize—often—andusuallyliveup tothetales:somehavegrownaslargeas40meters longand10meterstallatthe longand10meters tallattheshoulder shoulder,thoughmost ,thoughmost arelessthanhalfthatsize. The here re ar are e tw two o ma main in li line nes s of Ca Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en: : Grea Gr eats ts an and d Se Serp rpen enti tine nes. s. Gr Grea eats ts ar are e st stoc ocki kier er an and d stro st rong nger er, , bu but t ty typi pica call lly y sl slow ower er an and d le less ss de dext xter erou ous s than th an th thei eir r Se Serp rpen enti tine ne co cous usin ins. s. Gr Grea eats ts al also so ha have ve thick,leatherywingsthatprovidethemwiththeabilitytoy(thoughtheyareslowattimes,especially whentaki wh entakingoff). ngoff).Whennot Whennot inusethes inusethese efol fold dont onto o theirbackmuchasbatwingsdo.Greatscomprise nearly nea rly 80% of the Car Caract acting ingess essen en popu populat lation ion. . On theCaractingessenhomeworldsthereareothersubraces,legaciesof races,l egaciesofmillenniaof millenniaofgeneticmanipul geneticmanipulation, ation, buttheytypicallycannotsurviveforlongoutsideof theirenvironments. SerpentineCaractingessenareslenderandhave longertailsthantheGreats.Theyarenotasstrong astheGreatsbutmakeup astheGreats butmakeupforalac foralackofstrength kofstrengthwith with agility agil ity and inte intellig lligence. ence. The Serpe Serpentine ntines s are more socialandusuallybecometheambassadorsorpoliticiansoftheirspecies.

 P   a   g  e  1   5 

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   S     p  e  c  i     e ACaractingessenwithaHumanrider—amoreandmorecommonsightinrecenttimes.Whilethe  s 

stereotypicalGessisatoncenobleandsavage,refusingtoletanyotherspeciesridethem,somehavegained agreatrespectforhumanitybecauseoftheirconquestofthegalaxy.TherearestillsomeGessalivewho remembertheirownempire,andwhodre remembertheiro wnempire,andwhodreamofoneda amofonedaysharinganewem ysharinganewempirewiththeHumans. pirewiththeHumans.

Among some Serpentine families there is a lo long ng tr trad adit itio ion n of re reco cord rdin ing g th the e hi hist stor ory y of th the e Caractinge Carac tingessen, ssen, star starting ting with the rst conta contact ct they hadwiththeInuueliting.Membersofthesefamilies areknownastheKharecDainar,ortheKeepersof Time. Lord Olan Shano Shanok, k, the only Cara Caracting ctingesse essen n Emperor Emper or,wasfroma ,wasfroma wellrespe wellrespectedKhare ctedKharecDainar cDainar family.

The Carac Caractinge tingessen ssen sprea spread d throu throughout ghout the galaxyandnevergavemuchthoughttotheotherraces, exce ex cept pt to oc occa casi siona onall lly y tr trad ade e wi with th th them em or wo work rk as mer mercen cenari aries. es. Th They ey nev never er wer were e con concer cerned ned wit with h politicsorglobal—letalonegalactic—affairs.So itwasanincredibleshocktotheBudetugwhenthe Caractingessennotonlystirredfromtheircollective slumbe slu mber r but str struc uck k out totakeover the gal galaxy axy for Caract Car acting ingess essen en are tau taught ght fro from m bir birth th to sen sense se themselves. theLording,furtherenhancing theLording, furtherenhancingtheira theiralreadys lreadysuperior uperior natural natur al Lordi Lording ng abili abilities ties. .Th This is innat innate e power make makes s AsayoungCaractingessentheSerpentineOlan Caractingessenstrongmages.SomeCaractingessen Shanokwasambitious,energetic,anddisillusioned learn lea rn at ata a yo young ung age how to alt alter er the their ir siz size, e,spe spe-- wi with th th the e st stat atus us qu quo. o. He wa want nted ed so some meth thin ing g mo more re cic ci cal ally ly to sh shri rink nk th them emse selv lves es. . Thi his s fa faci cili lita tate tes s in in-- thanhisprestigiousKharecDainarfamilycouldofteract ter action ion wit with h oth other er rac races es for the rel relati ative vely ly lar large ge fer,morethanhecouldndanywhereonthecolony Caractinge Carac tingessen. ssen.Their Theirnatur natural al phy physical sical and andLordin Lording g worldsofNecrontorortheworldsoftheotherraces. strengthhelpstomakethemexcell stren gthhelpstomakethemexcellentsoldie entsoldiers,but rs,but OlanShanokhadavisionofagalaxyruledbythe theirbelligerenceoftenmakesthesesoldiersmore strong,powerful,and“wise”Caractingessen. troublethanthey’reworth. Over Ov er hu hund ndre reds ds of yea ears rs Ol Olan an Sh Shan anok ok be bega gan n Since rst encountering Humans the cha changing nging thetideofthe thetideoftheCara Caracting ctingesse essenpublic.For npublic.For Caract Car acting ingess essen en ha have ve fel felt t a spe specia cial l bon bond d wit with h “th “the e the rs rst t tim time e ev ever er the Gre Greats ats beg began an wor workin king g wit with h young you ng one ones. s.” ” Aft After er the Hum Human an Emp Empire ire ov overt erthre hrew w th the e Se Serp rpen enti tine nes s an and d ea each ch ot othe her r to tr trai ain n so sold ldie iers rs, , theHalla,whohadpreviouslydestroyedtheshort build buildaeet,andprepare aeet,andprepareforwhatOlanref forwhatOlanreferredto erredto lived liv edCara Caracting ctingesse essen n Empi Empire, re,the therela relations tionship hipgrew grew as“theGreatBeginning.”Allofthesepreparations evenstronger.ManyolderCaractingessenwhostill wa was s per perfor formed med in rel relati ative ve sec secrec recyy. Whe When n wor word d of remembertheirEmpireviewtheHallaasparasites theCaractingessenbuildupreachedtheotherraces andHumansasbenevolentsav andHumansasbenevo lentsaviorsofthegalaxy iorsofthegalaxy,if ,if theyscoffedati theyscoffedatitas“ludicrous”rumors. tas“ludicrous”rumors.Then,under Then,under onlytemporarilysuccessfulones. Shanok’sleadership,theCaractingessenstruckatthe     6 BudetugEmpire.     1    e Outofthisbondafairlyrecentandunusualsort    g    a     P ofcomradeshiphasgrown:Humansaresometimes Once Onc e gh ghtin ting gbeg beganit anit too took k nea nearly rly a atho thousa usand nd foundridingCaractingessenduringight!Thestron- yearsfortheCaractingessentoweardowntheiropgest ges t of the Gre Greats ats som someti etimes mes tak take e rid riding ing par partne tners rs ponent.InmanycasestheCaractingessenblockaded andconsidertheirridersarespected—andintegral Bu Bude detu tug g pl plan anet ets s an and d ou outw twai aite ted d th thei eir r op oppo pone nent nts, s, —partoftheirfamilies. knowingthattheirviewoftimewasdifferentthan that th at of th the e co comp mpar arat atiivel ely y sh shor ortt-li live ved d Bu Bude detu tug. g.    s Even Ev entu tual ally ly th the e Bu Bude detu tug g su surr rren ende dere red, d, br brok oken en an and d    e     i    c disillusioned.    e CaractingessenHistory     p     S    : OncetheEmpirewasestablishedOlanShanok,     k    o FormuchoftheirlonghistorytheCaractingessen by thi this stim time ekno knownas wnas Lor Lord d Ola Olan n Sha Shanok nok, ,wor worked ked    o     b wer were econ conten tent ttoleav toleave ethe the politi pol iticsof csof the galaxy gal axy to    e to ent entren rench ch the Car Caract acting ingess essen en Emp Empire ire acr across oss the     l    u therestoftheraces—afterall,theyhadtroublesof galaxy.EveryplanetfeltthepresenceoftheEmpire.     R theirown.Greatsnever tsnevergetalongwit getalongwitheachot heachotheror heror ShanokthenstartedagalacticpatroleetofHalla    n theirown.Grea     i    a withtheSerpentines,andtryastheymighttoavoid pilotstokeeptheshippinglanesfreefrompiracyand     M it the these se dis disagr agreem eement ents s oft often en end in vio violen lence. ce. It is toenforcejustice.    e    c    n rareforoneCaractingessentokillanother,buttoo    e     l    a oftentheyndanemptyeld(ormakeonebyclearAsLordShanokgrewold,however,hisenergy     V ingsomeforest),andghtuntiloneortheotheris sta starte rted d to dis dissip sipate ate. . Wi With th it so to did the str streng ength th incapacitated.Serpentineghtmuchlessfrequently, ofthe Empir Empire.T e.TheCaracti heCaractingess ngessenwere enweresprea spread dtoo too and whe when n the they y do the they y av avoid oid gh ghtin ting g Gre Greats ats, , but thinlyacrossthegalaxyandtherewasnoclearpath occasional occas ionally ly even the “soci “social” al” Cara Caracting ctingesse essen n are ofsuccession. ofsuccession.Inghtingbeg Inghtingbeganagainin anagaininearnest,and earnest,and pronetoviolentoutbursts.

Shanokgrewsick.Helostheartoverahundredyears beforehisdeath,andjustweeksbeforehediedthe EmpirefelltotheHalla Empir efelltotheHallaeetsithadhelpedtoconeetsithadhelpedtoconstruct. Afterthe After the fal fall l of ofthe the Emp Empire ire the Car Caract acting ingess essen en returnedtotheiroldwaysofinghtingandcompetition tit ion, , but not to the deg degree ree of pre pre-Em -Empir pire e con condiditions.Manysecretlyharbordesirestoresurrectthe recentlyfallenEmpireandsee recentlyfallen EmpireandseetheCaractinges theCaractingessenin senin chargeofthegalaxyagain.Somesaythis chargeofthegalaxyag ain.Somesaythisiswhythe iswhythe Caractinge Carac tingessen ssen work so close closely ly with the Human Humans, s, becausetheymaybetheonlyoneswhohavethe powertobringthegalaxytogetheragain.Othersfeel the Car Caract acting ingess essen en are jus just t bid biding ing the their ir tim time e unt until il theycanonceagainleavetheshadowsofpolitics andsweepacrossthegalaxy.

Halla Homeworld:Galbrzu Homeworld:Galbrzu Hol,Fuzzers,Rats CommonNames:Hol,Fuzzers,Rats CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 130-170Years 2.9MillionBC TesserCapability:2.9MillionBC TesserCapability:

Halla are rel Halla relati ative vely ly sho short, rt, gr gray ay-br -brown own ski skinne nned d humanoids.Theirthickskiniscoveredwithane fur,savefortheireyes,whicharecoveredbyanictitatingmembrane.Theinnermembraneisclear,and usuallyclosedtoprotecttheireyes.Theoutermembranecloselyresemblestheirskin.MostHallahave smallholesforears,tightlyheldtothesidesoftheir facebelowtheircheekbones,aringnostrilsbeneath theirears,andasmallmouthontheundersideof Either Eithe r wa wayy, the Cara Caracting ctingesse essen n are aremuch much more theirchin.(AfewHallahavearecessivetraitwhich acti ac tive ve th than an ev ever er, , an and d so some me of th them em ha have ve ev even en causesthemto causesthemtohavela havelargeprominentholesas rgeprominentholesasears.) ears.) learnedthepowerofworkingtogether learnedthepowerof workingtogether.. MaleandfemaleHallalooksimilar,saveforthe birthingpouchonthemidsectionofthefemales.This TheCaractingesseninGameTerms pouchgivesthefemalesmoreofaroundedlook,especiallywhenpregnant.Hallac peciallywhe npregnant.Hallachildrenresideinthe hildrenresideinthe Agil ilit ity y 1, Cr Creeat atiivi vity ty 1, De Dext xter eriity 1, pouchforthreemonths,afterwhichtimetheyare  Attributes: Ag toobigtobecarriedbythemother edbythemother.. Intelligence4,Lording8,MentalEndurance1, toobigtobecarri Stamina9,Strength6,Visualization2. Serpentines Hallla typ Ha ypiica call lly y ar aree de dexxte tero rous us an and d men enttal allly receive+1toAgilityandVisualization,but-1to quic qu ick. k. The hey y sp spor ort t an in insa sati tiab able le cu curi rios osit ity y an and d ar are e  P   a StaminaandStrength.   g renown ren owned ed as explor exp lorers ers. . As a result res ult many man y become bec ome  e 3kmindaylight,1kmatnight Vision:3kmindaylight,1kmatnight Vision: pilots pil ots, , for foragi aging ngout out int into o the unk unknow nown n for pro prot tor or  1   7  40meters Hearing:40meters Hearing: enjoyment enjo yment.Overmillions .Overmillions ofyearsthishasfostered ofyearsthishasfostere d 80//16 160/ 0/16 160 0 on fou our r le legs gs, , 5/ 5/10 10/1 /10 0 whe hen n Speed: 80 reaare re red d up on hi hind nd leg egs s (whe heth theer fo for r he heiigh ghtt theimpressionofHallaasthebestpilotsinthegalaxy,a ,adisti distincti nctiontheyareproudtohold ontheyareproudtohold andquick adva ad vanta ntage ge or sim simply ply for too tool l use use). ). Gre Greats ats can axy y at 15 150/ 0/30 300/ 0/300 300. . Se Serp rpen enti tine nes s mo move ve on th the e todefend. groundat100/200/200. Unlikemanyoftheotherspeciesinthegalaxy  V  5 NaturalArmor:5 NaturalArmor:  a  l    theHallaareclose-knitandhavefew,ifany,internal  e 10Slashing ClawDamage:10Slashing ClawDamage:  n conic con icts. ts. They Th ey learne lea rned d to work wor k as teams tea ms in order ord er  c 10forGreats,9forSerpentines Size:10forGreats,9forSerpentines Size:  e to survi sur vive ve on Galbrz Gal brzu u and contin con tinue ue to encour enc ourage age  M -10tosaveversusBlindness,-6to SavingThrows:-10tosaveversusBlindness,-6to SavingThrows:  a internalharmonytothisday.Despitethistheythrive  i    saveversusDeafness,+8tosaveversusDisease.  n oncompetition,seeingdogghtsasachessgames  R  Armorcostsarequadrupled.Cybernetics Special:Armorcostsarequadrupled.Cybernetics Special:  u cost co sts s ar are e tr trip iple led. d. Foo ood d co cost sts s ar are e qu quad adrup ruple led. d. anddeathasamosthonorableendiftheresultofa  l     e  b   duel.  o Senseofsmellisexceptional—Caractingessen  o  k   have ha ve a abas base e 60% ch chanc ance etotrac totrack ksom someon eone eby by Unti Un til l th the e ar arri rivval of Hu Huma mans ns on th the e ga gala lact ctic ic  :   S   smell,andmayadd+6toskillrollswherethis   p scen sc ene, e, th the e Ha Hall lla a we were re th the e un undi disp sput uted ed ma mast ster ers s of  e senseisrelevant(suchas senseisrelev ant(suchashuntingorcooking). huntingorcooking).  c  e space.TheirscientistsadaptedInuuelitingtesseract  i     s  driv dr ives es to Bu Bude detu tug g sh ship ips s an and d cr crea eate ted d so some me of th the e mostpowerfulstarghtersinthegalaxy.Hallaengineersconstantlyimprovedupontheirworktoenable greatexplorerstogofartherfaster.Sincethearrivalof HumanssomeoftheHallashipyardsandengineer-

inglabshavebecomesilent.AsaresultsomeHalla holdgrudgesagainsttheHumans,andtakepridein thefactthattheHumanEmpire,lik thefactthatthe HumanEmpire,liketheirown,fel etheirown,fell. l.

ship de ship desi sign gn, , an and d ap appe pear ared ed to be a gr grow owin ing g fo forc rce e whic wh ich h the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng hop hoped ed wou would ld hel help p sta stave ve off violencewiththe viol encewiththeBudet Budetug.Hallascient ug.Hallascientists ists worke worked d with wit h the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng to dev develo elop p tes tesser seract act dri drive ves s in Asidefromtheirminorsquabbles Asidefromthei rminorsquabblestheHallaha theHallahave ve exchangeforaccesstorawmaterialsandinformanorealenemiesintheGalaxy,insteadpreferringto tionaboutthegalaxy.TheHallabegantoexplorethe live liv e in unaf unafliate liated d commu communitie nities s scattered scattered throug throughh- star stars,rstaspilot s,rstaspilotsfortheInuueli sfortheInuueliting tingandlaterasa andlaterasa outtheinhabitedsystems.Theyselltheirserv outtheinhabitedsystems. Theyselltheirservicesas icesas freepeople. pilotstoanyonewhowillpay,andoftensetouton explorationmissionsformonthsatatime.Curiously, FormillionsofyearstheHallapeacefullycoexfewmentiontheshort-livedHallanEmpire. istedwithotherraces,servingaspilots istedwithotherrac es,servingaspilotsforwarships, forwarships, transport tran sports, s,and anddeepspace deepspace expl explorati oration on ships (thei (their r favorite).Anyonewhowouldpayfortheirservices found fou ndthe the Hal Hallato lato behonora behonorable ble and dep depend endabl able. e. HallanHistory  The hey y qu quic ickl kly y be beca came me in inte tegr grat ated ed in into to th the e ga gala laxy xy, , gro rowi wing ng com omm mun uniiti ties es in ne neaarl rlyy every sys ysttem em. . The Ha Hall lla a ho home mewo worl rld d is ar arid id an and d ha hars rsh. h. Vas ast t Durin During g thistime the theHalla Halla remai remained nedindep independent endent, , expansesofdrylandareseparatedbyincreasingly however however,andmaintainedtightcommunic ,andmaintainedtightcommunicationwith ationwith shallo sha llow w sea seas, s, bru brushe shed d con contin tinual ually ly by ste stead ady y dus dustt- thehomeworld. ladenwinds.Galbrzuwasanoldworldwhenthe Hallaevolved,andallknowthatitisslowlydying. Aftermillionsofyearsassilentmembersofthe Some Som e spe specul culate ate the rea reason son for the Hal Halla’ la’s s uns unstop top-- galacticcommunitytheHallabegantoclamorfor pableurgetoexplorethegalaxyisanattempttond morepowerinthegalaxy.Afterall,theywerethe anewhomeworld,toinhabitonceGalbrzuisgone. oneswhoranmostoftheshippinglanes oneswhoranmostoftheshippinglanes.T .Theywere heywere Othersbelievetheyaretryingtondapowerfulally the one ones s who pil pilote oted d the gh ghter ters s for man many y of the toreinstatetheshort-livedHallanEmpire. greatspacebattles.Buttheyhadlittleornosayin thewaytheEmpiresranthings.SotheHallasecretly OtherspeciesonGalbrzuwerewell-developed pla planne nned d amo among ng the themse mselv lves es to mak make e a sta stand, nd, and bythetimeHallaevolved bythetimeHal laevolved4.8millionyears 4.8millionyearsago,but ago,but havea haveasay say. .Withthefall WiththefalloftheCaractingessenEmpire oftheCaractingessenEmpire nonehad yet gaine gained d senti sentience. ence.The Thespec specieswhich ieswhich theHallasawtheironechanceforpoweremerge.     8 hadsurvivedweresomeofthemostviolentinthe Theyalreadycontrolledtheshippinglanes,military     1 MilkyWay.Withoceanslledwithviolent,powerful machines,andcommunicationarraysofthegalaxy.    e    g    a predatorsandthelandequallydangeroustherewas Withashort,swiftcoup,theHallatookover.     P littleroomfortheHallatogrow.Theywereforced intothedifcultcornersofGa intothedifcult cornersofGalbrzu,thecr lbrzu,thecraggycliffs aggycliffs Butitwasashort-livedEmpire,onemanydon’t of the sho shorel reline ine and the har hard, d, ang angula ular r mou mounta ntainin- considertobeanEmpire considertobeanEmpireatall. atall.TheHalla TheHallahadnever hadnever sides.T sides .To o cope copewith withtheir their envi environme ronment nt and prote protect ct consideredcreati consideredcreatingagovernm ngagovernment(theyhadl ent(theyhadlivedas ivedas themselv thems elves es the Hall Halla a quic quickly klydeve developed loped adv advance anced d semi semi-inde -independe pendent nt commu communiti nities es sprea spread d throug throughout hout technologies.    s space spa ce for mil millio lions ns of ye years ars), ), and the they y did didn’ n’t t wa want nt    e     i    c anyth an ything ing fro from m the oth other er ra races ces. . So aft after er lit little tle mor more e    e SmallgroupsofHallabegantovoyagethrough- tha    p than n a hun hundre dred d ye years ars the oth other er ra races ces rea realiz lized ed the     S    : out their the ir world, wor ld, using usi ng newfou new found nd techno tec hnolog logy y , and bluffwhichhadbeenplayedandfoughtback,easily     k    o fo foun undi ding ng the th e hono ho nora rabl ble e trad tr adit itio ion n of expl ex plor orat atio ion n overthrowingthefewHallawhoclaimedauthority    o     b am among ong thei th eir r kind ki nd. . Soon So on thes th ese e expl ex plor orer ers s had ha d dede    e overthegalaxy.Chaosensued.     l    u vel velope oped d mechan mec hanica ical l device dev ices s whic wh ich h enable ena bled d them the m     R overc ercome ome ph physi ysical cal lim limita itatio tions ns and sub subdue due the    n to ov TodaysomeHallahavegonebacktotheirtra    i    a vio violen lent t pre predat dators ors on the their ir pla planet net. . Onc Once e the they y had dit dition ional al wa ways, ys, wor workin king g for an anyon yone e wh who o wil will l gi give ve     M conqueredthelandHallacontinuedintotheocean, themashipandachancetoseethestars.Theydon’t    e    c    n andeventuallyintospace. engageinpoliticsanymoreandhavegivenupany    e     l    a notionsofagalacticEmpire.ThenewHallavisionis     V Inuuel Inu ueliti iting ng enc encoun ounter tered ed the Hal Halla la in 4.2 mil mil-- tocontinueexploring,onlythistimetheirsightsare lionBCandkeptwatchonthem.Firstcontactoc- setmuchhigher:beyondtheMilkyWay. curredaround3millionBCastensionsbetweenthe InuuelitingandBudetuggrew.BythistimetheHalla hadpopula had populated tedtheir their syste system, m,worke worked d wonde wonders rs with

TheHallainGameTerms Agil ilit ity y 4, Cr Creeat atiivi vity ty 2, De Dext xter eriity 4,  Attributes: Ag Intelligence3,Lording6,MentalEndurance6, Stamina4,Strength2,Visualization5 Vision: 1 km in daylight, 10 meters at night, ultravioletvisiontoar ultravi oletvisiontoarangeof200meters angeof200meters.. 20meters Hearing:20meters Hearing: 8/15/15 Speed:8/15/15 Speed: 4 NaturalArmor:4 NaturalArmor: 2Bashing PunchDamage:2Bashing PunchDamage: 3 Size:3 Size: +1tosaveagainstBlindness SavingThrows:+1tosaveagainstBlindness SavingThrows: Hallla ha havve ni niccit itat atiing mem embr braane ness Special: The Ha which cover their eyes and protect them agai ag ains nst t wi wind ndbl blow own n sa sand nd an and d gr grit it. . The hey y ha have ve thesideeffectofallowingthemtoseeperfectly underwater.

AValorianringmicrowaves.It’sbadjoke.

Valorians Homeworld:Hdfvbn(Valoria) Homeworld:Hdfvbn(Valoria) Amphibs,Rockies CommonNames:Amphibs,Rockies CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 1,900-2,100Years 4.1MillionYears TesserCapability:4.1MillionYears TesserCapability: Hdfvbn Hdfv bn (o (or r Val alor oria ia as it is mo more re co comm mmon only ly known)isaworldcoveredinwater.Theplaneton thewholeisverylevel,withfewmountainsorcanyons. yo ns. Due toitsproxi toitsproximit mityto yto its sun sun,thepolar ,thepolar ice capsarealmostnonexistent.TheValoriansevolved inanisolatedshallowregion,protectedbyreefsand mountains.Theyare mountains. Theyareasilicon-basedlife asilicon-basedlifeform,asare form,asare allother all others s on thei their r homew homeworld. orld. Needi Needing ng only onlylight light andanoccasionalmealofrock,theValorianshad agreatdealofleisuretimeintheirearlyhistoryto spendonartisticandscienticpursuits. Val alor oria ians ns fo form rm fa fami mili lies es fo for r li life fe. . The heir ir la larg rge, e, extend ext ended ed fam famili ilies es oft often en kee keep p in tou touch ch acr across oss va vast st reachesofspace.Whilethe reachesofspac e.Whiletheydolayeggs ydolayeggs,bothmale ,bothmale andfemaleValorianshavestrongparentalinstincts. AclutchofValorianeggscantakeuptotenyears tohatch,andcanyieldaclutterofuptoftylarval Valorianchildren.Afterabout100yearsthelarvaenallymatureintotheadultformofthespecies.Only oneoutofeveryveValorianlarvaewillsurvivepast  P   a   g therstthreeyears.  e  1   9  The Val alor oria ians ns ha have ve a tr trul uly y di dizz zzyi ying ng ar arra ray y of senses.Theireyesight,whileshort-ranged,iscapable ofseeingnearlyanyfrequencyoflight.Theirhearingandscentorgans—theantennaeontheirheads —aremoresensitivethanm —aremoresensit ivethanmostscienticdev ostscienticdevices. ices.  V   a  l     e ValorianHistory   n  c  e  M ValorianswererstdiscoveredbytheInuueliting,  a  i    whopassedthemoverbecause whopassedthem overbecausetheyfeltthat“s theyfeltthat“someome-  n  R  thingthatuglycouldneverbeintelligent.”TheVals  u  l    werealmostunawareofthecontact,nothavingany  e  b   satellitesinorbitatthetime.Millionsofyearslater,a  o  o  k    :  Budetugscoutingpartyrediscovere Budetugscoutingpart yrediscoveredtherace. dtherace.  S     p  e Initially,theBudetugweregladtondanother  c  i     e racesovisuallysimilartothemselves.However,the  s  ideolo ide ologie gies s of the two pro prove ved d to be inc incomp ompati atible ble. . Valori alorian an cultu culture re is orien oriented ted tow towards ards intro introspect spection, ion, carefu car eful l for foreth ethoug ought, ht, and med medita itatio tion. n. Bud Budetu etug g cul cul-ture, tur e,on onthe the oth other erhan hand, d,is ismor more e ori orient ented edtow toward ards s

hard wo hard work rk, , in inst stin inct ctua ual l de deci cisi sions ons, , an and d te team amwo work rk. . ontheirhead.Theireyes,whilelackinglong-range Whilethetworacesarestillofciallyalliedtothis vision,arecompoundandwell-protected. day,theyhavelittleincommon. Valoria Va loriansoriginal nsoriginallyevolve lyevolved dinshallow inshallow seas on Val alor oria ians ns ha have ve ne neve ver r be been en he heaavi vily ly in invo volv lved ed Hdfvbn,andarewell-adaptedtothewater.Valorian in ga gala lact ctic ic pol polit itic ics, s, pr pref efer erri ring ng to re rema main in ne neut utra ral l lungscanbreathewaterandtheirbodiesarestreamand an d sa safe fe. . Be Beca caus use e of th thei eir r ma mass ssiv ive e in inte tell llec ect t th they ey line lined. d. Adapt Adapted ed to movi moving ng throu through gh visc viscous ous wate waters, rs, are hea heavil vily y rec recrui ruited ted for thi think nk tan tanks ks and res resear earch ch the they y are sur surpri prisin singly gly agi agile le on lan land.They d.They can re rms.T rm s.They hey pla playe yed d a sma smallrole llrole inthe sec second ond and microwa microwaveburstsfromt veburstsfromtheirantennae. heirantennae. third Inuue Inuuel-Bud l-Budetug etug wars wars, , sidin siding g reluc reluctantl tantly y with theBudetug.Theirsmallpopulationforcedthemto Valoriansareapeacelikerace,andalwayshave withdrawearlyandtheywereneve withdrawearly andtheywereneverabletocontribrabletocontrib- been. been.Theydisco Theydiscoveredexplosiv veredexplosivesandnuclearphysesandnuclearphysutesignicantlytothewareffort. ics, ic s, bu but t ne neve ver r te test sted ed a si sing ngle le nu nucl clea ear r bo bomb mb. . The speciesasawholeisknownforbeingruledmoreby Valoria Va lorian n cultu culture re is prima primarily rily oral oral. .Th Their eir nearl nearly y logicthanbyemotion. photographicmemories,strongvoices,andsensitive hear he arin ing g or orga gans ns ha have ve al alwa ways ys ke kept pt th thei eir r ra race ce co connValoriansmakegreatengineers,historians,and nected necte d sinc since e thei their r prehi prehistory story.Valo .Valorian rianepic epic poems mathematicians. are ar e ri rivval aled ed on only ly by th thos ose e of th the e In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g an and d Humans.

ValoriansinGameTerms

OneareawhereValoriansarenotwell-respected isintheartisticworld(withthepossibleexception ofmusic).Whiletheyareexcel ofmusic).Whil etheyareexcellenttechnical lenttechnicalwriters writers andartists,Va andartists, Valoria lorians nslac lack kthecreati thecreativespark vesparkwhic which h drive dri ves s Hu Huma man n an and d Sa Sa’c ’cro ront ntor or ar arti tist sts. s. The here re is no SalvadorDalioftheValorianartworld.Norarethere any grea great t arc architec hitectural tural acco accomplis mplishment hments. s. When a Valoria Va lorian n crea creates tes a build building, ing, form follo follows ws funct function ion precisely.Thislendsasortofalienbeautytotheir     0 dwellings,makingotherracesuneasy.     2    e    g    a     P On th the e Val alor oria ian n ho home mewo worl rld, d, in th the e mi midd ddle le of Cr Crat ater er Oc Ocea ean, n, is a bu buil ildi ding ng n nan ance ced d by bo both th Caract Car acting ingess essen en and Valo aloria rian n hom homewo eworld rld gov govern ern-ments.KnownastheHallofTime,itcontainsextensivehistoricalrecordsfromeveryspeciesandalmost all col coloni onized zed wor worlds lds. . It con contai tains ns rs rstha thand nd rep report orts s    s fromall allthree three major Inuue Inuueliti liting-Bud ng-Budetug etug wars wars, , the    e from     i    c colonizationoftheLesserMagellanicCloud,thedis   e    p coveryoftheHumanandOgreraces,andthousands     S    : uponthousandsofotherevents. Theonething Theonethingmissmiss    k    o    o ingfromtheHallofTimeisearlyArchangelhistory     b    e —muchofitwasneverwrittendown.Aprojectis     l    u currently tlyunderw underway aythere there to under understand stand the thetrend trends s     R curren    n     i andcyclesthatlastmillionsofyearsofgalactichis   a     Mtory.    e    c    n Valoriansareoneofthem Valori ansareoneofthemorealien-lookingspe orealien-lookingspe-   e     l    a ciesinthegalaxy.Theirbodiesstandapproximately     V vefeettallatthehead,andthreefeetattheshoulder.Theyhavefourdog-likelegs,fourdexteroustentaclessproutingfromtheirthorax,andfourantennae

Agil ilit ity y 9, Cr Creeat atiivit ity y 1, De Dext xter eriity 4,  Attributes: Ag Intelligence10,Lording0,MentalEndurance2, Stamina1,Strength1,Visualization8 mete ters rs in da dayl ylig ight ht,, 3 me mete ters rs at ni nigh ghtt. Vision: 3 me Valorianscanseeintotheinfraredandultraviolet spectrumswitharangeof10meters. 200meters.TheValoriansenseofhearing Hearing:200meters.TheValoriansenseofhearing Hearing: issoacuteastobeabletopickoutheartbeatsat arangeof20meters. 50/100/100(Swimming:10/20/20) Speed:50/100/100(Swimming:10/20/20) Speed: 12 NaturalArmor:12 NaturalArmor: Blun unt. t. Ma May y al also so r re e a mi micr crow owaave  Jab Damag Damage: e: 2 Bl burstfromtheirantennae,doingDisintegration damageequaltotheirIntelligence,toarangeof 5metersperpointofMentalEndurance. 4 Size:4 Size: +10tosaveagainstBlindness. SavingThrows:+10tosaveagainstBlindness. SavingThrows: Theiroutstandingmindsandphotographic Special:Theiroutstandingmindsandphotographic Special: memoriesgiveValoriansa+4totheKnowledge attribu butte. They can also use the heiir hearing rangeinste ran geinstead adof ofthe their irvis visual ual ra range nge wh when enri ring ng weapons.Theyalsohaveanincrediblesenseof smell,whichgivestheman80%chancetotrack someonebysmell,anda+8toskillrollswhere thissensemightberelevant(suchasHuntingor Cooking).

can be man maneuv euvere ered d int into o mos most t wea weapon pons s and ele elecctronic troni c contr controls,allowing ols,allowing them to tointer interface face direc directly tly withthesedevices.AsaresultNestiarequickand deadly.Itisconsideredsacrilegiousbytheirsociety touse thi this s abi abilit lity y onanyt onanythin hing g but wea weapon pons,hows,howN’tal’ingGeth Homeworld:N’tal’ingGeth Homeworld: ever,sobewaryif sobewaryifyoundseeaNestipilota youndseeaNestipilotashipby shipby Flowers, rs, Wee Weeds, ds, Shrubb Shrubbery ery, , ever, Common Commo n Names Names:: Flowe puttingherappendagesintothecontrols... WhirlingSagebrush  AverageLifespan: 100Years When Whe n the they y are not gh ghtin ting g or mo movin ving g aro around und 1.3MillionBC TesserCapability:1.3MillionBC TesserCapability: theNesticanstandalmostperfectlystill—fooling Nestiarearaceofintelligent lig ent, , mob mobile ile pla plants nts wit with h a tendency tende ncy tow towards ards viole violence. nce. Typic ypically ally no tall taller er than ve feet fe et, , th they ey of ofte ten n ap appe pear ar de de-cept ce ptiive vely ly la larg rge e by mo movi ving ng their the ir bra branc nches hes and ten tendri drils ls arou ar ound nd in into to la larg rger er sh shap apes es. . Eacch of th Ea thes ese e ap appe pend ndag ages es canworkasanarmorhand, givi gi ving ng th them em im imme mens nse e e exxibility.TheNestiarebiologicall ca lly y mo mobi bile le sh shru rubs bs. . The hey y are ar e co comp mpos osed ed of a ta tang ngle led d massofredgoldtendrilsthat wriith wr thee wi with th mo moti tion on whi hille theyare they areacti active. ve.This This uidit uidity y of str struct ucture ure has mad made e the them m quick qui ck and ada adapta ptable ble, , if not reallyallthatbright.  P   a   g  e ThesocietyontheNesti  2   1  homewo hom eworld rld hon honors ors its wa warrrior ri ors s an and d ha has s li litt ttle le ti time me fo for r anythi any thing ng els else. e. They dis disdai dain n the th e ‘in inte tell llec ectu tuaal’ pu purs rsui uitts of th the e ot othe her r ra race ces, s, mo most stly ly beca be caus usee Ne Nest sti i ar aren en’’t ab ablle  V   a to un unde ders rsttan and d th theem. As a  l     e  n resultNestitendtondwork  c  e whichdoesn’trequiremuch  M thou th ough ghtt bu but t ha has s at lea east st a  a  i     n chanceforghting.  R   u  l     e Nest Ne sti i ta tale lent nts s fo for r ba batt ttle le  b    o are ar e no not t by th them emse selv lves es si sigg o  k    :  nic ni can ant t fa fact ctor ors s — th they ey ar are e  S     p notgreattacticiansorinspi e  c rationalleaders.Butbecause  i     e  s  oftheirmultipleappendages theNesticanoperatemany ANestiadult(middleleft)andapairofsprouts(aboveandbelowthe weap we apon ons s at on once ce. . The ti tiny ny topbridge)walkaroundtheirhome.Nestiblendintotheirhouseswell, shoots sho ots on the their ir app append endage ages s asthehousesareliterallym asthehousesare literallymadefromtheirances adefromtheirancestors. tors. (analo (an alogou gous s to Hum Human an hai hair), r),

Nesti

manypeopleintothinkingtheyareeitherstationary plants(youknow,theregularkind),orasleep.Nesti guardshavebeenknowntogetgreatenjoymentout ofstartlingpassersbyorevencomrades.Humansare themostfrequent the mostfrequentreci recipient pients s of thistreatmen thistreatment, t, and providethemostcolorfulresponseswhenstartled. SomenoncombatantNestihavefoundtheirtalents with wit h pla plants nts — spe speci cical cally ly the their ir abi abilit lity y to nur nurtur ture e plants pla nts, , and cre create ate lig lighti hting ng spe speci cical cally ly tai tailor lored ed to plant grow growth th — very lucr lucrati ative.Many ve.Many Nesti liv live e in farmingcoloniesspreadthroughoutthegalax farmingcoloniesspre adthroughoutthegalaxyy,happilyharvestingthe“lesserplants”fortheconsumptionofothers.

NestiHistory  N’tal’ingGeth,theNestihomeworld,isasl N’tal’ingGeth,theNesti homeworld,isaslowly owly rotati rot ating, ng, win windy dy pla planet net wit with h ve very ry lit little tle rad radiat iation ion. . It takesroughly9Earthmonthstocompletearotation, creatinghotandcoldsidesoftheplanet.

Nesti Nest i de deve velo lope ped d as wi wind nd-b -bor orne ne ca carn rniivor orou ous s plantswhichateinsectsandsmallyingcreatures astheysailedonthewind,muchlikeavenusy trap tr ap ve vers rsio ion n of sa sage gebr brus ush. h. As th they ey ev evol olve ved d Ne Nest sti i gainedtheabilitytomovetheirappendagestobetter Unlikemanyoftheotherracesintheuniverse controltheiright,andeventuallydevelopedlimited theNesti the Nesti hav have e no sexe sexes.The s.They y could, theor theoretic etically ally, , intelligenceandbegantoforageontheground. reproducebypollinatingtheirownowers.Onthe N’ta N’ tal’ l’in ing g Ge Geth th is a mo mois ist t pl plan anet et wi with th var arie ied d homeworlds homew orlds this isviewedas inces incestuousbehav tuousbehavior ior, , ecosystem ystems, s,and andthe thesett settlingNesti lingNesti quic quickly klyevol evolved ved punis pun isha habl ble e by de deat ath. h. In ot othe her r pl plac aces es it is si simp mply ly ecos intoslig slightly htlysepa separate rate subsp subspecie ecies.As s.As they migr migrated ated looked loo ked dow down n on as inb inbree reedin ding. g. Ins Instea tead d Nes Nesti ti wil will l into toavoidthedarksideoftheplanetthe dthedarksideoftheplanetthesesubspecies sesubspecies ndan nd any y num number ber of par partne tners rs wh when en ow oweri ering, ng, pol pol-- toavoi linateeachother,andthencarry15-20offspringin eventuallybegantointeract.Atrsttheirrelations growingbudsforabout6months,untiltheyareable werepeaceful,butaspopulationsgrewghtingensued. Fro FromthatdayforththeNestihaveembra mthatdayforththeNestihaveembraced ced tosurviveontheirown. warriorsandghting. Nesticangoyearswithoutowering,butusually With Wit h lim limite ited d tec techno hnolog logica ical l ad adva vance ncemen ments ts the doowerwhentheyarenotinvolvedinanyconict and ha have ve suf sufci cient ent res resour ources ces (su (sunli nlight ght, , wa water ter and NestiwereabletoconstructNullCities,windlessennutrients)ava nutrie nts)availab ilable.Someti le.Sometimesthisis mesthisis usedto usedtothei their r clavesrichinnutrients,water,andlight.Incremental improveme vements nts conti continued nued and even eventual tually ly the Nesti advantage—ascoutingtroupecanlandonahostile impro     2 plantand‘breed’af develo dev eloped ped art artic icial ial lig light, ht, ena enabli bling ng the them m to bui build ld orceofNestitoattack. oattack.     2 plantand‘breed’aforceofNestit permanentciviliz perma nentcivilization ations s withou without t fear of ofdarksleep, darksleep,    e    g    a     P LawisasimpleconcepttotheNesti.Theydevel- theNestihibernationperiodduringlightlesstimes. opedritualcombatstodealwithterritorialdisputes Fightingbecamemoreerceduringthistimeas onN’tal’ingGeth,andsomestilladheretothe‘old ways’ wa ys’ whe when n a pro proble blem m ari arises ses. . Part artici icipan pants ts are the moreandmoreNestiockedtothecities.Groups foug ught ht fo for r co cont ntro rol l of th the e sc scie ient ntis ists ts, , fo for r th the e be best st individua indi viduals lsinv involve olved, d, or or, , in incase cases s agai against nstthe theNesti Nesti fo reso sour urce ces, s, an and d th the e mo most st li ligh ght. t. De Deca cade des s of ch chao aos s State,theoffenderandmembersofthemilitary.Ifthe re ensu sued ed, , ne near arly ly de dest stro royi ying ng Ne Nest sti i ci civi vili liza zati tion on (b (but ut    s accused ed can cansurvi survive vesix sixconse consecuti cutive vecomba combats ts they en    e accus     i provokinganarmsracethatresultedinmoretech   c arepresumedinnocentandthecaseisdismissed.    e nological nolog ical adv advancem ancementsthan entsthan the theNest Nesti i hav have e since    p     S    : WhenNestidietheyhardenlikecoral,andare created).Forashorttimeafterthis,theGreatWar,     k    o    o usedasthebuildingmaterialfordwellings.Whenan peaceensuedastheNestistruggledtorebuildand     b    e oldNestirealizesthatitisabouttodie,itwillweave repopulatetheplanet.     l    u     R itstendrilsintothewallsofitsbuilding,becoming DuringthislulltheInuuelitingvisitedN’tal’ing    n onewiththestructure.ANestibuildingisliterally     i    a Geth Get h and mad made e rs rst t con contac tact t wit with h the Nes Nesti. ti. They     Mmadeoutofancestors,andmanysaythatthisiswhy sawgreatpotentialintheseplant-beingsassubjects    e    c theNestiwillghtsohardtodefendtheirhomes.    n Ev and d ma made de an ef effo fort rt to in inco corp rpor orat ate e th them em in into to th the e entu tual ally ly th the e bo bodi dies es be beco come me a ha hard rd st ston one, e, an and d an    e Even     l InuuelitingEmpire—tonoavail.TheNestiquickly    a     V Nestibuildingslooklikewovenbandsofrock.Even comb mbin ined ed th thei eir r pr prev evio ious usly ly se sepa para rate te fo forc rces es in into to a thosewhodieinbattlehaveaplace—theybecome co defens ense e for force ce and fou fought ght off the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting. ng. Aft After er thefoundations.ManyNestivillagesarebuiltonold def a bri brief ef vic victor tory y cel celebr ebrati ation on the they y onc once e aga again in beg began an battlegrounds. inghtingfortrainingpurposes,thistimewithacautiouseyetothesky.

When it bec When became ame cle clear ar tha that t the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng invaderswerenotcomingback(somethingthattook the Nes Nestia tia mil millio lion n ye years ars to torea realiz lize), e), the they y dec decide ided d that tha t the they y wou would ldha have ve to togo gooff off-wo -world rld to tondtheir ndtheir Natoenthar Homeworld:Natoenthar Homeworld: ancientenemies.TheNestiworkeddiligentlytodeArchs,Cops,Avangelinté CommonNames:Archs,Cops,Avangelinté CommonNames: velopspaceshipsandafternearlytwomillionyears Unknown,presumedimmor AverageLifespan:Unknown,presumedimmor AverageLifespan: achieve achi eved d tess tesser er capab capabilit ilities. ies. Nest Nesti i hordes left thei their r tal.NoArchsdieofoldage. homeworldtojointheGalacticsociety homeworldtojointhe Galacticsociety.. Unknown TesserCapability:Unknown TesserCapability:

Archangels

NestiinGameTerms Agil ilit ity y 5, Cr Creeat atiivi vity ty 6, De Dext xter eriity 8,  Attributes: Ag Intelligence1,Lording4,MentalEndurance6, Stamina5,Strength7,Visualization1 ordi dina nary ry vi visu sual al se sens nse e at al all. l. Ne Nest sti i ar are e Vision: No or blindtoordinarylight,andcannotreadorsee colors.Theydohaveanactiveradarsensewith arangeofonekilometer,whichoftenmakesup for the their ir lac lack k of sig sight. ht. This sen sense se wor works ks in all directionsatonce. 120meters.Thisisaccomplishedthrough Hearing:120meters.Thisisaccomplishedthrough Hearing: asensitivevibrat asensiti vevibrational ional sense rath ratherthannormal erthannormal hearing,buttheeffectisthesame. 15/30/30 Speed:15/30/30 Speed: 4 NaturalArmor:4 NaturalArmor: 4Disintegration PunchDamage:4Disintegration PunchDamage: 4 Size:4 Size: Immune une to bli blindn ndness ess (un (unles less s the their ir SavingThrows: Imm radarsenseisoverloaded). Nesticanmeshtheirtendrilsintoweapons, Special:Nesticanmeshtheirtendrilsintoweapons, Special: givingthema+2toattackrolls.Theycanalso rootthemselvestotheground,makingitalmost impossibletoknockthemover.Eitherofthese takesoneactiontodo.AllNesti take soneactiontodo.AllNestirequirelight requirelightif if theyaretobeactiveatall,and must gotosleep gotosleep afterbeinginthedarkforonehour.Theywake upafterhalfanhourofexposuretolight.Nesti canalsoextendsingletendrilsashortdistance outsideoftheirbody(about5meters),andcan see se e an and d he hear ar wi with th th them em, , th thou ough gh th they ey ca cann nnot ot lift li ft an anyt ythi hing ng wi with th ju just st a si sing ngle le te tend ndri ril. l. The hey y effectivelyhav effectiv elyhavetwo“arms”for etwo“arms”formostpurposes. mostpurposes.

TheArchangelsappeartobearaceofanimated plate pla te mai mail. l. Cov Covere ered d in pre precio cious us met metals als the they y ha have ve ingested,theyareanintimidatingsight.Eachsuitof armorisverydifferentfromtheother,butwhilethey appearvastlydifferenttheyallsharecertaincharacterist ter istics ics. . They eac each h ha have ve a ste steelel-har hard d exo exoske skelet leton on aswellasaninternalendoskeleton.Theyallhave “feathered”wingscomposedofthesamebiometallic li c su subs bsta tanc nce e as th thei eir r sh shel ells ls. . A co comp mple lex x in inte tern rnal al glandusesmagneticforcestoactuallylifttheirmassive siv e weigh weights ts off the groun ground. d.Arch Archange angels ls hands are coveredinmetallicblades,razor-sharpandcapable ofslicingthroughbattlea ofslicing throughbattlearmorwhencombi rmorwhencombinedwith nedwith theawesomemusculaturetheypossess. Archangelsmustbestronginordertobeartheir ownweight,buttheyhav ownweight,butt heyhavebeenprovidedwit ebeenprovidedwitheven heven morestrengththenwouldotherwisebesuggested. Theyhaveamuscularsystemmoreakintohydraulicsthannormalmuscles.This,combinedwiththeir  P   a “claws, “cla ws,” ” allo allows ws them themto to inic inict t mass massive ive damag damage e to   g  e  2  theirenemies.  3  Asiftheirphysicalabilitieswerenotfrightening enough eno ugh, , Arc Archan hangel gels s ha have ve tre tremen mendou dous s gif gifts ts whe when n itcom it comes es to com comman mandin ding g the ar arcan cane e for forces ces of the Lording,althoughtheycanonly Lording,although theycanonlylearncerta learncertainrepetiinrepeti V  tivemethodsofusingit.  a  l     e  n Withtheirtoughshells,ight,Lording,andim-  c  e mensestrength mens estrength,Arch ,Archangel angelsarea sarea race that thatseemto seemto  M have ha ve bee been n spe speci cical cally ly des design igned ed for com combat bat. . Who  a  i     n design des igned ed the them m is unk unknow nown, n, but to som some e it see seems ms  R  high hi ghly ly un unli like kely ly th that at na natu ture re co coul uld d ha have ve pr prod oduc uced ed  u  l     e  b   suchkillersonherown.  o  o  k   Archangelscannotlie.Whilethisistrue,itcan  :   S     p bemisleadingformanypeople. bemisleadingf ormanypeople.IfanAr IfanArchangeltel changeltells ls  e  c  e yousomethingatout,youcanbelieveit.Heorshe  i     s  willliterallydiefromtellingalie.Thetrickisthatthe truthArchangeltellsyouisthetruthastheyseeit.“A fewHumansontheothersideofthehill”canmean anyoneofseveraldifferentthings.Itcanmeanjust whatitsays:Thereareafewpeopleontheotherside

ofthehillhavingaparty.Itcanalsomea ofthehillhavingaparty .Itcanalsomeanthatthere nthatthere a few hom homici icidal dal Hum Humans ans tot toting ing las lasers ers ov over er the there re whoarelustingforblood.It’ whoarelustin gforblood.It’sallthesametosome sallthesametosome Archangels.Iftheyareattackedtheydealwiththe probleminthemostexpedientmanneravailable.If not, not , the they y are con conten tent t to tolea leave ve wel well l eno enough ugh alo alone. ne. Afterall, Aft erall, a few Hum Humans ans wit with h las lasers ers is isnot not usu usuall ally y muchofathreattoanAr muchofathreat toanArchangel. changel.

Millennialate Millennia later r the Budet Budetug ug Empir Empire e came with mucch mo mu more re ad advvan ance ced d te tecchn hnol olog ogy y an and d a lo love ve of orbitalbombardment.ThestubbornBudetugsimply refusedtoadmitdefeat,andhadsufcientnumbers to kee keep p thr throwi owing ng the themse mselv lves es at the Arc Archan hangel gels. s. It wasonlywhentheArchangelsweretoldthatthey couldgoverntheirownworldthattheycapitulated. Untilthe Unt ilthe Hum HumanEmpir anEmpire,they e,they wer were econ conten tent ttobe tobe withdrawntotheirhomeworld.

 ArchangelicHistory 

DuringtheHumanEmpire,theArchangelswere giventheopportunitytoactasanelitepoliceforce. The Avangelinté were discovered by the Thi his s t we well ll wi with th th thei eir r cu cult ltur ure e an and d se sens nsib ibil ilit itie ies, s, Inuuelitingin3millionBC.Atthattimetheyalready andtheArchsagreed.Sincethen,many“younger” hadaourishingcivilizationwithcomplextechnol- Archangels(someofthemoverahundredthousand ogy and fabul fabulous ous Lordi Lording ng capab capabilit ilities. ies. Th There ere were yearsold)havefoundworkinlawenforcementand severaloddgapsin seve raloddgapsin thei their rtec technolog hnologyy.Forone,they investigationrms. hadnospacetravel,nordodidtheyseeminterested insuch.Theirweaponstechnolog Theirweaponstechnology ywasalso wasalsostrangely strangely Archangelscomposeonlyatinyfraction(farless archaicforasocietywithr archaicfor asocietywithradiosandarticial adiosandarticialight. ight. than tha n 1%) of the gal galact actic ic pop popula ulatio tion. n. Des Despit pite e thi this, s, Themoststartlingdiscoveryoccurredsoonafter theywerefound:theArchangelswerenotna theywerefound:the Archangelswerenotnativesof tivesof theplanettheycalledtheirhomeworld.AfterallowingInuuelitingscholarstoviewtheirmostancient artifactsitwassoonconcludedthatthese“savages” hadindeedpossessedextremelyadvancedtechnologyandhadexiledthemselvestothisworldoftheir ownvolition.

theyremainaveryimportantpartofgalacticculture. TheFather,leaderoftheentireArchangelrace,isdeterminedtoensurethattheystayso.Heencourages hisspeci his species esto to sta stay y inv involve olved d in the thegala galactic ctic cultu culture re —whoknowswhenthenextgalacticempirewill arise?

DespitethetechnologyontheArchangelhome worldandtheadvancedsciencesthatcreatedtheir most mo st ho holy ly ar arti tifa fact cts s th the e Ar Arch chan ange gels ls ha have ve no id idea ea     4 The Th e dis disco cove very ry of ad adva vance nced d tec techno hnolog logy y fri fright ght-- whereitcamefrom.Theyaccepttheconclusionthat     2 ened en ed ma many ny In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g wh who o fe felt lt th that at pe perh rhap aps s th the e theycamefromadifferentworldalthoughtheyhave    e    g    a Ava vange ngelin linté té wer were e mer merely ely bid biding ing the their ir tim time e to one noideawhichone.Theeldestmembersoftherace     P dayconquerthegalaxy.Itwasinconceivabletothe mayknow,butifsotheyarenotforthcomingwith Inuuelthatanotherracewouldha Inuuelthatanotherr acewouldhavenodesire venodesiretoastoas- information. sumecommand.TheGoldI sumecommand. TheGoldInuuelwerecalledin. nuuelwerecalledin. The Inu The Inuuel ueliti iting ng arm armada ada wa was s in for a rud rude e sur sur-prise pri se whe when n the they y att attemp empted ted to tak take e the Arc Archan hangel gel    s    e     i home mewo worl rld. d. The Ar Arccha hang ngel els, s, de desp spit ite e th thei eir r la lacck    c ho    e of spa ce ve vehic hicles les, , wer were e qui quite te cap capabl able e of def defend end-   p space     S their ir hom home e fro from m spa spaceb ceborn orne e att attac acker kers. s. Gia Giant nt    : ing the     k    o weaponsofunknowntechnologyslicedtheincom   o     b ingeettoshreds.Whentheymanagedtolandon    e     l    u Natoe Natoenthar nthar itse itself,theGoldInuuelit lf,theGoldInuuelitingweresimply ingweresimply     R nomatchforthewel forthewell-armored,Lording-ric l-armored,Lording-richopposihopposi   n nomatch     i    a tion.Theironlyadvancesweremadelateatnight,     M when the night night-blin -blind d Arc Archange hangels ls retre retreated ated to thei their r    e    c homes.Inuuelarchmagidrainedthemselvesdrytry   n    e     l counterac eract ttheArc theArchange hangel lLordi Lordings,realiz ngs,realizing ing    a ingto count     V toolatethattheywereoutmatched.TheInuueliting retreated retrea ted in sha shame, me, ha havin ving g rec recei eive ved d the their ir sec second ond majordefeat.

 ArchangelsinGameTerms Agil ilit ity y 1, Cr Creeat atiivit ity y 1, De Dext xter eriity 2,  Attributes: Ag Intelligence5,Lording10,MentalEndurance6, Stamina9,Strength7,Visualization2 750metersindaylight,3meters ylight,3metersatnight. atnight. Vision:750metersinda Vision: 6meters Hearing:6meters Hearing: 15/30/30.Concealablewingsprovideaight Speed:15/30/30.Concealablewingsprovideaight Speed: speedof50/90/90 10 NaturalArmor:10 NaturalArmor: 5Slashing.Wingscanalsobeused PunchDamage:5Slashing.Wingscanalsobeused PunchDamage: todo5slashingdamage. 5 Size:5 Size: +10tosaveversusBlindness. SavingThrows:+10tosaveversusBlindness. SavingThrows: Musteatfourtimesasmuchasmostspecies. Special:Musteatfourtimesasmuchasmostspecies. Special: Canneverlie.Armorcostisdoubled.

Sa’crontor Homeworld:Tsauria Homeworld:Tsauria Snakemen,Slimies CommonNames:Snakemen,Slimies CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 200-250Years 720,000BC TesserCapability:720,000BC TesserCapability: TheSa’crontorarearaceofbeingswhoresemble thesnakesthatevolvedonEarth.Theyareapproximately mat ely thr three eemet meters ers lon long, g,wit with h a cob cobrara-lik like e hoo hood, d, fangs, fan gs, and a for forked ked ton tongue gue.The .Their ir ey eyes es are bea beady dy, , blackslitswhichmostraceshavelittletrustfor.Most Sa’crontoraregreen,grey,orbrown.Whencoiled uptoa“standing”position,theyareaboutoneanda halfmeterstall.Theirshinyscalesmakethemlookas iftheywerewet,thoughtheirskinisalwaysdry.

the wea wealth lthier ier Sa’ Sa’cro cronto ntorr, who ra rarel rely y ve vener nerate ate the Trickster,andtheyounger,whoaremuchmoredevout.ASa’crontorthiefismuchmorelikelytosteal fromaSa’crontormerchantthanonefromanother race.

Sa’crontorianHistory  TheSa’crontorbelievethatthersttrulyevolved oneoftheirspecies,knownastheT oneoftheirspecies,knownasthe TricksterorGreat Thin hinker ker, , wa was s the one who pro protec tected ted the their ir ra race ce in itsinfancyandtaughtthemthesecretsofambush, sneakattacks,anddirtytricks.Itwashe,theirreligionstates,whotaughtthemhowtodefendthemselvesfromthegiantmammals.

WhenwarsbrokeoutamongsttheSa’crontor,directassaultswereaseldom-usedtactic.Moreoften, guerillatactic gueri llatacticsand sand subtl subtleLordingtrick eLordingtrickswere swereused used Sa’cro Sa’ cronto ntor r arm arms s are sma small, ll, loo lookin king g alm almost ost lik like e tolureenemiesoutintotheopenorintoanambush. those on aT aTyrann yrannosaur osaurus usRex(withoutthe Rex(withoutthe claws). claws). MostSa’crontortothisdaykeepthatheritagebothin Theyhave The yhavetwongersandathumb,andthewhol twongersandathumb,andthewhole e combatandinpoliticaldealings. armmaybefoldedintoachestcavity,allowingthe Sa’crontortoslitheralongathigherspeeds.Despite Eventually,theSa’crontoradvancedtechnologitheirappearance,theyarenotcold-blooded. callytothepointofbuildingatachyontransceiver. Whentheytranslatedthemessagescomingthrough it,they it, theywere wereover overwhel whelmed med by bythe thegala galactic ctic cultu culture re aroundthem!Theyrealizedquicklythattheirworld wasina“backwater”sectionofthegalaxy,almost  P   a impo im poss ssib ible le fo for r an anot othe her r sp spec ecie ies s to st stum umbl ble e on onto to. .   g Intercept Inte rceptingtheplans ingtheplansforan foran Inuue Inuueltessera ltesseractdrive, ctdrive,  e  2  theSa’crontordeter theSa’cr ontordetermined minedlycreate lycreateda da shiptocarry  5  it, and ent entere ered d gal galact actic iccul cultur ture e in ful full l for force. ce. Her Here e Havingevolvedinalittle-traveledsectionofthe wa was s an en enti tire re ga gala laxy xy th that at co coul uld d be bene net t fr from om th the e galaxy, galaxy , the Sa’ Sa’cro cronto ntor r wer were e iso isolat lated ed fro from m con contac tact t Trickster’sideals! until unt il aft after er the thi third rd Inu Inuuel ueliti itingng-Bud Budetu etug g war war. . This andtheirstatusasa“youngrace”meantthatitwas Aftertheirmillionsofy Aftertheirm illionsofyearsofdea earsofdealingwithinte lingwithintelltheywhodiscoveredtherestofthegalaxy,notthe ligentmammals,theSa’crontorhadabitoftrouble  V   a otherwayaround.  e believ bel ieving ing tha that t the Inu Inuuel uel and Hal Hallaweren laweren’t ’t out to  l     n get the them.Once m.Once the Ogr Ogresand esand Hum Humans ans wer were e dis dis--  c  e Since Sin ce the their ir rel religi igion on ad advo vocat cates es dir dirty ty tri trick cks, s, the covered,though,theSa’crontorwarmeduptothe  M  a Sa’’cr Sa cron onttor ar are e we well ll kno nown wn for th theem. Very fe few w opportunitiespresentedtothem.  i     n peop pe ople le tr trus ust t th the e sn snak akem emen en. . Thi his s is of offs fset et by th the e  R   u naturalpersuasivenessoftheirvoices,andthefact Sa’c Sa ’cron ronto tor r ar are e ve very ry po poli liti tica cal l be bein ings gs, , an and d ar are e  l     e thatmanySa’crontoraremerchantsandthussome- alwaysattemptingtoforgenewalliancesand“break  b    o what wha t wea wealth lthyy. One fr fract action ion of ofthe the spe specie cies s li live ves s in into”theolderallianceswhichformedbeforethey  o  k    :  opulence,spendingtheirwealthoncomfortablesur S   evol ev olvved ed. . The heir ir be best st re rela lati tion ons s ar are e wi with th Hu Huma mans ns, ,   p roundingsandgenerallyenjoyingthegoodlife. Valori alorians,andNesti.Budetug ans,andNesti.Budetug andInuueli andInuuelitingboth tingboth  e  c  i    consid con siderthema erthema wa waste ste oftime, whi which ch isthe mai main n  e  s  ThevastmajorityofSa’crontor,however,arenot reasontheyaresooftenleftonthesidelinesofthe so luck luckyy.Those who whoare arenot notpersu persuasi asive veenough enough to currentalliances.TheSa’crontorspeciesgovernment overcometheirreputation,andthosewhohaveless istryingtomaneuvertheirraceintoaplacewhere skillasamerchant,oftenendupasbums,thieves, alltreaties alltreatiesarenegotiatedb arenegotiatedbySa’crontor ySa’crontor,as“theonly ,as“theonly andmercenaries.Thereisagrowingschismbetween trulyneutralrace.” TheSa’crontorevolvedinaswampysectionof thei th eir r ho home mewo worl rld, d, wh wher ere e th they ey hi hid d fr from om pr pred edat ators ors inthe mud and intrees intrees. . Gia Giant, nt, car carni nivo vorou rous smam mam-malswereaconstantthreat.TheSa’crontorculture evolvedincavesandtreetops,awayfromthedeadliermammalsoftheirworld.

TheSa’crontorinGameTerms Agil ilit ity y 9, Cr Creeat atiivi vity ty 7, De Dext xter eriity 5,  Attributes: Ag Intelligence5,Lording3,MentalEndurance1, Stamina1,Strength1,Visualization1 1kmindaylight,6metersatnight. Vision:1kmindaylight,6metersatnight. Vision: 20meters Hearing:20meters Hearing: 30/60/60 Speed:30/60/60 Speed: 2 NaturalArmor:2 NaturalArmor: 0Blunt.Theymayalsorealaser PunchDamage:0Blunt.Theymayalsorealaser PunchDamage: fromtheireyes,doing10Piercingdamage,toa rangeof5metersperpointofIntelligence. 5 Size:5 Size: Nomodiers SavingThrows:Nomodiers SavingThrows: Sa’c ’cro ront ntor or ha have ve re retr trac acta tabl ble e ar arms ms. . The heir ir Special: Sa “wal “w alki king ng” ” sp spee eed d is on only ly 25 25/5 /50/ 0/50 50 wi with th th thei eir r arms arm s out out; ; wit with h the them m in the they y can sli slithe ther r alo along ng morequickly.

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OgreRaces Homeworld:Grizzen Homeworld:Grizzen Ogres,Apes,Bricks CommonNames:Ogres,Apes,Bricks CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 50-80Years No TesserCapability:No TesserCapability: What mo What most st pe peop ople le na naiive vely ly ca call ll “O “Ogr gres es” ” ar are e actually actu ally three sepa separate rate speci species: es:T Titans itans, , Trolls rolls, , and Dracon Dra conian ians.T s.They hey nev never erhad had a wor word d for the theirown irown speciesintheirownlanguages—itwasnotuntil HumanitycametoGrizzen Human itycametoGrizzen that they theybegancalling begancalling themselvesOgres.Oncetheylearnedthehistoryof thename,mostOgresweremorethanhappytoacceptit. The Og Ogre re ho home mewo worl rld d of Gr Griz izze zen n is a pl plan anet et coveredinjungles.Thevegetationisnotparticularly tall,butisallverylargeandsometimesblocksout thesun.Woodtaken thesun. Woodtakenfromthesejungle fromthesejunglesisprizedfor sisprizedfor itsresistancetoacidandame.Grizzenisahighgravityworld,resultinginmanyformsofaquaticlife andnotmanytallland-dwellers.TheOgresarean exceptiontothat. Tow ower erin ing g mo more re th than an a fo foot ot ov over er th the e ave vera rage ge Huma Hu man, n, al all l Og Ogre re ra race ces s re rese semb mble le la larg rge e ap apes es ju just st approachingtheHumanform.Theyhavelongarms andshortlegsforthe size oftheirbody oftheirbody.T .Titan itansand sand Draconiansarehuskyandgrey-skinned,whileTrolls arescrawnierandgreen-skinned. arescrawnie randgreen-skinned.AllracesarecomAllracesarecompletelyhairlessforreasonswhichwillsoonbecome obvious.Ogreracesareallbutimmunetofear,and arealsoabletoseethroughillusionscreatedwith the Lor Lordin ding g or wit with h a hol hologr ograph aphic icproj project ector or. . Mos Most t Ogre Og res s we wear ar ve very ry du dura rabl ble e fa fabr bric ics s an and d ne neve ver r we wear ar glove glo ves. s. Ogr Ogre e rac races es are not ve very ry bri bright ght. . They als also o havetroublewiththeconceptsofpast,present,and future, futur e, whic which h only compo compounds unds the proble problem.They m.They areuniversallystrong,stubborn, areunivers allystrong,stubborn,andtireless. andtireless. Tro roll lls s ar are e th the e mo most st co comm mmon on sp spec ecie ies s of og ogre re. . Specialglandsintheirskinallowsthemtosecrete acorrosiveacid,whichcaneatthroughmetaland skin.Unfortunately,Trollshavenocontroloverthis ability.Itisautomaticallyactivatedintimesofstress, such suc h as com combat bat or purs pursuit uit. . Bec Becaus ause e of thi this, s,man many y TrollswhotravelawayfromOgreworldshavetaken towearingSyntheglassclothing(asortofhigh-tech berglasssuit)thatcanwithstandtheacidbutstillallowittopassthrough.Theyarenaturallyimmuneto

anykindofacid.Trollsareasexualcreatures—there Meanwh Mea nwhile ile, , the Tita itan n and Trol roll l con contin tinent ents s on isnosuchthingasa“maleTroll”or“femaleTroll.” Grizzen had just Grizzen justdisco discovere vered d eac each h other other, , thank thanks s to alandbridge.Tradeandtravel,suchastheywere Titansaretheleastcommontypeofogre.Glands atthattime,owedbetweenthetwocultures.Not underneaththeirskintaplatentheatenergy,allowing know knowing ing anyt anything hing about gene genetics tics, , eac each h Ogre race themtoburstintoamewithnoharmtothemselves. na natu tura rall lly y as assu sume med d th that at th the e ot othe her r wa was s a lo long ng-l -los ost t Asasidebenet,Titansarenearlyimmunetoheat, bro brothe ther r rac race, e, sep separa arated ted wh when en the lan land d bri bridge dge las last t taking tak ing nodamag nodamage efro from mreg regula ular r re res s and onl only y hal half f dissolved.Itwashundredsofyearslater,whenthe damagefromplasma.LikeTrolls,theywearspecial Budetugexplainedthesituation(severaltimes),that clothing cloth ing when tra travel veling ing off-w off-world. orld. Also like Trolls rolls, , TitansandTrollsrealizedtheyhadnocommonantheyhavenoconsciouscontrolovertheirabilities cestorwithinthepasthalf-billionyears. andtheamesmanifestatanytimeofstress.Both Titan andTr andTroll oll glan glands ds are aretrigg triggered eredby byadren adrenaline aline. . Ogre Og res s we were re di disc scov over ered ed at th the e si simp mple le hu hunt nter er-Unlik Unl ike e Tro roll lls, s, Tit itan ans s ha have ve bot both h ma male le an and d fe fema male le gat gather herer er pha phase se of the their ir soc societ ietyy. No one wil will l ev ever er genders. know kno w wha what t mig might htha have ve hap happen pened edif ifthe they y wer were e allowed lowe d to evol evolve ve furth further er. .When When the Cara Caracting ctingesse essen n Drac Dr acon onia ians ns ar are e a of offs fsho hoot ot of th the e Tit itan an ra race ce, , Emp Empire ire fai failed led, , the Ges Gess s exp experi erimen mentat tation ion wit with h the created creat ed by the Cara Caracting ctingessen essen.The .The Gess modi modied ed Ogre Ogres s was reve revealed aled. .A A conti contingent ngent of Budet Budetug ug was the Tita itan n gen gene e str struct ucture ure to tr trans ansfor form m the them m int into o a sen sent t tosee how thi things ngs wer were e goi goingon ngon tha that tpla planet net, , parodyoftheirownform.Draconianshaveplated and tooffer Ogr Ogresthe esthe ch chanc ance e tojointhe gal galact actic ic skin ski n and lar largebat-l gebat-like ike win wingswhic gswhich h the they y can fol fold d culture.Aftermuchexplanation,therediscoveryof behindtheirbodies.DraconiansaretheonlyOgre thethir thethirdcontine dcontinentandtheDraco ntandtheDraconians niansonit,anda onit,anda racewithcontrolovertheirskinabilities—theycan radicalshiftinlifestyle,Ogresbecametheyoungest activateaameauralikethatofaT activa teaameauralikethatofaTitanatanytime. itanatanytime. racetoevertaketothestars.RelationsarestillexcelUnfortunate Unfort unately ly, , the added contr control ol make makes s the effe effect ct lentbetweenthethree“subspecies,”whostillthink weaker,andDraconiansarenotimmunetoreor ofeachotherasbrother-races. plasmaexcepttheirown.

OgreHistory  TheyoungestofalltheracesintheMilkyWay, theOgreraceisnotevenonemillionyearsoldyet. EvenHumanityistwomillion.TitansandTrollsare examplesofparallelevolution:theyweretwoseparatespeciesevolvingonseparatecontinentsofthe sameworld,llingthesamenicheintheenvironment.TheOgresocialstructurewasapproximately atthelevelofcavemenwhentheGessdiscovered them. The Ca Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en, , st stil ill l fe feel elin ing g th the e lo loss ss of theirSuccubusservants,triedonceagaintocreate a “pe “perfe rfect” ct” sla slave ve ra race. ce. Abdu Abducti cting ng a set settle tlemen ment t of Titans,theGesstweakedTitangeneticmaterialand createDraconians.Thesese createDraconians. Theseservantsweresentbac rvantsweresentbackto kto Grizzentotesttheirmettle.Somewereseenasholy beings bei ngs by the loc localTi alTitan tans, s, and wer were e wor worshi shippe pped. d. Others Oth ers wer were e see seen n as asdem demons ons, , and wer were e for forced ced to eeorbedestroyed.Aftermanyyearsoftesting,the Caractinge Carac tingessen ssen decid decided ed that Draco Draconians nians were too stupidtobeusefulasfront-linetroopsorsla stupidtobeusefulas front-linetroopsorslaves,and ves,and leftthembehindonthethirdcontinent.

OgresinGameTerms  P   a Agil ilit ity y 1, Cr Creeat atiivit ity y 1, De Dext xter eriity 4,   g  Attributes: Ag Intelligence2,Lording2,MentalEndurance10,  e  2   7  Stamina9,Strength6,Visualization1 300metersindaylight,10meters ylight,10metersatnight. atnight. Vision:300metersinda Vision: 60meters Hearing:60meters Hearing: 20/40/40.Draconianshavenon-concealable Speed:20/40/40. Speed: wingsthatallowthemtoyat85/170/170 1forTitans,5forotherspecies NaturalArmor:1forTitans,5forotherspecies NaturalArmor: 2Blunt. Titans mayadd10Disint  V  PunchDamage:2Blunt. PunchDamage:  a  e damage damag e fromre; Trolls add the sam same e amo amount unt  l     n fromacid. Draconiansadd5fromames.Only  c  e Draconians Draco nians can cancontro control l thei their r ame ames; s; the theother other  M  a  i    species’glandsactiva species’glandsa ctivateintimesof teintimesofstress. stress.  n  R  6 Size:6 Size:  u  l    Nomodiers SavingThrows:Nomodiers SavingThrows:  e  b   Ogreshavenosenseofsmellwhatsoever.  o Special:Ogreshavenosenseofsmellwhatsoever. Special:  o Tita itans nstak take e no dam damage age fro from m ord ordina inary ryre re, , and  k    :   S   halfdamagefromreorplasmabasedweapons.   p Trol rolls ls are imm immune une to mos most t aci acids. ds. Dra Dracon conian ians s  e  c  i     e havenosuchimmunities.  s 

Humans Homeworld:Earth Homeworld:Earth Humans,Earthlings CommonNames:Humans,Earthlings CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 100-200Years 2225AD TesserCapability:2225AD TesserCapability: HumansintheValenceuniversecloselyresemble theirancestorsof20thcenturyEarthinfacialfeatures andbodystructure.Theystandroughlysixfeettall, havetwoeyes, hav etwoeyes,ears,onenoseandonemouth,and ears,onenoseandonemouth,and therequisitenumberofappendagesanddigits.Over thecourseofthelastthousandyearsHumanscontinuedtoaddlanguages,skintones,haircolorsand body bod y enh enhanc anceme ements nts to the their ir rep repert ertoir oire, e,as as wel well l as religions,philosophiesandwaysofliving.Humans nowrepresentthemostphysical nowrepresentthemost physicallyandintellectua lyandintellectually lly diversegroupinthegalaxy. Most Hum Most Humans ans emb embra race ce new tec techno hnolog logies ies and thus thu s boa boast st a few cy cyber bernet netic ic enh enhanc anceme ements nts. . Oth Other er racesoftendisregardHumansas‘seriousplayers’in thegalaxybecauseofthewaytheylookandtheir variablesocialhabits.Ashardtounderstandasthey maybe,however,Humanshaveshownthemselves toberemarkablypowerfulasagroup,eitherbecause oforinspiteoftheirdifferences.     8     2 As the mo mosst cre reat atiive sp spec ecie ies s in the gal alax axyy,    e    g Humansboastmoreinventionsinthepasttwothou   a     P sand san d ye years ars tha than n mos most t rac races es wit with h mil millio lions ns of ye years ars

ofhistory.Theirabilitytoadaptandintegratenew technologiesandideaswiththeirownaidedgreatly intheirquickrisetogalacticprominenceafterrst contactwiththeInuueliting.Duringthereignofthe HumanEmpirethousandsofresearchorganizations    s    e werecreatedaroundHumanscientistsandresearch     i    c specialists.    e    p     S    :     k After the Empir Empire e disso dissolve lved d many organ organizat izations ions    o    o ret ained ed the their ir Hum Human an lea leader ders s and sci scient entist ists. s. Eve Even n     b retain    e withoutthegovernmentbehindthemHumanshave     l    u     R ma main inta tain ined ed th thei eir r st stro rong ng pr pres esen ence ce in th the e ga gala laxy xy. .    n     i Huma man n mu musi sic c an and d ar art t is al all l th the e ra rage ge in th the e 31 31st st    a Hu     Mcentury.    e    c    n    e Humansarewellregardedasscientists,artists,     l    a     V informationspecialists,andengineers.

HumanHistory  Humans Huma ns ev evol olve ved d on th thei eir r Ea Eart rth h ov over er th the e pa past st twomillionyears,achievingcivilizationonlyabout 13,0 13 ,000 00 ye year ars s ag ago o wh when en th they ey di disc scov over ered ed ag agri ricu cullturaltechniques.Theyquicklydevelopedadvanced technologieswhichenabledthemtodominatetheir home ho mewo worl rld, d, ex exte tend nd Hum Human an ca capa pabi bili liti ties es th thro roug ugh h inanimatemachi inani matemachines, nes, manip manipulat ulate etheir their owngenetic code,andexpandbeyondtheirownsolarsystem. In 2225 AD AD,, the Humans encoun unttered an Inuuelitingtraderduringoneof Inuuelitingtr aderduringoneoftheirexplor theirexploratoryexatoryexpeditionsbeyondtheninthplanetoftheirsolarsystem.Thetraderseizedtheopportunitytobegintrade negotiationswiththeHumans.Theyquicklybecame animportantsourceofinformationfortheInuueliting andbuilttheirtradenetworksonthebackboneofthe remainingInuuelitinginfrastructure. The gal The galaxy axy in the 24t 24th h cen centur tury y wa was s a ch chaot aotic ic place.Forthersttimeintensofmillionsofyears it wa was s wi with thou out t un uni ied ed le lead ader ersh ship ip, , le leaavi ving ng a ga gap p the Hum Humans ans qui quick ckly ly ll lled. ed. Wi Withi thin n a cen centur tury y the they y subdue sub dued d res resist istanc ance e to the their ir rul rule e and uni unied ed mos most t oftheknownworldsunderonegovernment.Each planetwasallowedtoruleasanautonom planetwasal lowedtoruleasanautonomousentity ousentity, , provideditadheredtogeneralguidelinessetforth bytheEmpireregardingcommerceandracialrights. WiththebeginningoftheEmpiretheHumansinitiatedanewdatingschemetohelptheraces“start fresh. fre sh.” ” The rs rst t ye year ar of the Emp Empire ire is uni unive versa rsally lly referredtoasGY1. Under Unde r th thiis ru rule le th thee gal alax axy y o our uris ishe hed. d. The Inuuelitingbegantoreversetheirmillion-year-long trendofwithdrawingfromgalacticsociety,Budetug and an d Ca Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en be bega gan n to co coop oper erat ate, e, Ne Nest sti, i, Valori alorians, ans, Sa’c Sa’crontor rontor, , Ogre race races, s, and Arch Archange angels ls were wer e aw award arded ed gre greate ater r res respec pect t and the sta standa ndard rd of livingforgalacticpeoplesincreasedsignicantly. In an aneff effort ort to tofur furthe ther r imp improv rove e the sta state teof of the galaxytheHumanEmpire gala xytheHumanEmpirecreatedadivisi createdadivisionofthe onofthe governmentcalledGenetechnologiesResearchand Develo Dev elopme pment nt (co (commo mmonly nly kno known wn as Gen Genete etech ch). ). It wascharteredwiththesolepurposeofmanipulating plant,animal,andsentientspeciestoimprovetheir geneticcode. Genetechquicklybecameoneofthesoleprovidersofuniqueandinnovativegeneticsolutionsto racialandfoodproductionproblems.Manycritics

began to cla began claim im tha that t Gen Genete etech ch unf unfair airly ly com compet peted ed withothersimilarcorporationsbecauseofitsgovernmentties.

 Ariels Homeworld:Cathexis Homeworld:Cathexis Ariels CommonNames:Ariels CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 250-300Years 1.5MillionBC TesserCapability:1.5MillionBC TesserCapability:

Genetechbegantoresearchcross-speciesgeneticcombinations,commonlyknownascrossbreeds or De Demo mons ns. . The hese se be bein ings gs we were re ma manu nufa fact ctur ured ed in Genetechlabsandleakedtothepublicfortrial-balEarly Ear ly in Hum Human an his histor tory y the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng vis visite ited d loonfeedback.Initialresponseswerepositivewhen theypassedasnew theypass edasnewrace racesor sornatur naturalbornoffspri albornoffspring, ng, EarthandfoundunderdevelopedHumans.Theygeneticallyalteredthe lteredtheHumanstobe Humanstobemorecompatible morecompatible soGenetechuppedthei soGenetec huppedtheircampaign rcampaigntomass-produce tomass-produce neticallya withtheirownpeople,thentookagroupbackto thesebeings. Ll’Anderanthandfurtheralteredthemtobeaworker castein ein Inuue Inuueliti litingsociety ngsociety.In .In ordertoservebetter Theshort,bitter“WarofCleansing”followed.A cast Inuuel ueliti iting ng clo cloud ud cit cities ies, , the Hum Humans ans wer were e puristmovementgrewinwhichgeneticandnatural in the Inu crossbreed cross breedsweresoughtoutandtortured sweresoughtoutandtorturedor orkill killed. ed. imbuedwithbroad,featherywings,thinbones,and ThefullstoryoftheDemonsistoldelsewhere(see powerfulmuscles.Asaresult,Arielshaveanecoat offeathersinsteadofhair. .Theyare Theyareshorter shorterthanmodthanmodpage pag e xx) xx). . Suf Sufce ce itto sa say y tha that t the Dem Demons ons fou fought ght offeathersinsteadofhair erndayHumans—mostonlystand ns—mostonlystandvefeettal vefeettall. l. back, back , even eventuall tually y bomba bombarding rdingEart Earth h and dest destroyin roying g erndayHuma themaineetoftheEmpire.WiththeEmpire’ssupDuringthethirdwarwiththeBudetugtheAriels portgonethepuristmovementsubsided.ItwasGY wereretrainedtobean beanelitestrikeforce elitestrikeforcewhichserved whichserved 495, the wa war r was ov over er, , and the gal galaxy axy wa was s aga again in wereretrainedto torn.Genetechnolog torn.Genetech nologies iesrose rosefromthe fromthe ashes of the asprotectoroftheInuuelitingcivilians.Neartheend Empireasapowerfulcompanyrunby Empireasapowerful companyrunbyscientistsand scientistsand ofthewaralargeforceofArielsfoughttheirwayinto politicianswhohadonceworkedintheGenetech aslaveworldandsavedmillionsofInuuelitingcaptives. tiv es.Fo For r such sele seless ss duty the theInuuel Inuueliting iting peopl people e divisionofthegovernment. choosetofreetheArielsfromserviceandprovide themwithahomeworldtocal homeworldtocalltheirown. ltheirown.Sincethat Sincethat Most Mo st of th the e Em Empi pire re’’s ho hold ldin ings gs in th the e ga gala lact ctic ic themwitha coreareloyaltotheCoalitionofSentientRacesin timethetwospecieshaveboastedacloserelationGY592,butallothersectorsofthegalaxypledgeal- ship,andArielsstillservemanyInuuelitingtothis  P   a legiancetolocalgovernmentsorracialties.Humans dayashiredhands.   g  e arestillinuentialintheiroldcirclesfromprewar  2   9  Arielsontheirhomeworldare Arielsonthei rhomeworldaretrainedf trainedfromearly romearly times,butthegalacticunitywroughtbytheirvision chil ch ildh dhoo ood d to wo work rk in gr grou oups ps as st stri rike ke fo forc rces es an and d andcreativityhasbeendestroyed. aerial aer ial gua guards rds. . Ev Even en aft after er mat maturi uring ng int into o ful full l adu adults lts theyoftenparticipateinmonthlyretreatsaimedat HumansinGameTerms honing thei their r mili military taryskil skills ls and trai training ning them with newweaponsortechniques. newweaponsortechniques .Thoseinotherc Thoseinothercultures ultures Agil ilit ity y 4, Cr Crea eati tivi vity ty 10 10, , De Dext xter erit ity y 4, remembersomeofthismartialheritage,buttypically  V   Attributes: Ag  a  l     e Intelligence4,Lording1,MentalEndurance2, abandonitformorepeacefulpositions.  n  c Stamina4,Strength2,Visualization2  e  M 1kmindaylight,6metersatnight Vision:1kmindaylight,6metersatnight Vision: Arielsareoftenfoundworkingasguards,couri-  a 20meters Hearing:20meters Hearing:  n ersandscouts.Theylosethepointofnaturalarmor  i     R  15/30/30 Speed:15/30/30 Speed: thatordinaryHumanshave,butgainwingedight  u  l    1 NaturalArmor:1 NaturalArmor: withamovementrateof50/100/200.Thesewings  e  b   2Bashing PunchDamage:2Bashing PunchDamage: cannotbeconcealed.Arielstartwith2fewerback-  o  o  k   5 Size:5 Size:  :  groundpointsthanordinaryHumans.  S   Nomodiers SavingThrows:Nomodiers SavingThrows:   p  e Nospecialabilities Special:Nospecialabilities Special:  c  i     e  s 

Succubi  Homeworld:Eden Homeworld:Eden Succubi,Slinx CommonNames:Succubi,Slinx CommonNames:  AverageLifespan: 1,800-2,200Years 1080AD TesserCapability:1080AD TesserCapability: Succubi Succub i are tal tall, l, sle slende nderr, stu stunni nningl ngly y bea beauti utiful ful Human Hum an fe fema male les s mo modi die ed d du duri ring ng th the e re reig ign n of th the e Caractinge Carac tingessen ssen Empir Empire. e.Th The e Gess were atte attemptin mpting g to pro produc duce e a bet better ter rac race e tha than n the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng had withtheAriels,andexpect withtheAri els,andexpectedthatbyc edthatbychoosingmore hoosingmore modernHumanfemalesastheirsubjectstheywould succee suc ceed. d. The Hum Humans ans wer were e ph physi ysical cally ly enh enhanc anced ed andgivenalifespanofnearlytwothousandyears, andtrainedinseductionandsubversionskillstobe used agai against nst male males s from other cultu cultures, res, espe especial cially ly the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting. ng. The Suc Succub cubi i wer were e out outrag raged ed wh when en they th ey di disc scov over ered ed wh what at th thei eir r po posi siti tions ons we were re to be be! ! They Th ey fou fought ght aga agains inst t the their ir Car Caract acting ingess essen en cap captor tors, s, defeatedthem,andtooktheplanettheywerebeing heldonfortheirown.

Succub Succ ubi i lo lose se th the e po poin int t of na natu tura ral l ar armo mor r th that at ordinaryHumanshave,butgainwingedightwith amovementrateof75/150/150.Thesewingscannot be con concea cealed led. .T They als also o gai gain n the Dro Drop-D p-Dead ead Gorgeo Gor geous us bac backgr kgroun ound. d. Suc Succub cubi i sta start rt wit with h 6 few fewer er backgroundpointsthannormalHumans.

MinorSpecies The hese se te ten n sp spec ecie ies s ar are e th the e mo most st co comm mmon on an and d powe po werf rful ul sp spec ecie ies s in th the e ga gala laxy xy. . The hey y ar are e no not t by any an y me mean ans s th the e onl only y sp spec ecie ies s — an anot othe her r te ten n in inte tellligentspeciesareknowntoliveinourgalaxyand the th e cl clos osel ely y ne neig ighb hbori oring ng on ones es. . Ma Many ny of th them em ar are e sign si gni ica cant ntly ly mo more re al alie ien, n, an and d wi will ll be de deta tail iled ed in future futur esuppl supplement ements.T s.That’ hat’s snoreasonthat noreasonthat your GM can’tcreateanotherspeciesforpeopletoplay.The galaxy’sabigplace,afterall.

Introdu Intr oduci cing ng an anot othe her r mi mino nor r sp spec ecie ies s wi will ll pr probobably abl y not shi shift ft the bal balanc ance e of pow power er sig signi nican cantly tly. . After Aft er the Car Caract acting ingess essen en wer were e dri drive ven n out out, , the Intro Introducin ducing gonewith onewithgamegame-break breakingabiliti ingabilities,such es,such Succubimodiedships,lefttheplanet,andtriedto asshapeshiftingortelepathy, willabsolutelychange returnhometoEarth.Theyfoundthatitwaspossible theworld .Takecarebeforeintroducingspecieswith .Takecarebeforeintroducingspecieswith tobreedwithHumansandtriedtostartfamiliesback abilitiesthatareoutsidetherealmofbothcurrent on the their irhom homew eworl orld.Th d.The e Suc Succub cubi i lan landed ded in insma small ll technologyandcurrentLordingabilities. groupsandslowlyattemptedtointegratethemselves     0 in to ex exis isti ting ng to town wns s or ci citi ties es in me medi diev eval al Eu Euro rope pe. . Introducinganother major speciesthathasbeen speciesthathasbeen     3 into    e ManySuccubiandtheirHumanmates ManySuccubiand theirHumanmatesbecamefrusbecamefrusaroundforalongtimewillskewthegalactictimeline    g    a tratedandleftEarth,returningtotheplanettheyhad     P somewhat some what.T .Theywouldhav heywouldhaveto eto beprettyinsula beprettyinsularto rto takenfromtheCaractingessentostartagainwithout havestayedoutofthehalf-dozengalaxy-widewars prejudice.Asagestureoftheirintenttheyrenamed thathaveoccurredsincetheInuuel’stime,andpretty the pla planet net Ede Eden. n. Suc Succub cubi i str strong ongly ly bel believ ieve e in the their ir powerfultohaveavoidedbeingconqueredbyone princ pri ncip iple les s an and d of ofte ten n re refu fuse se to co comp mpro romi mise se th them em empireoranother. eveninthefaceofdeath.    s All of the min minor or spe specie cies s we wepla plan n to int introd roduce uce    e     i    c ChildrenofaSuccubus Child renofaSuccubusareHumanifmaleand areHumanifmaleand laterarejustthat:minor.Theyhavelittleimpacton    e    p     S Succubusiffemale.Sincethemalesdon’tsharethe thesettingasawhole,andthingswillworkjustne    : lifespanofaSuccubus,mosttakemanymatesduring withoutthem.Youcanfeelfreetocreateyourown     k    o theirlifetim lifetime.Asaresulttheydon’ e.Asaresulttheydon’thaveany thaveanyprobprob- aswell.    o their     b    e lemswithopensensualityor“freelove. lemswithopensensualityor“freelove.” ”Thishas Thishasled led     l    u manymodernSuccubiintopositionsinboththere    R    n spectableanddisreputablesectionsoftheentertain    i    a mentindustry.Difcultsituat .Difcultsituationsoftenarisew ionsoftenarisewhena hena     Mmentindustry    e    c Succubusndsthatthedesiresorpreconceptionsof    n clientsdon’ tmatchtheirownprinciples. irownprinciples.    e clientsdon’tmatchthe     l    a     V

 P   a   g  e  3   1 

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   S   AnArielwarriorwaitscalmlyatamedalpresentationontheArmageddonhomeworld.Animplanted   p  e radiotransmittercanbeseencoveringhisear(Ariel,likebirds,haveverysmallbutsensitiveear-holes).Ariel  c  i     e arecompletelyhairless;thegeneticengineeringprocessthattookHumancavemenandgavethemwings  s 

hastheside-effectofreplacingallhairwithfeathers.Thisonehasshavenhishead-feathersoff,butretains oneonhisweapon.

TheGalaxyToday TheGalaxy Today Overview ItisGalacticYear592:vehundredandninetytwoyearsafterthecreationoftheHumanEmpire. Itisonehundredandtwenty-veyearsafterthefall ofthatempire.Thegalaxypassedthroughatimeof great gre at tur turmoi moil, l, wit with h wa warlo rlords rds att attemp emptin ting g to con contro trol l part pa rts s of th the e ga gala laxy xy fo for r th them emse selv lves es, , an and d wi with th fe few w peopleabletostanduptothem.

CulturesandNations Below Belo w we de desc scri ribe be th the e ma majo jor r cu cult ltur ures es ac acti tive ve inthegalaxyintheyear592.Whenyoucreatea characteryoushoulddecidewhatcultureheorshe grewupin.

Eachmajorculturehasdozensofsubcul Eachmajorculturehas dozensofsubcultures,in tures,in thesamewaythattheUnitedStateshasindividual townswhichmakeupthe“fabricofthenation.”Very few wor worlds lds ha have ve nat nation ions s or cit city-s y-stat tates es an any y mor more; e; mostpeopleidentifythemselveswithacultureatthe system-widelevelorlarger system-widelev elorlarger.Eachplanetorsyst .Eachplanetorsystemis emis a“state”withinthe“nation”oftheculture.However, Thestrongestpowerswhic Thestronge stpowerswhichhavee hhaveemergedsince mergedsince withthewaytheTesseractdriveworks,thesestates the th e Fal all l ar are e ec econ onom omic ic ones ones: : Ge Gene nete tecchn hnol olog ogie ies s co coul uld d be li ligh ght t ye year ars s aw awaay fr from om ea each ch ot othe herr, wi with th Incorporat Incorp orated,Aegis ed,Aegis Corpor Corporatio ation, n, andArmageddo andArmageddon n manyworldsofotherculturesinbetween. Indu In dust stri ries es ow own n en enti tire re pl plan anet ets s ou outr trig ight ht, , an and d co conntrol tr ol ma many ny ot othe hers rs th thro roug ugh h pu pupp ppet et go govver ernm nmen ents ts. . Somesolarsystemshaveamixofthesecultures, Govver Go ernm nmen enttal bo bodi diees su succh as the Co Coal aliiti tion on of bu but t mo more re of ofte ten n th the e wh whol ole e sy syst stem em is de devo vote ted d to a SentientRaces,theancientInuuelitingEmpire,and singleculture.Infact,manyculturesarecomposed theBudetugCorestillholdsway,butmostcultures ofthousandsofsystems.Rememberthatevenarelaare ar e ru rule led d mo more re by co corp rpor orat atio ion n th than an go gove vern rnme ment nt. . tivelysmallculturecanhaveahugeimpact.Ægis’ Openwarfareisrareinthegalaxytoday;economic cul cultur ture e ma may y onl only y co cove ver r ten per percen cent t of the gal galaxy axy, , meanstoanendaremuchmorecommon. butthat’s100,000inhabitedworlds,withnearlya InthereckoningofOldEarthitisthethirty-rst century,butnooneusesOldReckoninganymore nowthatEarthis dev devasta astated.T ted.Theevents heevents ofthe oftheFFall     2 leftitcloud-coveredandbarren.     3    e    g Despit Des pite e the los loss s of the their ir bel belov oved ed hom homew eworl orld, d,    a     P Humanshavecontinuedtobeastrongfactorinthe evolution evol ution oftheirgalaxy oftheirgalaxy.Somemightsaythatthey .Somemightsaythatthey are mor more e acc accept epted edtha than n ev ever er— — ha havin ving g tas tasted ted the samedefeatthatsomanyotherEmpiresdidinthe past,theyarenolongerconsideredyoungupstarts orusurpersbythegalaxy’sotherspecies.    s    e    r    u     t     l Somecitizensofthegalaxybelievethatpeace    u     C isclose athand,andtherecentwarsandstri twarsandstrifewill fewill    : iscloseathand,andtherecen     k    o soonbeforgotten.Otherslookatthewebsofinter   o     b dependencythatthegalaxy’scultureshavebuilt,and    e wonderifthewholestructuremightcometumbling     l    u     R downtomorrow.Bothviewpointshavesomevalidity    n     i    a tothem.Itisuptoyourcharacterstotipthebalance     Monewayoranother.    e    c    n    e Itisatimeofhope,andatimeofgreatpoten    l    a     V tial.

billionpeopleeach! Alsoincludedareculturalbriefswhichcontain a qui quick ck ov overv erview iew of the cul cultur ture’ e’s s mos most t imp import ortant ant points,andalistofskillsthateachcultureteaches its ch child ildren ren. . New Newly ly cre create ated d ch chara aracte cters rs fro from m the these se culturesstartwithalloftheseskillsatlevel5,and may ma yrais raise ethem them norma normallyduringcharac llyduringcharactercreation tercreation andafterwards.

BlanketStatements As muc much h as som some e meg megaco acorps rps wou would ld lik like e it, the there re is isno no sin single gle uni unied ed gal galact actic iccul cultur ture. e. Thismakesitdifculttotalkaboutthegalaxy asawhole.Itwouldcertainlybeeasiertosay, “eve “e very ryon one e in th the e ga gala laxy xy go goes es to ch chur urch ch on Saturday,”butit’ Saturday, ”butit’sjustnottrue.It’ sjustnottrue.It’snoteventrue snoteventrue thatthewholegalaxyusesonecurrency. Most planetsusetheSection(§),buttherearelots ofmaveric ofmave rickworldsoutthere.Beware kworldsoutthere.Beware blank blanket et statements—there’salways statements—there’ salwaysatleastoneworld atleastoneworld outtherewhocanprovethemwrong.

Genetechnologies, Incorporated

Itwon’tlast,ofcourse,butitdoesmakeGenetech’s citizenssurprisinglywell-educatedabouttherestof thegalaxy’sculture.

Genies Geni es ar are e un uniiver ersa sall lly y ac acce cept ptin ing g of ge gene neti tic c mani ma nipul pulat atio ion. n. Ha Havi ving ng al alte tere red d DN DNA A is no norm rmal al, , to theextentthatanyone tthatanyonewho whodoesn doesn’t ’thavesomesort havesomesort Genetechisperhapsthemostinuentialcorpo- theexten ofmodicationintheirfamil tionintheirfamilyisconsidere yisconsidereda dalittl little e rationinthegalaxy.Theculturethathasgrownup ofmodica arounditislikewisequiteinuenti arounditislike wisequiteinuential,andisal al,andisalsoexsoex- strange.Somepeoplefromthepoorerpartsoftown actu tual ally ly bu buy y ch chea eap p pr pros osth thet etic ics s to lo look ok li like ke th they ey ceedinglylarge:GThasaboutathirdofthegalaxy ceedinglylarge:GThas aboutathirdofthegalaxy’’s ac have ve the mor more e exp expens ensiv ive e gen geneti etic c man manipu ipulat lation ions. s. populat popu lation ion und under er its in inuen uence. ce. Two hun hundre dred d and ha tentrillionpeople,acrossmorethanhalfamillion Ifsomeoneweretowalkdownthestreetwithtentaclesinsteadofarms,itmightbeabitunusual,but planets. onlybecausethatkindofsurgeryisexpensive.More Howisthatinuencemaintained?Fromsitcoms Genieswoulddothatkindofthingiftheyhadthe money. tonewsprograms,GTeithercreatesorpaysforeveryimagethatitscitizenssee. UnliketheCoalition,Genetechdoesnotcarefor Gene Ge nete tecch’ h’s s cu cult ltur ure e is hi high ghly ly me medi diaa-dr driiven en. . alloftheircitizensequally.Thosewithoutthemoney Every Eve ryone one tal talks ks abo about ut the lat latest est and gre greate atest, st, the their ir tokeepupwithfadsareverymuchhave-notsinthis society.Oh,GTruns Oh,GTrunssomesoupkitchensand somesoupkitchensandwelfare welfare favoriteiconsandidols,what’shappeningonthelat- society. programs,butmostlyfortheima ostlyfortheimageoftryingto geoftryingtohelp. help. estsoapoperasandsitcoms,andwhatittakestobe programs,butm partoftheincrowd(evenifbeing“in”meansacting Thetruthisthatthehave-notswillneverbecool,and likeyou’re“out”).TheBoardofDirectorsputsalot ifyou’renotcoolinGTspace,you’renothing. of mon money ey int into o cre creati ating ng new cel celebr ebriti ities, es, and the there re GTisverygoodatlookingliketheydon’tdoall areentiresystemsdevotedtothecreationofmovies.Imaginewhatadirectorcoulddowithawhole ofthis.MostGeniesdon’trealizethatthey’rebeing manipulated,orthatGTreallymanipulatesanyone. planetasherset... Ifanyonedoes Ifanyon edoes getsuspic getsuspicious, ious, they usual usuallysuspect lysuspect Five veGala GalaxiesInformati xiesInformation on (a (amedia media mega megacorp corpthat that  P  Everydayit’ssomethingnew—evenifthat“new” Fi  a work rks s wi with th of ofte ten), n), or so some me so sort rt of fa fals lse e fr fron ont t   g isborrowedfromanotherculture,orjustsomething GT wo  e for which whic h Genetech Genet echprov provides ides allthe all the material. mate rial. The  3  retroandrecycled. retroandrecy cled.Andit’ Andit’snotjustonenew snotjustonenew thing thing: :  3  it’sonenewthingandathousandvariationsonit, lawsinthiscultureallowforeasysecretcontrolof corpor porati ations ons — the thereis reis no nosuc such h thi thingas ngas fre freedo edom m fromahundredthousandplanetsandstarsystems. cor If ear earrin ring-s g-size ized d vo voice ice-ac -acti tiva vated ted com comput puters ers are in ofinformationunlessGenetechdecidesthatpeople voguetoday,therewillbeamillionshapesandsizes needtoknowsomething. availablebeforenoon.Thesadthingisthatdespite Inallhonesty,GTdoesagreatjobofcreatingan  V  allthisvariety,it’sallverymuchthesame.Eachtrend hasathousandunimaginativevariantsonthesame articialculture.Theydosuchagoodjobthatthey  a  l     e  n rarelyneedpoliceor rarelynee dpoliceorenforcement, enforcement,thoughpeople thoughpeoplein in idea.Peoplelikealotofoptions,evenifeverything  c  e theknowrealizethattheUltramercswillshowupif worksthesamewayunderneath.Everybodywants  M theirwatchpersonalized,evenifit’sallpersonalized somethingreallybadhappens.Genetechusestheir  a  i    intheexactsameway.Sometimes,despitethevari- mediaimageandtheircultureasrecruitmenttools,  n  R  insinuatingthemintoaplanet’sexistingcultureuntil  u ety,it’sallratherbland.  l    thatplanetbecomesaGenetechstateinfact,ifnot  e  b    o yetinname.Thetreatiestosealthedealwillinevi o Gene Ge nete tech ch of ofte ten n “b “bor orro rows ws” ” th thin ings gs fr from om ot othe her r  k    :  cultures cultu res to keep keepitsel itself f fresh fresh. . Corres Corresponde pondents nts tra travel vel tablyfollow.  C   u thegalaxylookingforthingsthataren’twellknown  l     u Genete Gen etech ch port portra rays ys the Anc Ancien ient t Inu Inuuel uel cul cultur ture e  t   inGTspace.Whentheyndsomething,itbecomes  r   e afad,atleastforashorttime.Agoodexamplemight asaratherbackwardsgroupwhohaven’tbeenable  s  bethesportCageWrestling(popularinArmageddon tokeepupwiththetimesformillennia.Aegisand space).Thiscouldspawnawholerangeofpossible Armaresimplyotherstatesinthegalaxy,sometimes fads,fromcarryingcyberballsaroundtodressinglike allies,sometimesnot.TheCoalitionisportrayedas threat eat, , but a ve very ry sma small llone one and not one wor worth th theplayersorrefstoactuallytryingtoplaythegame. a thr

worryingabout.TheCommunalculturesareignored entire ent irely ly, , whi while le the Bud Budetu etug g Cor Core e is mad made e to loo look k likeJamesBondstylevillains—humorousandincompetent,withatouchofdangerandinsanity.The Demonsareviliedutterly. Recently,though,somepeopl Recently ,though,somepeopleon eontheBoardof theBoardof Directors Direc torshav have e grown tire tired d of Genet Genetech’ ech’s s const constant ant battlewiththeCoalition,andofitsuniversallyshallow cul cultur ture.The e.They y see the pos possib sibili ility ty for a gre greate ater r union uni on, , of th the e re retu turn rn of a Ga Gala lact ctic ic Em Empi pire re. . The hese se forwa for wardrd-thi thinke nkers rsare are the one ones s in incha charge rge of Pro Projec ject t Endeavour Endea vour. . It’ It’s s stil still l very muc much h a secre secret, t, but it’ it’s s an importantone,anditwon’tstaysecretforever. Exampl Exam ple e su subc bcul ultu ture res s in incl clud ude e th thos ose e wh who o lo look ok forsomemeaninginlifebeyondtheashthatGT presents,totallymedia-obs prese nts,totallymedia-obsesse essed d plane planets tswhocan’t whocan’t stan st and d to be aw awaay fr from om th the e in info form rmat atio ion n o ow w, th the e groupieculturesthatfollowvariouscelebrities,and theRenaissance.

GenetechPopCulturalBrief 

WeaponAccessibility:LowtoNil(citizenshave WeaponAccessibility:LowtoNil(citizenshave norightstocarryweapons) Medium DrugAccessibility:Medium DrugAccessibility: Light, ht, exc except ept for cri crimes mes aga agains inst t Punishments: Lig thestate. Crime Rate: Lowforseriouscrime,highforpetty crimes FamilyViews: GTstillsubscribestotheold“nuclear family” model — a mother, a father, and two tw o ch chil ildr dren en ar are e th the e id idea eal. l. Ho Homo mose sexu xual alit ity y is accepted, accepted ,thoughoneof thoughoneofthepair thepairwillbe willbeexpected expected to be no nota tabl bly y mo more re ma masc scul ulin ine, e, an and d th the e ot othe her r morefeminine. Due Dueto toexcel excellentcontrace lentcontracepti ptive ve and dis diseas ease-c e-cont ontrol rol pro progra grams, ms, and fas fast-p t-pace aced d cultur cul ture, e, sex sexual ual rel relati ations ons are rel relati ative vely ly cas casual ual, , andsexisanopensubject. Most st cl clot othe hes s so sold ld in GT sp spac ace e Typica ypical l Clothi Clothing: ng: Mo aremade are made withoptically acti active vebers bers, , allo allowing wing quick qui ck ch chan ange ges s of co colo lor r an and d pr prin int. t. Ma Many ny al also so haveelectricallycont havee lectricallycontrolledsemi-rigid rolledsemi-rigidbersthat bersthat allowreshapingforthelatestfashions. Genetech’s s fast-changing Ofcial Religions: None. Genetech’ culture ins nsu ures that many cults and “fad” reli re ligi gion ons s sw swee eep p th thro roug ugh h th the e pop popul ulat atio ion n on a monthlybasis. Entertainment: Asiffollowingtheconstantdeluge oftrendswasn’t oftrendswasn’ tenoug enough hente entertain rtainment, ment, there is alsoamassiveamountofstate-subsidizedholothea th eate ter r en ente tert rtai ainm nmen ent, t, bo both th on th the e la larg rge e an and d smallscreens.GTcarefullyconsidersandedits everythingthatitscitizenssee.

CommonNames: GT,Genetech Citizensarecalled…: Genies,Rim-dwellers Clot othi hing ng, , or ore, e, ma macchi hine nery ry, , ra rare re Majo Ma jor r Im Impo port rts: s: Cl valuables     4 Major Exports: Food, genetic engineering     3 knowledge    e    g    a OfcialLanguage: TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage:TradeInuuel     P GenetechCulturalSkills orga gani nic c mo mole lecu cule le wi with th th the e co comp mpan any y Symbol: An or name.Whichmoleculeitischangeseveryday. Genetechnologiesteachesitschildrentheskills Government: ofCarousing,Persuasion,Style,andBargaining. ,andBargaining. Capital: Allah System, Sector 52, Risen ofCarousing,Persuasion,Style Quadrant    s BoardofDirectors(appointed) GoverningBody:BoardofDirectors(appointed) GoverningBody:    e    r hieef Planetary Ofcer Loca Lo cal l Go Gove vern rnan ance ce:: Chi    u     t     l ExportingFood?    u (appointed)     C People’sVoice: Low    :     k Expo Ex port rtin ing g food food in th the e se sens nse e of ac actu tual ally ly    o Regi Re gion on of Gr Grea eate test st In Inu uen ence ce:: RisenandChosen    o growin gro wing gitandshipp itandshipping ing itis aperfe aperfectl ctly ysen sen-    b Quadrants    e     l siblenotiononEarthinthe21stcentury.For    u Style of Control: Media-based     R aninterstellarculture,it’sahorribleidea.The    n TechnologyLevels:     i costoftakingastarshipfullofcornacrossa    a ComputingandCommunications: High     M thousandlight-yearstoanotherplanetisproVeryHigh GeneticandBiological:VeryHigh GeneticandBiological:    e    c hibitive. MilitaryandCivil: Medium    n    e     l LegalPractices:    a     V GT an and d th the e Bude Budetu tug g Co Core re (w (whi hicch al also so Low w (p (pri rivvat atel ely y ow owne ned d Fre reed edom om of Sp Spee eecch: Lo “exportsfood”)actuallysellotherculturesthe broadcastmediaareillegal) genetic genet ic codes for bette betterr-qual -quality ity produc produce e and MobilityofCitizenry: Low(difculttogetpapers livestock. totraveloff-world)

TheCoalitionof SentientRaces

eithertheymakethemselvessolikablethatpeople don’tbelievetheyha don’tbelie vetheyhaveanyrea veanyrealforce,ortheycom lforce,ortheycome e ontoomoralandrighteousformostpeoples’tastes. TheCoalitionhasaveryfor-us-or-against-usstance, and rar rarely ely for forgi give ves s an ene enemy my, , esp especi eciall ally y whe when n it comestoanyonewhosideswithGenetechnologies inanymatter.

Hope.Safety.Basicdecency.Rightsforallliving beings.Thesea beings. Thesearewhatdrawpeoplet rewhatdrawpeopletotheCoalition otheCoalition The Co Coal alit itio ion n an and d Ge Gene nete tech ch ne neve ver r re real ally ly go got t of Se Sent ntie ient nt Ra Race ces. s. Por ortr traayi ying ng th them emse selv lves es as th the e along, g, ev even en wh when en bo both th we were re pa part rt of th the e Hum Human an last las t bas bastio tion n of hop hope e in a bel beleag eaguer uered ed gal galaxy axy, , the alon Empire.Genetechwasag hwasagovernment-runme overnment-runmegacorp, gacorp, Coalitionseekstouniteeveryoneinamorepeaceful Empire.Genetec andtheCoalitionwastheEmpire’spublichouseof andcooperativeGalacticEmpire. repres rep resent entati ative ves.. s... . but bac back k the then n the Coa Coalit lition ion wa was s never r allo allowed wed any contr control ol ove over r GT GT.The .The Coali Coalition tion TheCoalitio The Coalitionisthe nistheonemajor onemajorculturewhic culturewhichis his neve drawntogethermorebyagovernmentthanbyacor- governmentstillseesGenetechasaroguecorporaporationor poration oraspecies. aspecies.Whilethereis Whilethereisacertainamount acertainamount tionwhoneedstobereignedinandcomebackto of cor corpor porate ate in inuen uence, ce, mos most t of it itcom comes es fro from m the the“real”empire,whichisagraveunderestimation CoalitionEngineeringCorps(C.E.C.),agovernment- ofGT’sstrength.Amongthecore-dwellersGTisportrayed yedas as the arc archetyp hetypal al “evil empir empire, e,” ” thoug though h the runmegacorp.UnliketheEmpire’shandsoff-stance, tra Coalitionhasbeenbackingoffont Coalitionhasbeenba ckingoffonthisrecently hisrecently.. theCoalition’sgovernmentiseverywhere. Protec Prot ecti tion on an and d we welf lfar are e ar are e tw two o hu huge ge be bene net ts s thatcore-dwellersgetundertheCoalition.Oneof the CSR CSR’’s mot mottoe toes s is “le “leav ave e no one beh behind ind,,” and they the y mea mean n it. As Asan an exa exampl mple, e,gen geneti etic c eng engine ineeri ering ng has ad adva vance nced d to the poi point nt wh where ere it is pos possib sible le to makeweedsthatgrowinthecracksinthesidewalks thatarecompletelynutritiousandgiveyouallthe vitaminsyouneedfortheday.Youcouldevencolorcodethembywhatspeciesthey’rebestfor codethembywhatspeciesthey’ rebestfor.Noneof .Noneof theotherculturesdoesthis;only theothercultures doesthis;onlytheCoalitiondoes. theCoalitiondoes. Itmaynotbethebestwaytosurvi Itmay notbethebestwaytosurvive,butitcanbe ve,butitcanbe done,anditisdone.TheCoalitionalsosubsidizes localpolicedepartments,militias,anddefenseeets, tohelpprotecttheirworldsandtheircitizens. SecurityisrelativelytightintheCore.IDcards arerequiredofallcitizensandmostvisitorsaswell. Neighborhoodwatchgroupsarealmostubiquitous, customsofcialsarecarefulandthorough,andorder iskeptthroughgeneralvigilance. iskeptthroughgener alvigilance.Lawandorderare Lawandorderare importanttomostcore-dwellers,andarepromoted notonlybypunishingwrongdoers,butalsobyrewardingthosewhodogoodandselessdeeds.The Coalitionhassomeofthesafestworldsinthegalaxy. Italsohasthegreatestnumberofdevelopedurban center cen ters, s, sin since ce it has few fewer er pla planet nets s tha than n Gen Genete etech ch andaroughlyequalpopulation. Unfortunately,theCoalitioncouldstandtotake somelessonsinpublicrelationsfromGT,ofreally anyothergroupinthegalaxybesi anyothe rgroupinthegalaxybesidestheDemons destheDemons. . Whiletheyarebetter-l Whiletheyarebet ter-likedthantheold ikedthantheoldEmpirewas, Empirewas, thelocalCoalitionrepstendtooneoftwoextremes:

The Co Coal alit itio ion n is is, , as mo most st pe peop ople le ar are, e, ag agai ains nst t theDemonsinabigway.Theyhaveamoreactive programofseekin progr amofseekingouttheDemonstha gouttheDemonsthananyother nanyother group.ForGenetechit’sgoodPRtocleanuptheir oldmistakes;fortheCoalitionit’sapassion.Tothis end the Coa Coalit lition ion tra trains ins a lot of mer mercen cenari aries es and bountyhunters,anddoesagooddealofespionage inthenameofndingtheDemons.Alongtheway thatespionagestealsalotoftechnologyfromother  P   a groups,butthat’salmostincidental.   g  e  3  TheCoalition’smostimportantprojectrightnow  5  isonethey’rekeepingsecretfromtherestofthegalaxy,andevenfromtheirowncitizens.It’scalledthe Endeavourproject. Example Exampl e sub subcul cultur tures es inc includ lude e som some e alm almost ost independentworldsattheedgeoftheCoalition,the UnionistswhowanttoreunitetheEmpire,planets with wit h loc local al leg legal al sys system tems s so com compli plicat cated ed tha that t you havetogrowuptheretounderstandthem,pleasure planet pla nets, s, and som some e “re “reneg negade ade” ” wor worlds lds wh who o ign ignore ore the gov govern ernmen ment’ t’s s la laws ws and bec become ome dec decade adent nt and opulent.

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   C   u  l     t    u  r   e  s 

TheCoalitionReligions The Co Coal alit itio ion n sp spon onso sors rs fo four ur ma majo jor r re reli li-gions:Judaism,Parism,Gherej,andKinoism. Therearealsoahandfulofsmallerreligions, whichreceivefarlessmoneypercapitathan the th e ma main in re reli ligi gion ons. s. The here re’’s no re real al wa way y to cate ca tego gori rize ze th the e “l “les esse ser” r” re reli ligi gion ons s - an any y ty type pe canapplytotheCoalitionSenateforfunding, althoughtheymaywaityearstoseeresults.No religionwillreceive religionwill receivefundingunlessit fundingunlessitistheofistheofcialreligionofatleastoneplanet,colony cialreligionofatleas toneplanet,colony,or ,or importantspacestation(1millionadherents, minimum).  Judai  Jud aism sm is vi virt rtua uall lly y th the e sa same me re reli ligi gion on it alwayshasbeen-ifyoudon’tknowtoomuch aboutit,justreaduponitatthelibrary.Ithas absorb abs orbed ed som some e Chr Christ istian ian and Isl Islami amic c va value lues s overtime,soitissomewhatacrossbetween thethree,butthecoreremainsJewish.TheTen Commandmentshavesurvivedtothisday,and arestillrelevanttothegalaxyandsentientbeingsasawhole.Weleavetheexactdetailsof theintegrationtotheGM.

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Paris arism m is also a combi combinatio nation n of reli religions gions from fro m Ear Earth: th: Bud Buddhi dhism sm and Hin Hindui duism. sm. Whi While le  Judaismcametoitscurrentstateinahaphazardmanner,Parismcametobewhenleaders ofbothreligionsrealizedthattheyweredying out ou t in th the e la late te 22 22nd nd ce cent ntur uryy. Thr hrou ough gh lo long ng deli de libe berrati tion on abo bout ut wha hat t sh shou oulld be sa savved and wh what atnot not, , abo about ut wh what atcou could ld be bebro brough ught t togeth tog ether er and wha what t mus must t be lef left t beh behind ind, , and mostofall,whatwasgoodandunique,Parism wasborn.TheGMisencouragedtoreadupon boththesereligionsandcreatehisorherown melding.Yes,thereareParistmonksjustlike therewereBuddhistmonks,andyes,thereisa creator/preserver/destroyertrinityastherewas with wit h Bra Brahma hma, ,Vi Vishn shnu, u, and Shi Shiva va. . Aga Again, in, we leavethedetailsuptotheGM. Gherejisareligionwhichoriginatedwith theCaractingessen.Simplyput,itisthebelief in mes messia siahs; hs; ext extra raord ordina inary ry peo people ple who wil will l lead le ad th thei eir r ch chos osen en on ones es to th the e ch chos osen en la land nd. . Gheere Gh rejj pr priies ests ts are mor ore e li like ke or orac acle less an and d scholarsthananythingelse,alwaysattempting topredictwhenthenextmajormessiahwill appearr.Theinterest appea .Theinteresting ingthing thing abouttheir abouttheirprepre-

dictionsisthattheyseemtobecorrectmore oftenthannot.IfaGherejpriesttellsyouthat ther th ere e is so some meth thin ing g sp spec ecia ial l ab abou out t so some meon one, e, youhadbetterbelieveit.T youhadbetterbelie veit.Theexactnature heexactnature of eachmessiahisdifferent,ofcourse,butcertainfacetsremainthesame.Themessiahmust beseless,mustbestrongintheLording,and mustdisplay an almos almost t emot emotionle ionless ss face face, , no matterwhathappens.Moreconservati matterwhathappens. Moreconservativesects vesects onlyallowforCaractingessenmessiahs;others allowforsaviorsofanyspecies. Kinoismisareligioninwhichitisbelieved thatcoincidenceistheultimategod.Kinoism is a ve very ry pop popula ular r rel religi igion, on, esp especi eciall ally y amo among ng the you younge nger r rac races, es, suc such h as Hum Humans ans, , Ogr Ogres, es, Mek’ Me k’hw hwe’ e’l, l, an and d Sa Sa’c ’cron ronto torr. It is ve very ry cl clos ose e to bei being ng a rel religi igion on abo about ut luc luck, k, but ask asking ing a Kinoistaboutluckwillgetyouanearfuloflecture.Kinoistsbelievethateverycoincidenceis partofaplan,andthattheplanissetforthby oneofmanydifferenthigherbeings.Debating which whi ch bei being ng set for forth th whi which ch pla plan n (an (and d thu thus, s, how ho w th the e pl plan an wi will ll en end) d) is th the e ma main in dut duty y of Kinoistholymen.

CoalitionCulturalBrief  CommonNames: theCoalition,theCSR Citizensarecalled…: Core-dwellers MajorImports: Food,processeddata Rarevaluables,starshipcomponents MajorExports:Rarevaluables,starshipcomponents MajorExports: TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage:TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage: Symbol: Interlocked color rings on a ag, symbolizingstrengthandunity. Government: GilgidSystem,CoreZero Capital:GilgidSystem,CoreZero Capital: Gove Go vern rnin ing g Bo Bod dy: The Coalition Congress (elected) Planetary Governor Local Governance: (elected) People’sVoice: Moderate Regi Re gion onof ofGr Grea eate test stIn Inu uen ence ce:: CoreandTertiary Sectors Style of Control: Legislationandenforcement TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: High Medium GeneticandBiological:Medium GeneticandBiological: MilitaryandCivil: High

LegalPractices: FreedomofSpeech: Low MobilityofCitizenry: Medium WeaponAccessibility: VeryLow VeryLow DrugAccessibility:VeryLow DrugAccessibility: Punishments: Strict Crime Rate: VeryLow TheCoalitionisverytra tionisverytraditionalwhen ditionalwhen FamilyViews: TheCoali itcomestofamily.Afamilywithmother,father, 2.3 2. 3 ch chil ildr dren en, , an and d so some me so sort rt of pe pet t is st stil ill l th the e ideal, ide al, and the mos most t com common mon. . Hom Homose osexua xualit lity y isnotpersecutedbyanystretchofimagination, but bu t is no not t pa part rtic icul ular arly ly su suppo pport rted ed ei eith ther er. . Mo Most st lawshavebeencarefullywrittentoremoveany kindofsexual,species,orpreferencebias.Sexin generalisanopensubject. Briigh ght t co collor ors s are cu curr rreent ntly ly in Typi ypical cal Clo Clothi thing: ng: Br vogu vo gue e in th the e Co Coal alit itio ion. n. Mo Most st pe peop ople le em emul ulat ate e Huma Hu man n cl clot othi hing ng ty type pes, s, wi with th th the e us usua ual l pa pant nts, s, shirt, shi rt, and hat hat. . A Coa Coalit lition ion cit city y str street eet is a rea real l rainbowofcolors. Fourreligion religions sarecurrently arecurrentlyofcial ofcial OfcialReligions: Four fait fa iths hs wi with thin in th the e Co Coal alit itio ion: n: Ju Juda dais ism, m, Par aris ism, m, Gher Gh erej ej, , an and d Ki Kino nois ism. m. The here re is no se sepa para rati tion on ofchurchandstate.Otherfaithsaretolerated, but bu t do no not t re rece ceiv ive e of ofc cia ial l en endo dors rsem emen ent. t. The Coalitionbelievesinreligionasawaytobring peopletogether. Entertainment: Most Coalition citizens are surprisingly interested in the news, and spen sp end d gr grea eat t am amoun ounts ts of ti time me ca catc tchi hing ng up on happ ha ppen enin ings gs in th thei eir r ow own n ar area ea an and d ac acro ross ss th the e galaxy.Musicandorganizedsportsarepopular, asareinteractive,immersivemovies.

 ÆgisCorporation Everymajorcultureleadsthegalaxyinonething oranoth or another er. .Fo For r Genet Genetechit’ echit’s s fashi fashion onand andgenet genetics. ics. FortheCoalitionit’ssafety FortheCoalitionit’ ssafety.F .ForArmit’ orArmit’smilitaryhardsmilitaryhardware.Ægissetsthepaceforthega ware.Ægiss etsthepaceforthegalaxyintwoareas: laxyintwoareas: moralityandadvancedscience. Of al all l th the e co corp rpor orat atio ions ns in th the e ga gala laxy xy, , Æg Ægis is’ ’ ResearchandDevelopmentsectoristhebestbyfar. Theycomeupwithmoreinventionseachyearthan therestofthegalaxycombined.WhereasGenetech hasfads,Ægishaslong-term impro improvem vements. ents.Thi Thisis sis support sup ported ed at ev every ery lev level el of soc societ iety: y: sci scient entist ists s and academicsarerespectedandlookeduptointheir neighborhoods,schoolshavemanytrackstosupport thosewholearnatfasterorslowerrates,andthereis amuchlongerschoolingprocessthaninmostcultures.Humansaretypicallyinschooluntiltheirlate 30’sratherthantheirearly20’s.Withotherspeciesit variesdependingontheirlifespa variesdepe ndingontheirlifespanandlearningrat nandlearningrate. e. Becomi Bec oming ng a leg legal al adu adult lt in Ægi Ægis s spa space ce is a lon longer ger processthaninothercultures.

ManyeducationaltracksrequirestudentstoparManyeducationaltracksrequirestude ntstoparticipateinstudyabroad—with“abroad”typically meaninga mean inga diffe differentcultur rentcultureentirely eentirely.ManyÆgisre.ManyÆgisresearchersaresuccessfulbecausetheyintegrateideas  P   a fromacrossthegalaxy.Traveling,seeingnewthings,   g  e andmeetingnewpeoplearefavoritepastimesofthe  3   7  avera av erage ge Ægi Ægis s cit citize izen.The n.The jou journe rney y is ind indeed eed mor more e impo im port rtan ant t th than an th the e de dest stin inat atio ion n to Sh Shie ield ldbe bear arer ers. s.  Ægisschoolsalsoreceivealotofstudentsfromelsewhereinthegalaxy,andthecompanymakesalotof moneythatway. CoalitionCulturalSkills  V   a Allofthisintellectualism,whileeffectiveatpro-  l     e The Th e Coa Coalit lition ion tea teach ches es its ch child ildren ren the ski skills lls of  n ducingthemosteducatedandliteratepopulacein  c First Fi rst Aid Aid, , Com Comput puter er Ope Operat ration ions, s, Pers ersuas uasion ion, , and  e thegalaxy,doeshaveafewsmalldrawbacks.First,  M StandGround.  Ægisproduces  Ægi sproducesa alotofhigh-qua lotofhigh-quality lityleadersbutfew leadersbutfew  a  i     n goodfollowers.Therearealotmorethinkersthan  R  doers doe rs in Ægi Ægis s spa space. ce. Sec Second ond, , som some e of the edu educaca-  u  l     e tionaltracksfocusondepthinsteadofbreadth,leav-  b    o ingsomecitizensinoverspecializedjobs,unableto  o  k    :  changeprofessions.  C   u  l     t    u  Ægisisaveryegalitariansociety,believingthat  r   e everyonehasequalabilities(ifnotinthesameareas)  s  andequalrights.Theircitizensaregenerallyquite articulat arti culate e when defen defending ding their mora morality lity, , whic which h is howÆgistypicallyrecruitsnewworlds.Exploitation is alm almost ost unh unhear eard d of in Ægi Ægis s spa space, ce, whi which ch unf unfor or--

tunatelymeansthatthecorporationmissesalotof  ÆgisCulturalBrief  opportunitiesaswell.Ægisisactuallyrunningabit lowonmoney,thoughonlyothermegacorpswould CommonNames:  Ægis,theIvoryTower,theShield CommonNames: Ægis,theIvoryTower,theShield knowit. Citizensarecalled…: Shieldbearers  Ægisisalsoveryconscientiousaboutwhatthey MajorImports: Food,machinery,ore,Xenite Clothi thing, ng, pro proces cessed sed dat data, a, mil milita itary ry Exports: s: Clo research.Theylea research. Theyleavemostbiologicalandcybernetic vemostbiologicalandcybernetic Major Export hardware researchtoGenetech,because researchtoGe netech,becausetheyrealizethe theyrealizethemormorTradeInuuel OfcialLanguage:TradeInuuel alproblemsinherentincreatinglife.Theypreferto OfcialLanguage: create creat eprote protecti ctivesystems vesystems thanoffensi thanoffensiveones veones (aft (after er Symbol: A yellow crescent sunrise with rays, symbolizing the light of knowledge and all,theirnameisana all,theirna meisanancientwordfor ncientwordfor“shield”).Ægis “shield”).Ægis reminiscentofanupturnedshield. resear res earch chers ers kno know w tha that t not ev every ery are area a nee needs ds to be lookedintorightawayy. lookedintorightawa .TheyprefertobeonthecutTheyprefertobeonthecut- Government: VictorQuadrant Capital:VictorQuadrant Capital: tingedgeoftechnology,notthe“bleedingedge.” BoardofDirectors(elected) GoverningBody:BoardofDirectors(elected) GoverningBody: System Supervisor Local Governance: Recy Re cycl clin ing g is al also so im impo port rtan ant t to th thos ose e in Æg Ægis is (appointed) space.Itmaynotbeascost-effecti space.Itma ynotbeascost-effectiveasndingnew veasndingnew People’sVoice: High resources,butitsuremakestheirworldslooknicer, ChosenQuadrant Regi Re gion ono of fGr Grea eate test stI In nue uenc nce: e:ChosenQuadrant andkeepsthemcleanerforthefuture.Thisrecycling Style of Control: Legislationandenforcement andconservationethicextendstoalmosteverything usedinÆgisspace.Asasimpleexample,clothing TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: VeryHigh here he re is ma made de to ch chan ange ge co colo lor r an and d pa patt tter ern n at th the e Low GeneticandBiological:Low GeneticandBiological: touchofabutton,andcanberepairedanalmost MilitaryandCivil: Medium unlimitednumberoftimes.Ifsomeone’ssickoftheir oldclothes,theydon’thavetobuynewones,just LegalPractices: FreedomofSpeech: High downlo dow nload adnew new pat patter terns nsand and col colors ors for the cur curren rent t MobilityofCitizenry: VeryHigh ones.Theseclotheseventuallymadetheirwayinto WeaponAccessibility: Low(armorishigh) GTspace,wherethey’reusedtosupportthedaily MediumtoLow DrugAccessibility:MediumtoLow DrugAccessibility: fadsthatsweeptheoutersectors,butherethey’re Punishments: Moderate  justplainpractical. Crime Rate: Low     8     3  Ægistakesapragmaticviewonfamily FamilyViews: Ægistakesapragmaticviewonfamily    e Somethingthatmostpeopledon’trealizeabout FamilyViews:    g    a Ægisisthattheyhaveoneofthelargestintelligence life li fe: : an anyt ythi hing ng th that at wo work rks s fo for r th the e in indi divi vidu dual als s     P involvedisnebythem.Somesubculturesput organi org anizat zation ions s in the gal galaxy axy. . Mos Most t of the their ir wor work k is more mor e or les less s va value lue on nuc nuclea lear r fam famili ilies; es; tho those se dataanalysisfrom“backhome,”buttheyalsohave who wh o do va valu lue e it te tend nd to tr trac ace e fa fami mili lies es on th the e a nu numb mber er of ag agen ents ts in th the e e eld ld. . Mo Most st ex exccha hang nge e moth mo ther er’’s si side de. . Se Sexu xual alit ity y is no not t co cons nsid ider ered ed a studen stu dents ts are age agents nts wh wheth ether er the they y rea realiz lize e it or not topicfor top icfor whe when n one has gue guests sts ov over er, ,but but isstil isstill l — wh when en th they ey re retu turn rn, , th thei eir r sc scho hool ol re repo port rts s wi will ll be    s discussedamongfriends.    e analyzedcarefull zedcarefully y for fordetai details lsabout about other cult cultures. ures.    r analy Utilitariangarbiscommonamong TypicalClothing:Utilitariangarbiscommonamong    u Ægisalsorunsalotofcounter     t ofcounter-intelligence,t -intelligence,tryingto ryingto TypicalClothing:     l  Ægisalsorunsalot oldercitizens.YoungerandtrendierShieldbearers    u prevent nt peopl people e from stea stealing lingtheir their inv inventio entions.This ns.This     C preve tendtowardsmoreruggedandstylizedclothes.    : isalittlebitlesssuccessfulthantheirinformation    k    o Whit Wh itee is th thee mo most st co com mmo mon n clo loth thiing col olor or. .    o gatheringventures.     b Most Mo st ci citi tize zens ns on only ly ha have ve tw two o or th thre ree e se sets ts of    e     l    u neomorphicclothinginstead neomor phicclothinginstead of buyin buying g dozen dozens s Example Exam plesubcu subculture ltures sinclu include deruthl ruthlessand essand mili mili-    R ofpants,shirts,cloaksandthelike.    n tantplanet tantplanets,planets s,planets whic whichare hare exce exceeding edinglycondelyconde    i    a None ne. . Æg Ægis is al allo lows ws it its s ci citi tize zens ns Ofcial al Reli Religions gions:: No scendingtooutside ingtooutsiders(andtootherpartsofÆgisas rs(andtootherpartsofÆgisas Ofci     Mscend religiousfreedom.    e    c well),andthosewhotaketherecyclingethictothe Entertainment:  Ægissupportsthenearts thenearts,andmost ,andmost    n extremeofrecyclingorreusingtheirdead(canyou Entertainment: Ægissupports    e     l town to wns s ha have ve an ar art t ga gall ller ery y of so some me ki kind nd. . The    a     V saySoylentGreen?). gallerytypicallyhastablesforboardandstrategy game ga mes, s, fr from om ol old d st stan andb dbys ys li like ke Go an and d Ch Ches ess s to the as ashy hy new Gal Galact actic ic Dom Domina inatio tion n gam game. e. Mass Ma ss me medi dia a is pr prim imar aril ily y no nonv nvio iole lent nt, , th thou ough gh

some “re some “reali ality ty sho shows” ws” are the exc except eption ion (th (those ose followingthepoliceormilitaryintheiractions).

 ÆgisCulturalSkills Tho hose se wh who o go th thro roug ugh h Æg Ægis is’ ’ lo long ng sc schoo hooli ling ng processwillunderstandHistory,Research,Military Intelligence,andComputerOperationsbythetime theyarethrough.

ArmageddonIndustries IfÆgisistheintellectualsideofthegalaxy,then IfÆgisistheintellectualsideofthegalaxy ,then Armageddonismadeupofthehicksandthemaa puttogether. A very roughrough-and-t and-tumble umble cultu culture,Armaged re,Armageddon don putsalotmoreemphasisonimmediateresultsthan other oth er cul cultur tures es in the gal galaxy axy. . Chi Childr ldren en ha have ve muc much h lessschoolingthanthenorm,andareencouragedto pickausefultradeearlyinlife. pickausefultrade earlyinlife.Thismake Thismakesforaless sforaless educatedbutmoreactivepopulace.Thosewhoare chosentobecome“bosses,”whowillclimbthesocietalladder,aregivenafewmoreyearsoftraining butareexpectedtopickupmostthingsonthejob. Armageddonisprobablyoneofthemostvitalculturesaround,withtheexc turesaround,wit htheexceptionofGene eptionofGenetech.Man tech.Many y importantpositionsareheldbyyoungpeople,even iftheireldersarereallytheones iftheireldersare reallytheonespullingthestrings pullingthestrings.. Conictisimporta Conict isimportantto nttoArmag Armageddon. eddon.The The local mediaispaidtoportrayotherculturesinstereotypicalandsometimesracistways,andnaturallymost peop pe ople le wh who o gr grow ow up wa watc tchi hing ng th that at me medi dia a th thin ink k thatway.Thestandardfeelingisthatindividualsof otherculturesma othercult uresmaybean ybeanexce exception ptionto totherule, therule,but but mostareeitherstuck-upninniesorsomehowinferior.Armitecolonistsoftenstartconictswithother colonists,whichisoneofthewaysArmageddonincreasesitsinuencebase.Armageddonmayinteract withothergalacticculturesforsalespurposes,butits citizensareverydistrustfulofothers.

signedtohelpkeeppeople’segosincheck.Armites tendtobeveryproudofthemselvesandtheirabilities,andtheyhavethe ties,andthey havetheegotomatc egotomatch. h. Armites Armite s tre treat at cy cyber berwa ware re the sam same e wa way y Gen Genies ies treatsbiomodsandgeneticmanipulation—it’sexpected,andifyoudon’ pect ed,andifyoudon’thave thaveit,youmustbesome it,youmustbesome kindofloser.Aspeoplegrowoldertheytendtohave theircyberneticsconcealed,butaddmoreofitwhen theyhavethemoney theyhave themoney.Becauseofthisthelifeex .BecauseofthisthelifeexpecpectancyinArmspaceisjustashighaselsewhereinthe galaxy,despitetherelativelypoormedicalfacilities. Many of th Many the e ga gala laxy xy’’s mo more re “l “law awle less ss” ” wo worl rlds ds  joi  j oine ned d up wi with th Ar Arm. m. So Some me ne neve ver r ha had d an any y la law w to begi be gin n wi with th, , an and d on ot othe hers rs la law w ne neve ver r re real ally ly to took ok hold. Undev Undevelope eloped d fronti frontier er world worlds s are quite common,somewithasomewhat“oldwest”feel.Armites ontheseworldsareknownfortakingthelawinto their the irown own han hands, ds, and for the mos most t par partArm’ tArm’s s la law w enforc enf orceme ement nt loo looks ks the oth other er wa way y whe when n tha that t hap hap-pens. pen s. Pun Punish ishmen ments ts can be qui quite te bru brutal tal. . Whe Wherea reas s GTandÆgisaremorepoliticalandprefertopush someoneoutofsocietyorjailthem,Armmighthave someoneassassinatedor“cowboyed”( someoneassassina tedor“cowboyed”(averypublic averypublic assassinationintendedtoscarepeopleintoobeying thelaws). When th When the e Hu Huma man n Em Empi pire re fe fell ll ma many ny Bu Bude detu tug g choo ch oose se to li live ve in Ar Arma mage gedd ddon on sp spac ace e be beca caus use e of  P   a thestrongworkerethicitespoused.Organizationis   g  e importanttoArmitesonalargescale,evenifthey  3  prefertothinkthattheyareincontroloftheirown  9  livesonthelocalscale.Armisalsohometomany Caractingessenbecauseitle Caractingesse nbecauseitletsthemindulge tsthemindulgesomeof someof theirmoreviolentinstincts. Armite Armi tes s ar are e kn know own n as fa fans ns of rug rugby by, , de demo moli li-tionderbies,boxing,andotherviolentsports.Cage Wrestl Wre stling ing (a sor sort t of cy cyber ber-po -power wered ed pro wre wrestl stling ing with wit h jet jetpac packs; ks; no pro projec jectil tile e wea weapon pons s are all allowe owed d butanythingelsegoes)isverypopularamongstthe workingclassthesedays. workingclassthes edays.Amateurleaguesare Amateurleaguesarecomcommon, mon , and par partic ticipa ipatin ting g is a goo good d wa way y to imp improv rove e one’sstatusinsociety,ifnotone’shealth.

Thecompanyitselfworksthroughthegood-oldboynetwork:ifyoudon’tknowsomeonewho’sin, you yo u pro probab bably lywon won’’t get in. in.This This mak makesArm esArm spa space ce Internalconictisalsoseenasastrengthening verydifculttopenetrateforoutsiders.Gettinginto measure.Manypeoplewalkaroundarmedallthe th the e ma mana nage geri rial al st stru ruct ctur ure e re requ quir ires es mo more re th than an ju just st time.Pistolsarestandard.Visiblepowerisveryim- conne connection ctions, s, it requir requires es yea years rs of care carefully fully work working ing portantinArmaged portan tinArmageddonspace. donspace.Par Partofthisis tofthisis dueto yourwayupfrompositiontoposition. theamountoforganized theamount oforganizedcrime,butpartisalso crime,butpartisalsodede-

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   C   u  l     t    u  r   e  s 

The“uppercrust”ofArmageddonsocietyisquite LegalPractices: FreedomofSpeech: Mediumtolow differentfromtheworking-classmasses.Thepeople MobilityofCitizenry: High whoactuallyrunthingsinArmspacearequitesavvy WeaponAccessibility: VeryHigh individuals,organizedintightfamiliesandafraidof High DrugAccessibility:High DrugAccessibility: noone.RuthlessnessisawayoflifeamongthefamiPunishments: Severe lies.Everyoneherehaspaidtheirduesandknows Low w fo for r pe pett tty y cr crim imes es, , Hi High gh fo for r Crime Rate: Lo it,soegosclashonadailybasis.Y it,soegosclashonadailybasis. Youcoulddropa oucoulddropa seriouscrimes 1920s Chica Chicago go gangs gangster terinto into this socie society ty and he’ he’d d FamilyViews: FamilyisveryimportantinArmspace. feelrightathome. MostArmitesstrivetohaveastrongandcohesive nuclearfamily.Turningyourbackonyourfamily Armageddon’sbiggestproblemrightnowisthat is th the e mo most st ho horr rrib ible le th thin ing g mo most st Ar Armi mite tes s ca can n ithastoomanyfactionsworkingatcross-purposes. imagin ima gine, e, wor worse se tha than n mur murder der or ra rape. pe. Fami amilie lies s Thedoctrineofinternalconicthasgoneabittoo areprimarilytraced areprimari lytraced downthefather’ downthefather’sside.Sex sside.Sex far,and far ,andmany many ofthefamilie ofthefamiliesdon’ttrusteach sdon’ttrusteachother other isalmostneverdiscussed isalmostneverdiscusse dseri seriously ously, ,butusually butusually any mor more.The e.The com compan pany y is slo slowly wly fal fallin ling g apa apart rt at show sh ows s up in jo joke kes. s. Ho Homo mose sexu xual alit ity y is lo look oked ed theseams,andneedsastrongleadertopullitback downupon. together. Formostpeople,earthtonesand TypicalClothing:Formostpeople,earthtonesand TypicalClothing: gree gr eens ns te tend nd to do domi mina nate te, , wi with th an oc occa casi sion onal al ExamplesubculturesincludetheOrganizationin ash a sh of re red. d. For th the e bo boss sses es, , bl blac ack k an and d wh whit ite e Broken Broke n Quadr Quadrant ant(a (asolel solely y mob-ba mob-based sedsubcu subculture lture), ), formalclothingismorecommon,stillwiththe robotics roboti cs nuts, A.I. funda fundamenta mentalist lists, s, and those who occasionalred. havethrownoffthe“boss”systemandaregoverning Eacch fa fami mily ly ha has s an “o “of fci cial al” ” Ofcial Ofci al Reli Religions: gions: Ea theirplanetsmoredemocratically. religion,whetherit’sonethatisfollowedinthe galaxyasawholeorsimplywithinthatfamily. Cage ge Wre Wrest stli ling ng is by fa far r th the e mo most st Entertainment: Ca  ArmageddonCulturalBrief  commonformofentertainmentinArmageddon space.Itappealsgreatlytothemasses,andthe CommonNames: Arm,theArm bossesoftenwagerlargesumsofmoneyonthe Citizensarecalled…: Armites cha hamp mpio ion n fr from om th thei eir r ho home meto town wn. . Ga Gamb mbli ling ng, ,     0 MajorImports: Food,clothing,information drinking, and carous usiing are also po pop pular.     4 Ore,machinery,militaryhardware, MajorExports:Ore,machinery,militaryhardware, MajorExports:    e HandsHan ds-on on is the key keywor word d for ent entert ertain ainmen ment t in    g    a antimatter Armspace.     P TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage:TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage: Aclusterofasteroidsplungingtowardsthe Symbol:Aclusterofasteroidsplungingtowardsthe Symbol: grou gr ound nd. . Wh Whil ile e su suppo ppose sedl dly y a ti tip p of th the e ha hat t to  ArmageddonCulturalSkills theasteroidminerswhomakeuptheculture’s backbone,themessageisclear:“Weremember Arm Ar m te teac ache hes s it its s chi hild ldre ren n th the e sk skil ills ls of Dr Driive    s what wh at ha happ ppen ened ed to Ea Eart rth. h. Sc Scre rew w wi with th us an and d    e    r Truck,MartialArts:Offensive,InterpretSensors,and you’llgetthesame.”    u     t     l Carousing.    u Government:     C RisenQuadrant Capital:RisenQuadrant Capital:    :     k    o Govvern Go rniing Bo Bod dy: The Thousand Families    o     b (hereditary)    e     l    u Boss(mostlyhereditary) LocalGovernance:Boss(mostlyhereditary) LocalGovernance:     R People’sVoice: Medium    n     i    a RisenandBroken Regi Re gion ono of fGr Grea eate test stI In nue uenc nce: e:RisenandBroken     M Quadrants    e    c Style of Control: Social pressure and    n    e     l enforcement    a     V TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: Medium Low GeneticandBiological:Low GeneticandBiological: MilitaryandCivil: HIgh

TheProudand VenerableInuueliting StarEmpire

veryleast.Onlythosewhoreallybecomerebelswill be aske asked d to lea leave,and ve,and usual usually ly thes these e indi individua vidualist lists s willbequitehappytogooutandexplorethegalaxy insteadofstayinghomeand“stagna insteadofsta yinghomeand“stagnating. ting.””

As you ma may y ha have ve gue guesse ssed, d, thi this s cul cultur ture e is ve very ry slowtoreacttooutsidechange.Afterall,it’sbeen over ov er a mi mill llio ion n ye year ars s si sinc nce e th the e Bu Bude detu tug g de defe feat ated ed BornatthesametimeasthePoolofRadiance, the Inu Inuuel uel, , and the these se peo people ple sti still ll thi think nk the they y ha have ve this cu this cult ltur ure e ty typi pie es s wh what at pe peop ople le th thin ink k of as th the e aGalacticEmperor.Fadsarealmostunknown,and “true”Inuueliting(eventhoughonlyvepercentof fashionchangessoslowlythatglacierslookspeedy theInuuelinthegalaxyfollowtheseideals). incomparison.Technologyisslowtocatchon,especiallygeneticwork,andthe ciallygeneti cwork,andthecoreworldsarehappil coreworldsarehappily y As men mentio tioned ned in the their ir spe specie cies s des descri cripti ption, on, the “stuck”atinorganicTL3andorganicTL1.While Inuuel Inu ueliti iting ng are di divid vided ed int into o sub sub-ra -races ces. . In thi this s cul cul-- mediacorpssuchasFiveGalaxiesInformationtry ture,theseracesstillserveasthecastestheyorigi- tobringnewideasintotheancientInuuelculture, nally nal ly rep repres resent ented. ed. Th The e Sil Silve vers rs are wor worker kers, s, Gol Golds ds the theattem attempts ptsare aredoome doomed d to fail fail.Tra .Traditio dition n and the arewarriors,Darksaresorcerers,andtheHighand oldwaysarefarmoreimportanttothesepeoplethan Platinumlead.Always. Platinu mlead.Always.T Todefytheseideasistoleave anypassingfad. thecultureoftheancientInuueliting. ManythingsaresacredtotheancientInuueliting, Whilethiscultureissmallcomparedtothoseof themostsacredbeingthePoolofRadiance.Without GenetechorArmageddon,itisstilllargeenoughto thisancientlordingartifact,thisculturewouldfall hold the Inuuel Inuueliting iting homew homeworlds orlds agai against nst any war war-- apartovernight.Itisthispoolwhichturnsotherkinds lordswhomaycomeknocking.Alltold,aboutten ofInuuelintoPlatinumInuueliting,therulersoftheir thousandplanetsfollowthisculture,primarilycon- society.Platinumsareveryrare—noteveryoneis centratedaroundtheInuuelhomeworlds.Thelarge ch chang anged ed by the Po Pool, ol, and not ev every eryone one sur survi vive ves. s. Xenitedepositsontheseworldsprovideagoodpor- Fam amil ily y li line nes s ar are e tr trac aced ed fr from om th the e la last st Pl Plat atin inum um to tionoftheculture’sexports,andÆgisandGenetech arise,ratherthanfromthefather’sormother’sside. arealwayswillingcustomers. Eachenclav Eac henclaveof eof this cultu culturewhich rewhich liv livesawa esawayfrom yfrom  P   a thehomeworldshasasacredplacewhichittreats   g  e TheInuueltraditionalistsareruledbytheGalactic assortofasurrogatePool—somehaveagladeof  4   1  Empero Emp erorr, alw alway ays s a Pla Platin tinum um Inu Inuuel ueliti iting. ng. Aft After er all all, , trees,someusenaturalhotsprings,andsoforth. theywilltellyou,theInuuelEmpirewasneverreallydefeated—itjustgrewsmaller.TheEmperor, OneInuuelitingtownisshownonpagexx,with asbenevolentdictat asbenevol entdictator or,passesdecrees ,passesdecrees downto downtothe the someHighInuuelyingfromleveltolevel.Lower noblefamilie noblefam iliesoftheHighInuuel softheHighInuuel,whointurnpass ,whointurnpass castesusetheladdersorstairs. theirowninterpretationof theirownint erpretationofthedecrees thedecreesdowntothei downtotheir r  V  Gold, Gol d, Da Dark rk, , an and d Si Silv lver er su subj bjec ects ts. . Ea Each ch fa fami mily ly ha has s TheancientInuuelobservemanyritualsintheir  a  l    itsowncrests,colors,ags,andeyecolors.Infant dailyandyearlylives,commemoratingthechangeof  e  n  c Inuueliting Inuuel iting rece receive ive the Eye Eye-Dye -Dyeing ing Cerem Ceremony ony just seasons,thebirthofachild,theascensionofanew  e  M after aft erbir birth, th, and tho thosewho sewho are bor born n wit with h the rig right ht Platinum,andotherimportantevents.Manyofthese  a  n eyecolorsfortheirfamilyoftenareaccordedgreater ritualshaveaLordingaspecttothem,andthosewho  i     R  importancethanotherchildren. canparticipateatthis“deeper”levelareoftenseen  u  l     e aswiserandmorecompleteindividuals.  b    o Parentscaredeeplyfortheirchildren,andtake  o  k   greatpainstosteepthem(somewouldsay“indocAdvvan Ad ance ceme ment nt is di dif fcu cult lt in th this is so soci ciet etyy. The  :   C  trinate”them)inthegrandtraditionsoftheInuuel In Inuu uuel el ar are e qu quit ite e lo long ng-l -liv ived ed, , an and d a de desi sire re fo for r fa fast st  u  l     u peoples.FamilylinesaretracedtothelastPlatinum advancementisseenasimpoliteinaculturewhich  t    r  Inuuelitingtocomefromthisfamily.Nomemberof valuespolit valuespolitenessoveral enessoveralmostanything.I mostanything.Involveme nvolvement nt  e  s  anInuuelfamilyiseverignoredorneglected—even intheInuuelmilitaryisthequickesttracktorespect someonewhohasfailedateverythingtheirparents an and d so soci cial al st stan andi ding ng in th thes ese e st stil illl-tr trou oubl bled ed ti time mes. s. expectedwillnotbekickedoutofthemanor,and Assoc Associatin iating g withthe outsi outside de worl world d is nece necessary ssary to willhavefood,shelter,andclothingprovidedatthe someextent,toseemworldlyandcosmopolitan,but

toomuchoutsideinuenceoftenmakesotherswonderaboutone’svirtuesanddev deraboutone’ svirtuesanddevotiontotheEmpire. otiontotheEmpire.  JoiningtheInuuelitingEmpireispossible,though itrarelyhappens.Marriageis itrarelyhappens .Marriageisoneofthefewopti oneofthefewoptions ons available.AidingtheInuuelmilitaryagainstoutside forceswillalsowinsometrustand,ifyou’relucky,a placeatthetable.Deep placeatthe table.Deepdown,theInuuel down,theInuuelitingknow itingknow thatiftheirculturedoesnotacceptsomeoutsiders fromtimetotimeitwillcontinuetoshrinkalittlebit eachyear each year.Someradic .Someradicalsgosofarasto alsgosofarasto make maketheir their worldatouristresortwhereoutworlderscancometo “seetheancientInuuelliveastheyhaveformillions ofyears.”Theythinkofitasasortofpassiverecruitment,anditworks.Theideathatthereisa“simple life”outthereappealstomany life”outthereappe alstomanypeople,regardless people,regardlessof of species.Th speci es.These esenewcom newcomers ersare areusual usually lykepton kepton the outsideofInuuelsociety.Theirchildrenorgrandchildrenmaysomedaybec drenmaysom edaybeconsideredrealInuuel. onsideredrealInuuel. Exampl Exam plee su subc bcul ultu ture res s inc nclu lude de gr grou oups ps of ex ex-treme tre me tra tradit dition ionali alists sts (w (who ho esc eschew hew too tool l use as the rst r st In Inuu uuel el di did, d, re rely lyin ing g so sole lely ly on th the e lo lord rdin ing g to manipu man ipulat late e the wor world ldaro around und the them), m), a wor world ldwit with h casterolesreversed(forinstance,aworldwithDark InuuelasworkersandSilversasmages),thosewho embracehightechnology,xenophobes,andasmall but vo vocal cal gro group up wh who o bel believ ieve e tha that t the Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng Empireshouldbeginexpanding Empireshouldbe ginexpandingonceagain. onceagain.Rumors Rumors occasional occas ionallysurface lysurfacethat thatmemb membersofotherspecies ersofotherspecies     2 arestillkeptasslavesonthehomeworlds,butthese     4    e    g havebeenunsubstantiatedthusfar,andtheInuuel    a Emperorvehementlydeniessuchclaims.     P

Style of Control: SocialPressure TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: Low Low GeneticandBiological:Low GeneticandBiological: MilitaryandCivil: Low LegalPractices: Medium m (few rest restricti rictions, ons, Freedom Fr eedom of Speec Speech: h: Mediu butrarelyexercised) MobilityofCitizenry: Low(socialpressures) WeaponAccessibility: Medium Low DrugAccessibility:Low DrugAccessibility: Punishments: Moderate Crime Rate: VeryLow amily ly lin lines es are tra traced ced to the mos most t FamilyViews: Fami recent rec ent Pla Platin tinum um Inu Inuuel uel, , rat rather her tha than n alo along ng the mother’sorfather’s mother’s orfather’sline.Family line.Familyisvery isveryimportan important. t. Parentswhohateeachotherwillsufferinsilence in or orde der r to he help lp ra rais ise e th thei eir r ch chil ildr dren en. . Se Sex x is a tabootopic. Complex,courtlydressisfavored TypicalClothing:Complex,courtlydressisfavored TypicalClothing: atanysortofsocialevent.Morepracticalgarb iswornatworkandathome,buteventhatwill havesomeamountoflayering.Lightcolorsand past pa stel els s do domi mina nate te. . Je Jewe welr lry y is co comm mmon on, , an and d is oftenmillenniaold. Contrarytopopularopinion,the OfcialReligions:Contrarytopopularopinion,the OfcialReligions: ancien anc ient t Inu Inuuel uel do not wor worshi ship p the their ir Emp Empero erorr. The here re is no of ofc cia ial l re reli ligi gion on fo for r th the e Em Empi pire re, , thoughancestorworshipisnotuncommon. Entertainment: Courtlyintrigue(orgossipaboutit)is themostcommonformofentertainment.When thatis that is una unavai vailable lable, , goss gossip ip will sufc sufce.Athletic e.Athletic competitions(bothphysicalandLording-based) are als also o popu popular lar. . Gen Genete etech ch-st -style yle hol holo-d o-dram ramas as rarelypenetratethisculture.

InuuelEmpireCulturalBrief     s InuuelEmpireCulturalSkills CommonNames: theInuuelEmpire    e    r    u Citizensarecalled…: theOldGuard,Imperials     t     l    u MajorImports: Technology,food TheInuuelEmpireteachesitschildrentheskills     C of Per ersu suas asio ion, n, Hi Hist stor oryy, Ae Aero roba bati tics cs (o (or r Cl Clim imbi bing ng    : MajorExports: Xenite MajorExports:Xenite     k    o Of part of a i igh ghtl tles ess s ra race ce), ), an and d th the e Lo Lord rdin ing g sk skil ill l High gh In Inuu uuel el. . Tra rade de In Inuu uuel el is if part cial l Lan Langua guage: ge: Hi    o Ofcia     b Complexity. spokenbyall.    e     l    u Symbol: A fra fracta ctal l des design ign, , its sel self-r f-repe epeati ating ng nat nature ure     R symbolizingeternityandlongevity.    n     i    a Government:     M Ll’Anderanth,TertiarySector#11 Capital:Ll’Anderanth,TertiarySector#11 Capital:    e    c    n TheGreatandAugustEmperor GoverningBody:TheGreatandAugustEmperor GoverningBody:    e     l (hereditary)    a     V Plat atin inum um Ma Magi gist stra rate te Local Loc al Go Gover vernan nance: ce: The Pl (appointed) People’sVoice: High Inuuel ueliti iting ng Region of Greatest Inuence: The Inu Homeworlds

 P   a   g  e  4   3 

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   C   u  l     t    u  r   e  s 

TheBudetugCoreWorlds Collective

of the cor ofthe corrupt rupt Hum Human an Emp Empire ire. . Bot Both h cul cultur tureswere eswere knowntosupporttheDemons’agenda,thoughfor differentreasons.

Individuality Individua lity is the cent center er of Budet Budetug ug upbrin upbringging.Budetugchildrenaretold,muchaschildrenon ThedeningmomentoftheBudetugcorecul- Earthwere,thattheycanbe“whatevertheywantto turewaswhentheBudetugEmpirewasdefeatedby be. be.”T ”Thereisno hereisno talkofpredesti talkofpredestinatio nationor nor birth birthright right, , theCaractingessen.Atthetime,ofcourse,itwasone nosuchthingasbeingbornintoaninuentialfamofthemosthorricmomentsintheirhistory.They ily.Everyonemakestheirwayontheirownvirtues, hadjusthadpowerwrenchedawayfromthemafter atleastintheory.ThoserearedintheBudetugcore along,debilitatingsiege.Inlateryears,asortofrevi- culturemakeverygoodinventorsandentrepreneurs. sionistviewoftheirwholeEmpire sionistviewofthe irwholeEmpirewasembrace wasembraced. d. Neve Ne ver r sa sati tis sed ed wi with th th the e wa way y th thin ings gs ar are, e, th they ey ar are e alwayslookingfornewandinnovativewaystodo Like Li ke th the e an anci cien ent t In Inuu uuel el cu cult ltur ure, e, th the e Bu Bude detu tug g things. core cor e is a “sm “small all” ” cul cultur ture, e, com compri prised sed of abo about ut ten to ft fteen een tho thousa usand nd pla planet nets. s. Unl Unlike ike the their ir lon longti gtime me Innovationcomesinatechnologicalveinwith foes, foe s, the Bud Budetu etug g kno know w tha that t the their ir Emp Empire ire is dea dead d theBudetugaswell. theBudetugaswell.Theyha Theyhavealwa vealwaysbeenfamous ysbeenfamous andgoneforever.Theyhaveembracedchange,even fortheirengine fortheirengineersandscienti ersandscientists, sts, butrecent butrecentlyhave lyhave ifthatchangemustcomeintheformofamassive becomemoreandmorewell-knownfortheirgenetioverthrowofthecurrentorder.Itisthisqualitythat cist cists.Forthose s.Forthosewhodon’ttrustGenet whodon’ttrustGenetechorsimply echorsimply leads so man many y Budet Budetug ug to join joinorgan organizati izations ons suc such h don don’’t wa want nt to wor work k wit with h the them, m,the the Bud Budetu etug g are a astheRenaissa astheRenai ssance nce,or ,or tobe lo loya yalto lto the Dem Demons ons. . goo good d pla placeto ceto tur turn.Th n.Their eir kno knowle wledge dge and ski skill llare are Whentheyseeasituationthatneedschanging,few nearl nearlyon yon parwithGT’ parwithGT’s,thoughitshiesawa s,thoughitshiesawayfrom yfrom Budetugwillshyawayfromchangingit. suchthingsasUltramercs. Atthesametime,thiscultureisdeeplytraditional,almosttotheextentthattheancientInuuelare. Theybelievethatchangeispossiblewithoutlosing the“innercore”oftheirspecies the“inner core”oftheirspecies:theimportan :theimportanceof ceof     4 family,unity,andinnovation.     4    e    g    a Take, for forexamp example, le,the thematt matter er of Budet Budetug ug chil chil-    P dren.The dre n.The Bud Budetu etug g hom homewo eworld rld wa was s hig high h in rad radioioacti ac tive ve ma mate teri rial als, s, le lead adin ing g to ma many ny mu muta tati tion ons s an and d stillbirths.TothisdaytheBudetugspeciesismore pronetomutationthananyother pronetomutatio nthananyother.Anychild .Anychildwhich which wasborndeformedwaskilledjustafterbirth,tokeep    s theirspecies“pure.”InmoderntimestheBudetug    e    r    u     t     l haverebelledagainstthe“barbaric”habitsoftheir    u ance cest stor ors s by le lear arni ning ng as mu much ch ab abou out t ge gene neti tics cs as     C an    : possible.Now,insteadofkillingmutatedinfants,the     k    o Budetugmodifytheirchildrenatageneticlevelto    o     b “corre ct”seri serious ousproble problems. ms.Minormutations Minormutations, , suc such h    e “correct”     l    u asdifferingskinandeyecolor,arejustbeginningto     R    n gainacceptance.Anoldertraditionthusmaintains     i    a itselfunderanewer,betterguise. ,betterguise.     Mitselfunderanewer    e    c    n The Th e Bud Budetu etug g lo loya yalis lists ts con consid sider er the old Inu Inuuel uel    e     l    a tobe tobesomew somewhatquaint hatquaint,but ,buttotal totallyobsolet lyobsolete,whic e,which h     V naturallycausesmoretensionbetweenthetwospecies.Luckily,theirculturesarenotinclosephysical proximity.Ironically,thetwocultureshavehadsome reason reaso n to forge alli alliances ances recen recently tly, , in the downf downfall all

TheBudetugrulingbodyistheCoreConsensus, an art artic icial ial int intell ellige igence nce wh whose ose act action ions s are det deter er-mined min edby by vo votes tes cas cast t by ev every ery cit citize izen n of ofthe the Cor Core, e, everyday.EveryLoyalistspendsaboutveminutes (often (oft en more) more)looki looking ng at the day day’’s impor important tantissue issues, s, andchoosingtheirstanceontheissue.Theirchoices —notjustsimpleyes/noanswers,butcomplexparagraphsaswell—aresentinviatachyoncomunications,andformthebasisoftheConsensusAI.The ConsensusthenchooseshowtheCorewillactona givenissue.Therehavebeenafewscandalsinvolvingcodetampering,andmanymoreaccusationsof thesame,butforthemostpartthing thesame,butf orthemostpartthingsrunsmoothly srunsmoothly.. Examplesubculturesincludeanti-geneticsbirth traditionalists(mostofwhomliveonhigh-radiation worlds;these“throwba worl ds;these“throwbacks cks” ”stil stillkill lkill defor deformedchilmedchildren), dre n), som some e few who wa want nt Bud Budetu etug g emp empire ire bac back, k, and one pla planet net wh whic ich h is ve very ry int intere ereste sted d in, som some e mightsayfanaticalabout,usinggeneticstobecome immortal(eventotheextentofsearchingaftermyths andlegends).

BudetugCoreCulturalBrief  CommonNames: theBudetugCore,theHive Citizensarecalled…: BudetugLoyalists MajorImports: Organics,rarevaluables Gene neti ticc kn kno owl wled edgge, bi biof ofor orm ms, Majo Ma jor r Ex Expo port rts: s: Ge machinery,food rade de In Inuu uuel el an and d Tra radi diti tion onal al Ofcia Of cial l Lan Langua guage: ge: Tra Budetug Maze ze of Ci Circ rcle les, s, wh whic ich h le lead ads s to th the e Symbol: The Ma samecenterregardlessofthepath samecenterrega rdlessofthepathyoutake. youtake. Government: Portenthar Capital:Portenthar Capital: Core e Cons Consens ensus us (a non non-Governing Gove rning Bod Body: y: The Cor representativedemocracy) Loccal Co Cons nsen enssus (a no nonnLocal Gove Governanc rnance: e: Lo representativedemocracy) Overwhel whelming ming — the peopl people’ e’s s People’sVoice: Over voiceislaw Region of Greatest Inuence: Budetug Homeworlds,VictorQuadrant Style of Control: Legislationandenforcement TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: Medium High GeneticandBiological:High GeneticandBiological: MilitaryandCivil: Medium LegalPractices: FreedomofSpeech: ExtremelyHigh MobilityofCitizenry: Medium WeaponAccessibility: Medium Low DrugAccessibility:Low DrugAccessibility: Punishments: Strict,sometimessevere Crime Rate: Moderate FamilyViews: Budetugchildrenareraisedbytheir community,thoughtheyarestilltaughttorevere theirparentsoverothers.Childrenhavenosay what wh atso soev ever er in th thei eir r ow own n li live ves s un unti til l th thei eir r 20 th birthday. Man ny Loyal alis ists ts we weaar no noth thin ingg Typi ypical cal Clo Clothi thing: ng: Ma what wh atso soev ever er, , si sinc nce e na natu ture re ha has s pr prov ovid ided ed th them em with a tough toughexosk exoskelet eleton. on. Some wear wearjewel jewelry ry, , piercings,orotheradornments,andotherswear functi fun ctiona onal l har harnes nesses ses whe when n wor workin king, g, but mos most t wearnothing. Tug-ran,sometimesknownasthe OfcialReligions:Tug-ran,sometimesknownasthe OfcialReligions: Budetug Budet ugWor Worker’ ker’s s Creed Creed, , is the most comm common on phil ph ilos osop oph hy in th the e Co Core re Wor orld lds s Co Coll llec ecti tive ve. . It wasoncetheCore’sofcialreligion,butisnot sotoday. Entertainment: Games of chance and skill are commonamongtheBudetug,asareorganized spor sp orts ts. . In fa fact ct, , or orga gani nize zed d an anyt ythi hing ng is pr pret etty ty popularr. Fantas popula antasy y sport leag leagues ues are parti particular cularly ly

commonamongthosewhomustliveawayfrom commonamongthosewhomustliveaw ayfrom the th e ho home mewo worl rlds ds. . The mo more re we weal alth thy y Bu Bude detu tug g sometimes enjoy hunt ntiing, and sections of Porte Po rtenth nthar ar ha have ve bee been n set asi aside de for thi this. s. Som Some e outsid out siders ers see the Con Consen sensus sus as ent entert ertain ainmen ment; t; theBudetugseeitascivicdutyinstead.

BudetugCoreCulturalSkills TheBudetugCoreWorldsCollectiveteachesits childrentheskillsofAppraisal,BodyDevelopment, Grappling,andBasicEngineering.

CommunalCultures Whilemostofthegalaxy’smajor Whilemostofthegalaxy’ smajorcultures culturesare areamambitious,powerful,andsometimesevenvicious,not allofthemarethatway allofthemarethat way.Somearecontentsi .Somearecontentsimplyto mplyto stayoutoftheway,livelifesimply,andturninwards foranswers.Allacrossthegalaxyaresmallpockets ofcommunalcultures.Whiletheywereeachstarted indepe ind epende ndentl ntlyy, the they y are slo slowly wly beg beginn inning ing to lin link k togethertoshareresourcesandknowledge.Theyare beginn beg inning ing to ope operat rate e und under er a com common mon nam name: e: the Ascripti,Latinfor“membersofacommunity.”

 P   a   g Whil Wh ile e ea each ch cu cult ltur ure e is st stil ill l qu quit ite e un uniq ique ue, , th they ey  e  4  share sha re cer certai tain n fac facets ets. . Eac Each h is bas based ed on the ide idea a of  5 

shared own shared owners ership hip: : no one own owns s som someth ething ing com com-pletely;allpropertyissharedbythecommunityasa whole.Thisappliestoeverythingfromblanketsand playingcardstostarships.Peoplefromthesecultures whotraveltotherestofthegalaxyareoftencarrying  V  agooddealoftheircommunity’swealth.  a  l     e  n Ascrip Asc ripti ti ch child ildren ren are rai raised sed by the com commun munity ity  c  e asawhole,withneighborhoodsactingasasortof  M  a extendedfamily.Childreninmoreextremebranches  i     n ofthisculturemaynotevenknowwhotheirrealpar-  R   u entsare,aseveryonebecom entsare,ase veryonebecomestheirauntoruncle estheirauntoruncle. .  l     e  b    o  o Mostpeopleassumethatcommunalculturesare  k    :  totallypeacefulanddefenseless,andoncethismight  C   u  t   havebeentrue.However,theplagueofwarlordsin  l     u  e thepastfewyearsgaveeveryoneincentivetoshore  r   s  uptheirdefenses(orgetconquered,inwhichcase thewarlordbuiltdefensesforthem!).TheAscriptiare veryprotectiveoftheirwayoflifeanddon’twant to see seetheir their para paradises dises spoil spoiled ed by outsi outside de inv invaders aders. .

Tryingtoattackacommuneislikegettingbetweena motherbearanditscubs. TheCommunalculturesarestrongestintherim ofthegalaxy,awayfromtheworstconictsbetween othergroups.Thatsuitsmostotherculturesjustne —theydon’twanttheirownpeoplegetting“contaminated”byAscriptiideals,orrunningofftojoin the th e co comm mmun unes es. . On th the e su surf rfac ace e ma many ny co comm mmun unes es seempoorandundereducated,whichmakesmany peoplelookdownonthem.Intruth,mostAscripti are spi spirit ritual ualist ists, s, car caring ing mor more e abo about ut nat nature ure and its cyclesthanaboutbooklearning. Oneofthemostimportantthingsin Oneofthemostimportantthings incommu communal nal culturesisthateveryoneworks.Noonecanaffordto  justsitbackandhav  just sitbackandhavesomeone esomeoneelsedoitforthem, elsedoitforthem, and ev even en the mos most t ret retice icent nt get pre presse ssed d int into o lab labor or eventually.Thecommunesaretypicallyrunonalocalbasisbyacouncilofelders,whotakeeveryone’s workanddistributethebenetstoallthecitizens. Corruptionisadanger,butmostpeoplewatchout foranysignsthatsomeonemightbeplayingfavorites. Unbeknownsttotherestofthegalaxy,manyof theseculturesharborfugitiveDemons.TheDemons’ beliefsystemsmeshwellwiththoseoftheAscripti — fre freedo edom, m, pea peace, ce, and sel self-g f-gov overn ernanc ance e are ve very ry import imp ortant ant to the them.A m.A sma small ll num number ber of com commun munal al     6 cultureswereactuallystartedbyDemons,asaback    4    e    g lashagainstGT’soverlyconsumer-orientedculture.    a Surpri     P Surprising singly ly,a ,a goodnumberof comm communalculture unalcultures s were we re st star arte ted d by th the e Ca Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en. . Mo Most st of th the e galaxy’sspeciesarewell-represented. Thiscultureisoneofthesmalleronesinthegalaxybecauseitsenclavestendtobealittlemorevul   s    e    r nerabletoattack.Somegetsubsumedbyothercul   u     t     l tures,somegetwipedoutbecausethey’reharboring    u     C Demons,butmostkeepalowproleandgetalong    : wel well. l. Goo Good d rel relati ations onship hips s wit with h the their ir nei neighb ghbors ors are     k    o veryimportanttothehealthof thehealthofAscriptiencla Ascriptienclaves. ves.    o veryimportantto     b    e     l    u Example Exam ple subcu subculture ltures s inclu include de stri strict ct isol isolation ationists ists     R    n allow owno noout outsid siders ers ont onto o the theirplane irplanets, ts, con consoso    i who all    a lation ionist ists s who bel believ ieve e tha that t the com commun munes es sho should uld     Mlat    e    c adoptmoreoftheoutsideworld’sculture,andex   n treme ly low-t low-tech ech world worlds s whic which h hav have e no compu computer ter    e tremely     l    a network,littleelectricpower,andmaygofordozens     V ofyearswithoutseeingastarship.Itisimportantto rememberthatthisculture remem berthatthisculture hasmorevaria hasmorevariationthan tionthan mostothers,andeveryCommunalplanetisitsown uniquesubculture.

CommunalCulturalBrief  CommonNames: Communes Citizensarecalled…: Ascripti MajorImports: few few MajorExports:few MajorExports: TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage:TradeInuuel OfcialLanguage: Ascr crip ipti ti us use e a ci circ rcul ular ar tw twis iste ted d ro rope pe, , Symbol: The As green and blue bluefor for simpl simplicity icity and unity unity. . Other Communalcultureshavetheirownsymbols. Government: n/a Capital:n/a Capital: looseorganization;nocentral GoverningBody:looseorganization;nocentral GoverningBody: government CouncilofElders LocalGovernance:CouncilofElders LocalGovernance: People’sVoice: Verystrong Rimsectors Regi Re gion ono of fGr Grea eate test stI In nue uenc nce: e:Rimsectors Style of Control: varies,typicallysocialpressure withsomeenforcement. TechnologyLevels: ComputingandCommunications: Medium Medium GeneticandBiological:Medium GeneticandBiological: MilitaryandCivil: Medium LegalPractices: FreedomofSpeech: ExtremelyHigh MobilityofCitizenry: Low(littleopportunity) WeaponAccessibility: Low Drug Dr ug Ac Acce cess ssib ibil ilit ity: y: Medium for natural substances,Lowtonilformanufactured Ostr trac acis ism m an and d ba bani nish shme ment nt ar are e Punishments: Os commonforsevereoffenses. Crime Rate: Moderate FamilyViews: Childreninmostcommunalcultures areraisedbytheirpare arerais edbytheirparentsinasortofextended ntsinasortofextended nucle nuc lear ar fa fami mily ly — so some me “a “aun unts ts” ” an and d “u “unc ncle les” s” arereallyfriends arereall yfriendsofthe ofthefami familyinste lyinsteadofactual adofactual relati rel ations ons. . Chi Childr ldren en are va value lued d abo above ve all els else. e. Sexualityistypicallydiscussedonlywithclose friends. Plai ain n an and d si simp mple le cl clot othi hing ng ar are e Typica ypical l Clothi Clothing: ng: Pl com co mmo mon. n. The here re is a ce cert rtaain be beaaut utyy to thi hiss simp si mpli lici city ty, , bu but t no none ne of th the e a ash shy y ap appe peal al th that at someothercultureshave. Some me co comm mmun unes es ha have ve of ofc cia ial l Ofcial Ofci al Reli Religions gions:: So religi rel igions ons, , wh while ile oth others ers out outla law w publ public ic rel religi igion on entirely.Thisisoneoftheissuespreventingthe manydisparatecommunalculturesfrombinding more mor e tig tightl htly y tog togeth ether er. . Th The e Coa Coalit lition ion rel religi igions ons tendtobepopularamongCommunalcultures. Entertainment: Unlike many other cultures, the th e As Ascr crip ipti ti ha have ven’ n’t t lo lost st th the e va valu lue e of a go good od

conversation.Visitingwithfamilyandfriendsis themostcommonformofentertainment.Most entertain enter tainmentis mentis passi passive ve(mov (movies, ies, conv conversat ersation, ion, reading)becausethedailyworkinacommunal cultureissohardonthebody.

CommunalCulturalSkills Most Com Most Commun munal al cul cultur tures es tea teach ch the their ir ch child ildren ren the ski skills lls of Coo Cookin king, g, Pe Persu rsuasi asion, on, Bar Bargai gainin ning, g, and Observation.

apermanentlossofrespect.ThisispartofwhyfemaleCaractsattempttokillthemalesaftermating —it’soneoftheonlywaystheycangainpowerand respect respe ctin intheir their socie society ty. . Sadly Sadly, , the thedouble double-stan -standard dard continues,andfemaleswhodokilltheirmalesare givena giv ena “blac “blackwidow”reputa kwidow”reputation. tion.Onlythe Onlythe darin daring g or fo fool olis ish h wi will ll tr try y to be befr frie iend nd th them em or ma mate te wi with th them. The Cara Caractin ctingesse gessen ncultu cultureis reis patri patriarc archalin halin the extreme.Mostdon’tevencarewhotheirmotheris. Beinghatchedfromeggs,babyGessdon’trequireas muchmotherlyattentionas,f muchmotherly attentionas,forexample,Humanor orexample,Humanor Inuuelbabies.

Beingquiteterritorial,theyrarelyformenclaves oftheirownspecies.Caractingessenaremoreoften found fou nd li livin ving g wit within hin oth other er cul cultur tures, es, and the their ir own cultureonlycomestotheforeindealingswiththeir ownspecies.Caractsdon’ ownspecies.Ca ractsdon’treallyrespe treallyrespectthelaws ctthelawsof of othercultures,buttheydorespectthepowerbehind UnliketheAncientInuuelandBudetugCoreculthose tho se la laws. ws. La Laws ws are mad made e by tho those se wit with h pow power er, , tures,theCaractingessencultureissharedbynearly andifthoseinpowercan’tenfo andifthoseinpower can’tenforcethei rcetheirlaws,they rlaws,they every eve ryGes Gess s in inthe the gal galaxy axy. . Muc Much h of ofit itis isan aninb inborn orn mustnothaveasmuchpower must nothaveasmuchpowerastheythink.Whe astheythink.When n response,aninstinctivecultureratherthanalearned someone some one loses power power, , it’ it’s s perfe perfectly ctly oka okay y to ignor ignore e or ch chose osen n one one. . Occ Occasi asiona onally lly som some e Ges Gess s do wea wean n theirlaws the irlaws. .Ifa Ifa Ges Gess s see sees sa a ch chanc ance etogainpowe togainpowerr, themselvesawayfromthiscultureandjoinothers, butitinvolvesbreakingalaw,mostwon’thesitate butthey’llalwaystintothisoneregardlessofhow tobreakthatlaw.Theycanbequitedestructiveto “civilized”theybecome. communalcultures,wheretheideaofhavingpower oversomeoneelseisabhorrent.  P  The Ca Cara ract ct cu cult ltur ure e is al also so a di dist stri ribu bute ted d on one. e.  a   g  e Thereisnocenterorcoretotheculture,noleader All Al l th this is ma make kes s fo for r a ve very ry vol olat atil ile e so soci ciet etyy. It  4  or rul ruling ing bod bodyy. It Itis is a gal galaxy axy-sp -spann anning ing par part t of the also helps expl explain ain wh why y the Cara Caracting ctingessen essen Empir Empire e  7  Caractingessengenome. died with their emperor. The few remaining Caract Car acting ingess essenen-onl only y cul cultur tures es are on wor worlds lds dom domiiCaractingessenareverypo Caractingessen areverypower-orie wer-oriented,andare nted,andare natedbyverystrongwarlords,andrunlikepolice especi esp eciall ally y con concer cerned ned wit with h ph physi ysical cal and per person sonal al states. power pow er. .Th The e per person sonal al con contro trol l of a doz dozen en tro troops ops is  V  seenasmoreimportantthanactingasanadmiralfor Forthemostpart,theCaractingessenaremixed  a  l     e athousandstarshipsbutneveractuallycommanding inwit in with h the res rest t of gal galact actic iccul cultur ture, e,and and ado adopt pt the  n  c them.Physicalstrength,andstrengthintheLording, conventionsoftheculturethey’resurroundedby.A  e  M willbetherstfactorsindeterminingwhetherone GessinÆgisspacewillprobablybelieveintheequal  a Caractwilldefertoanother.IftwoCaractsmeetand  n rightsofallpeople,besilentlyobservant,andact  i    it’snotimmediatelyclearwhichoneisthestronger  R  quiteculturedandrened...exceptwhenitcomesto  u  l    party,theywilltypicallyghtfordominance.Mostof otherGess.Thentheirdealingsreturntotheprimal  e  b   thosewholiveamongothe those wholiveamongothercultures rculturesretainenough retainenough dominancestrugglesofatitanic,powerfulspecies.It  o  o sensethattheywilltake sense thattheywilltaketheghtintotheair theghtintotheair,soas ,soas  k    :  canbeaveryfrighteningtra canbeavery frighteningtransformationtosee. nsformationtosee.  C  nottoharmtheirfriendsorcalldownthewrathof  u  l    theauthorities.  u Becauseofitsspread-outandinstinctualnature,  t    r  therearepracticallynomajorsubcultureswithinthe  e  s  Male Mal e Car Caract acting ingess essen en ten tend d to be str strong onger er tha than n Caractingessenspeciesculture. the fem female ales s (no (not t exc excess essiv ively ely str strong onger er, , but not notice ice-ably), abl y), so mal males esha have ve mor more e pow power er in the their ir soc societ ietyy. Fema emales les ha have ve to gh ght t for res respec pect t fro from m the their ir mal male e friend fri ends, s, som someti etimes mes lit liter erall allyy, and los losing ing can mea mean n

Caractingessen SpeciesCulture

CaractingessenSpecies CulturalBrief 

CaractingessenSpeciesSkills

All Ca All Cara ract ctin inge gess ssen en chi hild ldre ren n ca can n le lear arn n th thes ese e skills,thoughtheydoitattheexpenseoftheskills they the y wou wouldnorma ldnormally lly betaugh betaught t intheir lar larger ger cul cul-CommonNames:n/a ture:Aerobatics,Martial tics,MartialArts:Offensiv Arts:Offensive,theLording e,theLording Caract acting ingess essen en (Ca (Cara racts cts, , ture:Aeroba Citi Ci tize zens ns ar are e ca call lled ed…: …: Car skil sk ill l Ma Magn gnit itud ude, e, an and d th the e Lo Lord rdin ing g ta tale lent nt Fl Flam ame e Gess) Genera Gen eratio tion. n. Car Caract acting ingess essen en ch chara aracte cters rs ma may y sw swap ap MajorImports: n/a any an y oftheir nor normal mal cul cultur turalskill alskills s for an any y of ofthe these se n/a MajorExports:n/a MajorExports: skillsatcharactercreation. n/a OfcialLanguage:n/a OfcialLanguage: n/a,thoughsomeCaractsusetheirEmpire’s Symbol:n/a,thoughsomeCaractsusetheirEmpire’s Symbol: ag, with one green clawed st raised in victory. Government: Necrontor Capital:Necrontor Capital: GoverningBody: n/a “Gov over erne ned” d” by st stro rong nges est t Ifnoneofthemajorculturesappealtoyou,you Local Loc al Go Gover vernan nance: ce: “G individual should sho uld tal talk k to yo your urGam Game e Mas Master ter.Th .There ere are tho thouusandsofminorculturesinthegalaxy,someofwhich People’sVoice: Lowtonone. Caracthomeworlds areverydifferentfromthenorm.YourGMmayalRegionofGreatestInuence:Caracthomeworlds RegionofGreatestInuence: lowyoutoinventoneoftheseminorculturesand StyleofControl: Enforcedwhims n/a playsomeonefromit,aslongasyoudescribeitwell TechnologyLevels:n/a TechnologyLevels: enough eno ugh, , or yo your ur GM ma may y ev even en ha have ve som some e min minor or LegalPractices: culturesalreadycreatedfory culturesalread ycreatedforyoutouse. outouse. FreedomofSpeech: Lowtonil MobilityofCitizenry: n/a Ingam In game e ter terms, ms, the min minor or cul cultur turesshould esshould gi give ve WeaponAccessibility: n/a n/a a sel select ection ion offour dif differ ferent ent ski skills lls, , eac each h atleve atlevel l 5. DrugAccessibility:n/a DrugAccessibility: Thes hese e ski skills lls sho should uld sa say y a lot abo about utthe the cul cultur ture,so e,so Punishments: Harsh High h inin-cul cultur ture, e, mod modera erate te whe when n choo choose se them caref carefully ully. . Any reas reasonably onably succe successful ssful Crime Rate: Hig     8 dealingwithothers. cultureshouldteac cult ureshouldteachits hitschil childrenbasicsocia drenbasicsocialskills. lskills.     4    e Carrac acti ting ngeess ssen en ma mati ting ng is qu quiite Warlikeculturesshouldincludesomesortofcombat amil ily y Vie iews ws:: Ca    g Fam    a violen vio lent. t. Chi Childr ldren en are typ typica ically lly lef left t to fen fend d for training.HighlylegalisticsocietiesshouldteachLaw     P themselves. orBureaucracy,andsoforth.Lording-orientedsociTypi ypical cal Clo Clothi thing: ng: Most Caracts wear little to etiesmightteachsomekindofspellorpowertotheir noth no thin ing, g, bu but t so some me dr drap ape e th them emse selv lves es in cl clot oth h children,butithadbetterbeimportantandusefulif with wit h par partic ticula ular r sty styles les, , to ind indica icate te wh what at lar larger ger literallyeveryonefromacertainplanetknowshow culturetheyareapartof. todoit.    s Gherejcomesclosestt closesttobeingan obeingan OfcialReligions:Gherejcomes    e    r OfcialReligions:    u ofcialreligion. Ifacultureisn’tlargeorstrongenoughtowarrant     t     l    u Entertainment: Mos Most t Ges Gess s par partic ticipa ipate te in wha whatev tever er thes these e skil skills, ls,you youmigh might t consi consider dercreat creating inga a custo custom m     C    : entertainmenttheirlargercultureendorses.They WalkofLife(seepagexx)instead.Theseworkbetter     k    o tend ten d to toenj enjoythe oythe mor more e vio violen lent t one ones.Opera s.Opera is for fororgan organizat izations, ions, corpor corporatio ations, ns,and and loca localitie lities s than    o     b    e for fo r cu cult ltur ures es, , bu but t th they ey ca can n be us used ed in th that at wa way y as alsoamajordraw.     l    u well.     R    n     i    a     M    e    c    n    e     l    a     V

MinorCultures

Inthisexcerpt fromtheCaract fromtheCaractinge ingessenopera ssenoperaDakathM’conak DakathM’conak (T (Thunder hunder’’sDance),wesee sDance),weseethevilla thevillain in abouttoeviscerateShernaia,thefemalelead.Theopera’sprotagonist,Dakath’min(Thunder-sonintheir language)swoopstowardstheminanattempttorescueShernaia(thefeminineversionofShernak,one oftheearliestknownCaractingessenmessiahs).Thisbeingopera,hedoesnotsucceed,andtherearedire consequencesforallinvolvedasDakath’minloseshismindinanguis consequencesforallinvol vedasDakath’minloseshismindinanguish. h.Thereareindicat Thereareindicationsthatthegenionsthatthegenderroleswereoriginallyreve derroleswereorigina llyreversedinthe rsedintherstvers rstversionofthisopera,written ionofthisopera,writtensome somethree three mill millionyears ionyearsago, ago, butdespiteexcellentrecord-keepingthisishardtoverify.DakathM’conakisconsideredoneofthenest Caractingessenoperas,indicativeoftheircultureasawhole.TheactressplayingShernaiaisnotactually evisceratedduringtheperformance,c evisceratedduring theperformance,contrarytopopularrumor ontrarytopopularrumor..

 P   a   g  e  4   9 

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   C   u  l     t    u  r   e  s 

Fillinginthe Details

Budetug: TheBugsarejustasdiligentandhardworkin wor king g in the their irlov love e li lives ves as asin inthe their ir pro profes fessio sional nal lives.Th liv es.They ey will neve never r lea leave vea a relat relationsh ionship ip until all hopeofmakingitworkoutisgone. hopeofmakingitworkoutis gone.Therearealmost Therearealmost noBudetugcrossbreeds—muchliketheHalla,the Budetu Bud etug g ha have vea a hab habit it of ofkee keepin ping g the their irrac racial ial lin lines es pure.

Thissectionllsinsomeofthesmallerdetails aboutlifeinourgalaxyin592.Thebroadpicturehas Gess ss ar are e a ve very ry vi viol olen ent t Caractingessen: The Ge alreadybeenpainted;nowit’stimeforsomeofthe race. It’ race. It’s s pre predic dictab table le tha that t the their ir rel relati ations onship hips s wit with h moreday-to-daydetails. eachotherareoftenviolentaswell.Caractingessen mati ma ting ng ri ritu tual als s ar are e be best st co cond nduc ucte ted d in wi wide de op open en plac pl aces es away fr from om ma majo jor r po popu pula lati tion on ce cent nter ers, s, to minimizedamagetolocallifeforms.Onenalword ofcautiontoGreatCaractingessenplayers:asoften asnot,thefemaleattemptstokillthemaleafterthe Let’ Le t’s s fa face ce it it.. ... . th they ey’’re no not t hu huma man. n. The hey y do don’ n’t t ritualisnished.Ifthisdoesnothappen,thetwoare alwaysactthesamewayyouorIwould.Aliensdo consideredtobematedforlife.SerpentineGessare things thing s diffe differentl rently y from the acce accepted pted human norm, abitmorereasonable,butthatdoesn’tmeanitnever andthatincludestheirf andthatincl udestheirfriendships,rela riendships,relationshipsand tionshipsand happens. romances.Someofthemarefunny,someinteresting, somejustplainstrange.Someofthemhavewaysof Halla: TheHallaaremuchlikehumansintheir relatingtoeachotherthatwe,asHumans,simply relationships.Theonlyexceptionisthattheytakea don’thavewordsfor. dimviewofcrossbreeds.No,that’sanunderstatement me nt: : an any y Ha Hall lla a wh who o tr trie ies s to ma marr rry y so some meon one e of It is imp import ortant ant to not note e tha that t the these se are not har hard d anotherraceisexcommunicatedfromtherace.They andstrictrules;theyareonlyracialtendencies,and havespentalongtimekeepingtheirbloodlinepure, assucharenotnecessarilytrueforallmembersof andmixingitwi andmixingitwithotherracesi thotherracesissimplyabhorrent. ssimplyabhorrent. aparticularspecies. aparticula rspecies.Y Yourculture ourculture hasjustasbig an impactasyourspecieswheni impactasy ourspecieswhenitcomestolov tcomestolove. e. Other r than thanan an incre increase asein in inter interraci racial al Humans: Othe     0 marriages,littlehaschangedinthewayhumansre    5 Archange Arc hangels lsare areofte often n in inlonglong-term, term, latetooneanother.Afterall,howmuchdoesitmat Archangels:    e    g    a long-d long-dista istance nce relat relationshi ionships. ps.Th Though ough they may sta stay y terthatyourkidisdatingsomeonewhoseskinlooks     P toge to geth ther er fo for r th thou ousa sand nds s of ye year ars, s, th the e wo word rds s “u “unt ntil il different?It’snotlikeshe’sdatingthe12-leggedguy deathdouspart”willrarelycrosstheirlips.Afterall, nex next t doo doorr. By the sam same e tok token, en, Hum Human/ an/Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng “marriedforlife”couldreallymeanfore “marriedforlife”c ouldreallymeanforever ver.. marriagesarecomparativ marriagesarec omparativelycommon. elycommon.    g    n Asthedefender Asthe defenders sofall ofallgoodand goodandright,Archangels right,Archangels     i Inuuel uel ha have ve par partic ticula ularly rly del delica icate te Inuueliting: Inu     t     t    e tendtobehopelessromantics.Justasthisisusually and sen sensit sitiv ive e han hands. ds. Bec Becaus ause e of thi this, s,the they y ten tend d to     S    e concealedbeneaththeirwarlikeexterior,sotoois    r placegreatimportanceonthehands.Holdinghands    o an anot othe her r fo form rm hi hidd dden en be bene neat ath h th thei eir r im impo posi sing ng, , ar ar-- isconsideredfarmoreseriousandpleasurablethan     M    : mor mored ed ski skin. n.All All Arc Archan hangel gels, s, upo upon n com coming ing of age age, , thestrange thestrangehumancustomofki humancustomofkissing(orlip-mas ssing(orlip-mashing hing     k    o insti instincti nctivel vely y learn a special speci al Lording Lordin g unique to the assomeoftheSilverscallit).Relationshipsarestrict   o     b Archangel.Whenthispowerisactivated,thearmor    e lysplitdowncastelines—aGoldInuuelwillalmost     l    u slowlybecomestransparent,andwithinveminutes alwaysendupwithanotherGoldInuuel.Thereare,     R    n iscompletelygone,itsmoleculesscatteredaboutthe however,agoodnumberofHuman/Inuuelmarriag    i    a Arch Archange angel. l.Th This is reve reveals als the Arc Archange hangel’ l’s s true form, es.Eachs es.Eachsideseestheothe ideseestheotherasanexotica rasanexoticattraction. ttraction.     M that th at of a st stun unni ning ngly ly be beau auti tifu ful l hu huma mano noid id, , de devo void id    e    c    n ofanyfacialfeatures.FortheArchangeltoassume Nesti: Beingplantlifethemselves,Nestihavea    e     l    a thisforminfrontofanyoneisashowoftheutmost softspotforowersofalltypes.WhenaNestiisin     V trust,fortheArchangelisthendeprivedofallnatural blo bloom, om, the they y mig might ht wel welcom come e ad adva vance nces s fro from m oth other er weaponsandmaynotutilize weaponsandma ynotutilizeanyotherL anyotherLordingsunordingsun- Nesti.Whennotinbloom,there’sjustnochance. tilthearmorisagaindonned,aprocesswhichtakes Thisoftenleadstorelationshipsofsuchshortterm anotherveminutes. thattheymaynotoutlasttheda thattheyma ynotoutlastthedayy,butsometimesthe

Loveinthe31stCentury

pairndenoughincommontostaytogetherfora fewyears.Nestichildrenarebornbybudding—a small“shoot”growsoneachparentandeventually breaksoffonitsown.

eachgroupcankeeparosterofmembers,deciding for the themse mselv lves es wh wheth ether er (fo (for r exa exampl mple) e) som someon eone e is reallya real lyaNav Navajoornot,and ajoornot,andwhet whetherit’ herit’sa samatte matterof rof bloodrelationsormarriageorwhatev bloodrelationsormarri ageorwhatever er..

Contrary aryto to popula popular r opini opinion, on, Ogre Ogres s do Ogres: Contr not no t go ou out t an and d cl club ub th thei eir r ma mate tes, s, dr drag aggi ging ng th them em home.However,thetraditionofthe“lover’schase” perm pe rmea eate tes s Og Ogre re cu cult ltur ure. e. On One e of th the e pa pair ir wi will ll at at-tempttochasedowntheother.Ifthetargetofthis wonderfulaffec wonde rfulaffectionrefus tionrefusestorun, estorun,theyhav theyhaveeffeceeffectivelyrefusedtogetmarried.Ifthechasegoeson,the chancesaregoodthatnomatterwhowinstherewill bechildreninthefuture.

Whenyouapplythisideatonationsofpeople, yougetastrangephenomenon:nationsarenolonger necessarilyconnectedtotheirhomeland.Imagineif ChinatowninSanFranciscowasactuallyalegalpart ofChina!Likewise,theAmericanpartofBeijing(if suchexists)mightbeapartoftheUS.Anationcould bespreadacrossEarth—or,inValence,acrossthe stars—insteadoflocalizedinoneparticularcontinentorlandmass.

Despite their simi Despite similarit larities, ies, Troll are e rolls s andTita andTitans ns ar two dif differ ferent ent spe specie cies, s,and and are ve very ry dif differ ferent ent whe when n itcomestohavingchildren.TitansandDraconians bear bea r the theirchil irchildre dren n inthe sam same e wa way y tha that t Hum Humans ans, , Halla,andInuuelitingdo(thoughtheirpregnancies areabitshorterduetotheirshorterlifespan).Trolls, ontheotherhand,areasexual.Theyreproduceby rubbi rub bing ng th thei eir r ba back cks s to toge geth ther er. . In a fe few w mo mont nths hs, , a bulge bul ge wi will ll fo form rm in th the e ba back ck of on one e pa part rtne nerr, ma makkingthemappeartobeahunchback—thatTrollis pregnant.Thereareoccasiona pregnant. Thereareoccasionally llyT TitanorDraconian crossb cro ssbree reeds, ds, but Trol rolls ls can cannot not ha have ve ch child ildren ren wit with h anyonebutothertrolls.

Mullthatoverforaminutewhilewetalkabout CommonLaw.

lori rian ans s ha havve so som me of th the e be best st Valorians: Valo senses sen ses aro around und due to the their ir sen sensor sory y ant antenn ennae. ae. It’ It’s s little lit tle sur surpri prise, se, the then, n, tha that t Valo aloria rians ns nd it ter terrib ribly ly stimulati stimu latingtoentwinetheir ngtoentwinetheirantennae antennaewiththoseof withthoseof anotherVal anothe rValorian orian. . Non-V Non-Valori alorians ansalwa always ysnd ndthisa thisa strangesight...wouldn’tyou?Valsareusuallymore attractedtosomeonefortheirvoicethanwhatthey looklike.Arstdateusuallyinvolvesaconcertor theoperainsteadofamovie.

Culturesandthe CommonLaw Foranylawtodealwithethnic,racial,andculturalgroupsisverydifcu tural groupsisverydifcult.Deni lt.Deningsuchagroup ngsuchagroup is lik like e ask asking ing to get sho shot.Th t.There ere is, of cou course rse, , the possibilityoflettingagroupdeneitself,butparsing thatintolegaltermscanbetouc thatintolegalt ermscanbetouchytoo. hytoo. Adifferentwaytodothingsistodenecertain protocolsthatapplyto“socialgroups,”andawayfor thosegroupstoregisterwithacentralauthority.Then

Making laws thatapply to ever Making everyone yone is equal equally ly hard.When har d.When you ha have ve tho thousa usands nds of cul cultur tures, es, wit with h theirown the irown mor moresand esand va value lues,legal s,legality ity isdifc isdifcult ult to dene.Tryingtotietogethertenormoreintelligent species,eachwiththeirownsubculturesandhundredsofreligion dredsof religions,would s,wouldbea beanightmar nightmare eifthe iftheEmpire Empire wrotethesamekindsofla wrotethesame kindsoflawsthatmost wsthatmostgovernments governments todaydo.TheEmpireprobablytookonelookatthe oldInuuelitinglawarchives(knownastheplanetof Moruush)andsaid“Iwon’t Moruush)andsaid“I won’tlive livelongenoughtorea longenoughtoread d throug thr ough h tha that. t.” ” Ins Instea tead d of con conni ning ng the themse mselv lves es to speciclaws,theEmpirewrotesweepingprinciples  P   a andreliedonlocalmagistrates andreliedonlocal magistratestointerpretital tointerpretitall. l.   g  e  5  TheHumanEmpire very effectiveorganization, effectiveorganization,  1  sometimesfrighteningly sometimes frighteninglyeffectiv effective.They e.They might have done do ne so some me pr pret etty ty he heaavy vy-h -han ande ded d st stuf uff, f, an and d so some me very ve ry sh shad adow owy y de deal als, s, bu but t wh what at th they ey di did d wo work rked ed. . Common Com mon La Law w wa was s bas based edon ona a few pri princi nciple ples s tha that t werecommontoallspecies.Themostimportantare  V   a asfollows.  l     e  n  c InalltheculturesonEarthandelsewhere,pro-  e  M ducingforthecommunityandforone’ ducingforthecommunit yandforone’sselfwas sselfwasimim-  a  n portant.Whethe porta nt.Whether rthatmeantspiritu thatmeantspiritualcontribut alcontributions ions  i     R  or mon moneta etary ry, , one mus must t be abl able e to tosup suppor port t one onesel self f  u  l    andhelpsupportthecommunity.Crimesagainstthis  e  b    o werethemostserious.  o  k    :   M Murder Mur der fal falls ls int into o thi this s cat catego egory ry. . Whe When n yo you u kil kill l  o  e someone,youhavetakenawaytheirabilitytosup-  r   S   portthemselvesandothers.Dittoforsuchthingsas  e  t    i    blindingsomeone,choppingoffbodyparts,etc.—  t    n   g themoreyouimpair,theworsethingsare.Temporary impairments(e.g.gettingmugged)arenotasserious,

becausetheyonlydelaythecontribution;they becausetheyonlydelayt hecontribution;theydon’t don’t Appe Ap pear arin ing g ap appr prox oxim imat atel ely y on one e yea ear r af afte ter r th the e permanentlyreduceyourabilitytodoso. falloftheEmpire,ATcameoutofnowhere.Riding Genetech’scoattails,theyoriginallyseemedtobea Per erso sona nal l fr free eedo dom m is al also so a bi big g de deal al to ma many ny divisionofthatcorporation.Everyoneknowsbetter species—notasinfreedomtogoanywhereand in592,thoughtherearealwaysrumors.WhereGT doanything,butasincontroloverwhathappensto wonalegalbattle,ATcapitalized.WhenGTbought you. Impai Impairing ring someo someone’ ne’s s contro control l ove over r thems themselve elves s aplanet, aplanet,A ATsoldthemships. Tsoldthemships.WhenGTcaughtack WhenGTcaughtack is a cr crim ime. e. Ra Rape pe fa fall lls s und under er th this is um umbr brel ella la, , as do abo about utthe the Dem Demons ons,ATsaidthattheir ,ATsaidthattheir shi shipswould pswould manyotheractsofbrutalityandwhich(technically) obviouslyneverdosuchathing.ATachievedpromiwouldn’tpreventyoufromproducing wouldn’tprev entyoufromproducingforyourselfor foryourselfor nencethiswa nencethiswayandthencutthemsel yandthencutthemselvesofffromGT vesofffromGT thecommunity.Thisalsoleadstotheideaofselfwhentheyhadalargeenoughclientbase.ATseems governance:thatalltheindividualtribescouldgov- tohavelittleinterestinbuyingoutandincorporaternthemselveshowevertheypleased,aslongas(a) ing oth other er com compan panies ies. . Ins Instea tead, d, the they y unde undercu rcut t the their ir theyletpeopleleavewhenevertheywant,(b)they competition’spricesandrunthemintotheground. were wer e upup-fro front nt abo about ut wh what at the req requir uireme ements nts are to Genetechdoesn’tcareaboutAstrotechaslongasAT  join,and(c)theyrespecttherightsofothertribes. keepssellingthemships.

    2     5    e    g    a     P

Solet’sbehonest—theCommonLawwasprobFiveGalaxiesInformation ablyacleverwayfortheEmpiretoenforcetheirown ideaofmoralityonthegalaxyingener ideaofmoralityont hegalaxyingeneral.However al.However, , Notbigenoughtoqualifyasatruemegacorp, it wa was s pr prob obab ably ly al also so an ef effe fect ctiv ive e se set t of la laws ws th that at FGI is stil FGIis still l a gala galaxy-wi xy-wide de organi organizati zation on withplenty couldapplytoalmostanyoneof couldapplytoalmost anyoneofanyculture. anyculture. of clo clout. ut. They pro provid vide e abo about ut 50% of the gal galaxy axy’’s media, ia, fro from m new news s to sit sitcom coms s to tal talk k sho shows. ws. Th Their eir Thesedays,ofcourse,everyonehassaid“wecan med obvi viou ous s we weak akne ness ss is lo loca cal l co cove vera rage ge, , bu but t a le less ss dobetter”andignoredtheoldCommonLawwhenit ob obviousoneisthelackofa ousoneisthelackofa true“gal true“galacti acticculture. cculture.” ” suitedthem.WhiletheCoalitionandGTstilloperate obvi byitforthemostpart,theycan’tresistaddingtheir Whiletheyareabletodominatethemarketofmany planetsonaone-by-onebasis,theysimplydonot ownstipulations,manipulations,andloopholes. (and,atthecurrenttime,cannot)appealtoeveryone inthegalaxy.

FGI’s main hold FGI’s holdis isin in Coali Coalitiontion- and andGT GT-domi-dominatedspace,wherethegiganticgovernmentshelpto homogenizethepopulationandtheirvalues.Their main mai n cus custom tomers ers (th (those ose wh who o buy ad adve verti rtisin sing g tim time) e) Noteverycorporationhasas Noteverycorpor ationhasastrongenoughethic trongenoughethic are other mega megacorps corps, , with the micro microcorps corps prima primarrorenoughforceof“personality”tocreateaculture ily goi going ng wit with h sma smalle ller r med media ia com compan panies ies. . Des Despit pite e    g    n arounditself.Somearesimplylargemoney-making theirname,FGIhasnoinuenceoutsideourown     i     t     t entities.Herearethreeofthemoreimportantones:    e galaxy.     S    e    r    o Among Amo ng FGI FGI’’s mos most t pop popula ular r pro progra grams ms are suc such h  Astrotech     M shows sho ws as NoNo-Del Delay ay New News s (a gal galaxy axy-wi -wide de cur curren rent t    :     k    o even ev ents ts pr prog ogra ram) m), , Li Life fe On My Pl Plan anet et (a si sitc tcom om), ),    o Astrotechisknownforcut-rate,reliable,service    b Androm romeda edan n Dre Dreams ams (a (asoa soap p ope opera) ra), , and andThe The CG    e able,blandstarships.Theyalsosellcomponentsfor And     l    u Hour(acartoonwithcharacterssorealisticitmight     R starshipswhicharecompatiblewiththeshipsmade    n bytheCoalitionandPëmctStarightConstructions. behardtotell).FGIemployssomeofthegalaxy’s     i    a best be st-k -kno nown wn an and d mo most st ta tale lent nted ed ac acto tors rs, , bu but t ev ever ery y     MTh These ese com compon ponent ents s are als also o cut cut-ra -rate, te, rel reliab iable, le, ser ser-showisnonethelesstouchedupbyon-the-ycom   e vice ceab able le, , an and d bl blan and. d. Al All l AT pr prod oduc ucts ts be bear ar th thei eir r    c vi puterediting.    n    e lo logo go on a pl plat ate e (w (whi hich ch ca can n be re remo move ved d wi with th th the e     l    a proper er too tools) ls). . AT pro produc duces es app approx roxima imatel tely y 54% of     V prop FGIhasastrongpartnershipwithIntersoft,the thestarshipsinthegalaxy,withtheCoalitionnextat galaxy’ gala xy’s s premi premier er comput computer er manuf manufactur acturer er, , and has 24%andPëmctcontributing10%.Theremaining nocorporateenemiesthatcouldchallengeitona 12%isfromsmallerindependentcompanies. galacticscale.Partofthereasonforthatisthatall

ImportantCorporations

themegacorpsarewillingtohelpoutFGIbehindthe scenesinreturnforsomefreepublicity scenesinreturnfors omefreepublicity..

CultsandMinorReligions

Most pe Most peop ople le do don’ n’t t kn know ow th that at FG FGI I wi will ll ju just st as readilytakemoneytostopacommercialfromrunReligi Rel igion on is an exc except eption ionall ally y str strong ong for force, ce, one ningastheywilltorunit. ningastheywillt orunit.Themega Themegacorpsusethisto corpsusethisto which whic h ca can n br brin ing g na nati tion ons s to toge geth ther er an and d te tear ar th them em ensurethatnobadpressgetsoutaboutthem. apar ap art. t. No di disc scus ussi sion on of th the e cu curr rren ent t st stat ate e of th the e Galaxywouldbecompletewithoutanexamination ofitsreligions. Intersoft  Inters Inte rsof oft t is th the e re resu sult lt of th the e me merg rger er of ha half lf a dozencomputergiantsinGY545.Thesecompanies saw sa w th thei eir r pr prot ots s di disa sapp ppea eari ring ng as mo more re po powe werf rful ul, , bett be tter er-k -kno nown wn co corps rps li like ke Ar Arma mage gedd ddon on In Indu dust stri ries es. . move mo ved d in on th thei eir r tu turf rf.Th .The e me merg rger er wa was s no not t se seen en as the bes best t alt altern ernati ative ve for man many y of the com compan panies ies originallyinvolvedinit—afterall,theyhadbeen traditionalrivalsforyears,andhavingtosettlefora lesservoteonalargercompanyboarddidn’tsitwell witheveryone.Somecompaniesbrokeofffromthe edgli ed gling ng Int Inters ersoft oft con conglo glomer merate ate and for formed med the their ir ownmegacorporation,NanocomputingIndustries.

Besides Beside s the maj major or rel religi igions ons in the gal galaxy axy (se (see e theCoalitionsectioninthemajorculturewriteups), thereareanynumberof“minor”cultsandspinoff religions.Afewexamplesaregivenbelow.Wedistinguish ting uish cult cults s from reli religions gions prima primarily rily by size size, , but alsobytheirdistancefromotherreligions.

NIfellonhardtimesearly,asthebigger-name companiesinIntersoftreceivedlargerprojectsfrom othermegacorps.ThenaldeathknellofNIcameall toosoon,whentheCoalitionawarde toosoon,whentheCoaliti onawardedIntersoft dIntersoftthe the  jobofsupplyingcomputersforallgovernmentfacilitiesandstarships.Reducedtohalfoftheirmarket, thecorporationsinNIbrokeapartandcannowonly befoundas“niche”brands.

The Sa’c Sa’crontor rontor, , as menti mentioned oned earl earlier ier, , hav have e historicallyfollow toric allyfolloweda eda tric trickster kster relig religion.T ion.Theysaythat heysaythat the rs rst t tru trulysenti lysentient ent Sa’ Sa’cro cronto ntor r tau taught ght the res rest t of themhowtoplaytricksonthemanypredatorswho roamedtheirworld,lettingtheSa’crontorsurviveto thepresent.Ratherthanrelyingonphysicalstrength, Lording,orplanning,theSa’crontorreliedonunder-  P   a   g handednessandtraps.  e  5   3  Thi his s re reli ligi gion on to took ok a re real al no nose sedi divve wh when en th the e Sa’crontorencounteredtherestofthegalaxy,who didn’talwaysappreciatebeingusedastrickpractice. MostSa’crontorquicklylea MostSa’crontor quicklylearnedtotake rnedtotakeamorephilamorephilosophicalandpragmat osophi calandpragmaticapproac icapproach htotheirreligi totheirreligion on whenofftheirhomeworld.  V   a  l     e Of co cour urse se, , an anyo yone ne br braave en enou ough gh to vi visi sit t th the e  n  c  e Sa’crontorhomeworldisfairgame.  M  a  i    Mostnon-Sa’crontorseeSa’cherinasanexcuse  n  R  topullpracticaljokes.There’sreallymoretoitthan  u  l     e that,anditrunsdeeper,providingasubtextforall  b    o tradi tr aditio tional nal Sa’ Sa’cro cronto ntor r lif life. e. Mode Modern rn Sa’ Sa’ch cheri erin n boi boils ls  o  k    :  downtofourbasicprinciples:  M  o  r  1.Theuseofdirectforceisevil.Thiscanapplyto  e  S    e bothphysicalandsocialsituations.  t    t    i     n   g 2.Val 2. Valueyourfriends—teac ueyourfriends—teachthemtothinkontheir hthemtothinkontheir feet,andtheywillreturnthefavor.Fairnessisfor yourfriends,notyourenemies.

Inters Inte rsof oft t is kn know own n no not t on only ly fo for r it its s ub ubiq iqui uito tous us products(afterall,nearlyeveryonebuysacomputer, andnearlyallcomputersareInte andnearlyall computersareIntersoft-made),butfor rsoft-made),butfor highquality.AbouthalfofIntersoft’simpressivestaff arebetatesters:in-houseprofessionalspaidtocrash comput com puters ers unt until il the they y are bui built lt to be unc uncra rasha shable ble. . WithIntersoft’sconnect WithIntersoft’s connectionsto ionstoboththe boththeCoalitio Coalitionand nand  Ægis,supplyingbattlecomputersthatdon’tcrashis extremelyimportant.Intersoftalsohasanon-competi pe titi tion on ag agre reem emen ent t wi with th Ar Arma mage gedd ddon on In Indu dust stri ries es, , statingthatArmhastherightstoembeddedprocessors sor s whi while le Int Inters ersoft oft wil will l sel sell l hom home e com comput puters ers and mainframes.Neitherpartytakestheagreementtoo seriously,andtheytrytokeepupanappearanceof competiti compe titionfor onfor those outsi outsidethe detheindust industry ry,but ,but neitheronecutsintotheother’ theronecutsintothe other’sprots. sprots.

Sa’cherin Ofallthereligionsinthegalaxy,thisoneisthe easiesttomisunderstand.

3.Honorthosewhosecraftinessandskillexceeds yourown.

Itshouldbestressedthatmostbranchesofthe FCCDdon’tthinkthisway,andmanyofthosewho dosimplypreachthatmagesshouldbeconvincedto 4.Bereadytoadapttoallthings. mendtheirways,andshouldrejecttheirfoulpowers.Moreignorantcultsbelievethatallmagescould ItisimportanttorememberthatnotallSa’crontor be beco come me Du Duel elis ists ts if on only ly th they ey tr trie ied d ha hard rd en enou ough gh followSa’cherin.Themajorreligionshavetheirshare (whichis (whichisfalse;Duelist false;Duelistsareborn,notmade). sareborn,notmade). offollowersamongtheSa’crontoraswell. TheworstbranchesoftheFCCDpreachthatall magesmustbedestroyed.Theseareoftenledbyan TheFirstChurchofChristDuelistic insane insa ne or powe powerr-hungry hungry Dueli Duelist.While st.While thes these e cult cults s areaminority,theyarealwaysinthenews.They’re FoundedinGY–45byagroupofHumanrevi- whatmostpeoplethinkofwhentheythinkofthe sionistscholars,theFCCDbelievesthatJesusChrist FCCD.Shuttingdownthewholechurchwouldbe wasaDuelist(seepagexx). awasteoftimeandeffort—theydoalotofgood. However Howe ver, , any anymage mage migh might t even eventual tually ly run afoul of It’s It’ s not tha that t str strang ange e ofan ide idea a — Due Duelis listscan tscan theworsecults. theworsecults.Thisca Thiscanmakeforagoodadvent nmakeforagoodadventure ure heal hea l and cre create ate mat matter ter, , bot both h of whi which ch Chr Christ ist was hook, hook,or oragoodlong-te agoodlong-termenemy rmenemyforanArchma foranArchmage ge saidtohavedone.TheFCCDdoesn’tdenytheidea character.Conversely,itcanmakeforagoodallyor thatJesuswasthesonofGod.Instead,theybelieve contactforanyDuelist. that all  Due Duelis listsare tsare hol holyy.Thi .This s wou wouldn ldn’t ’t be besuc such h a problemifthereweren’tsomanysplintercultsfrom The FC FCCD CD is ma made de up pr prim imar aril ily y of Hu Huma mans ns, , theFCCDwhovilifyordinaryLording.Afterall,if Bu Bude detu tug, g, Og Ogre res, s, an and d Val alor oria ians ns, , wi with th so some me ot othe her r DuelistsarefromGod,thenarc Duelistsarefrom God,thenarchmagi,who hmagi,whofollowa followa low-Lordingspecies. differentsetofrules,mustbefromSatan.

TheNewPapists     4     5    e    g    a     P

   g    n     i     t     t    e     S    e    r    o     M    :     k    o    o     b    e     l    u     R    n     i    a     M    e    c    n    e     l    a     V

HolyBooksinValence Eachreligionhasitsownsetofholywritingsandscrolls.Hereareafewtoaddavorto yourgame.Mulunismisareligiondescribedin theStarboundsupplement;itislargeenough tobeconsideredmajorbutisnotasbigasthe others.

MajorReligions

Another Anoth er cu cult lt re reli ligi gion on, , bu but t si sign gni ica cant ntly ly wo wors rse e thanmostothers.Astraightlinecanbedrawnfrom theKKKinmoderntimestotheNewP theKKKinmodern timestotheNewPapistsin592. apistsin592. Theyarehumansupremacists.NotevenArielor Theyarehumansupremacists.Notev enArielor Succubiareallowedin—theyaretaintedbytheir “association”withotherspecies.TheNewPapists eshateDemonsandcrossbreeds,andwillgo  pecially hateDemonsandcrossbreeds,andwillgo toalmostanylengthtokillthemordrivethemout. Non-humansaretreatedwithtotalintolerance.

Gherej:BookoftheProphetOlanShanok  Judaeism:TheNewTorah Kinosim:WordsfromtheSpirits Mulunism:TheLongLand Parism:TaooftheStars

TotheCoalition’schagrin,theNewPapistsare primarilylocatedwithintheCore,onHuman-dominatedworlds.Theytaketheirnamefromtheirleader, PopeJoseph,whodeclaredhimselfsuchwhenthe PopeonEarthwaskilledduringtheFall.

CultsandMinorReligions

TheNewPapistsarevicious,butluckilyhavelittlesupport.Theysome tlesupport. Theysometimesworkwithotherhuman timesworkwithotherhuman supremacistgroups.Theywouldmakeanexcellent long-termenemy longtermenemy foranyUltrame foranyUltramerc,crossbr rc,crossbreed, eed, or Demoncharacter.

Elementalism:BookofFour FCCD:BookofSecretWorlds NewPapists:RiseandFall Sa’cherin:TheTasesh Tüg-ran:theContact

Elementalists Thiscultstartedasananti-scienticreactionary group.Believingalloftoday’ssciencetobeuninspired spi red and bor boring ing, , the they y pro promis mised ed to fou found nd a new and mor more e int intere eresti sting ng app approa roach ch bas based ed on the fou four r traditionalelements:air,re,earth,andwater.

Tüg-r Tüg -ran an re revvol olvves aro roun und d “T “The he Co Cont ntrract ct,,” a relativelyshortdocument(asholybooksgo)which describestheproperrelationshipofworkertooverseer.MostofTheContractcanbefollowedwithout anyagreementorevenknowledgeontheoverseer’ anyagreementorevenknowl edgeontheoverseer’s s part. Some of the mor Some more e imp import ortant ant “pr “prov ovisi isions ons” ” Th The e Contractmakesforitsadherentsincludethefollowing:

Inthis,theylargelyfailed.Theirapproachwas simp si mply ly no not t up to ex expl plai aini ning ng th thin ings gs li like ke qu quan antu tum m physicsandrelativity—afterall,itwasoverthrown • Wha Whatev teverwo erworky rkyouare ouaremade madetodo,y todo,your ourmind mind duri du ring ng th the e Re Rena nais issa sanc nce e on Ea Eart rth. h. In ti time me so some me isyourown.Someonewhoasksyouyourmind peopleturnedawayfromthispath,andthephilosomustreceivewhateveryouarewillingtogive. phybecameallthemoreentrenchedinthosewho stayed,untilitreachedthecultstatusitholdstoday. • Wh When en you ar are e un unde der r ag agre reem emen ent t to pe perf rfor orm m a  job,youwillperformit,withoutexce  job,youwillperfo rmit,withoutexceptionand ptionand TheElementalistsveneratethefourelements,and withoutcomplaint. thosefromeachofthehomeworldswhooriginally discoveredthem.Theyhaveceremoniesfourtimesa • Ins Insuri uringsaf ngsafety etyisthejobofthe isthejoboftheworke worker;but r;butthe the year,eachoneheldforacertainelement:airinthe overseermustaidinthisorprov overseermust aidinthisorprovideforhimself. ideforhimself. winter,waterinspring,reinsummer,andearthin autumn.Theseceremoniesgenerallyinvolvechant- • Mistr Mistreatm eatmentne entneednotb ednotbeendur eendured;th ed;thelong elongerit erit ing,rituals, pra prayer yers, s,and and(whe (when n possi possible)gathering ble)gathering isendured,thelargerthedebtyoum isendured,thelarge rthedebtyoumaycollec aycollect. t. nearalargeamountoftheelement.Ceremoniesare alwaysheldoutside. Many Ma ny Bu Bude detu tug g hi hist stor oria ians ns sa say y th that at it wa was s th this is last provi provision sionwhic which h spark sparked ed the thesecon second d and andthird third Itturnsoutthateachofthespecies(exceptthe Inuuel-Budetugwars. ArchangelsandOgres)have,atonepoint,heldan elem el emen enta tal l be beli lief ef. . The cu cult lt of ofte ten n us uses es th this is fa fact ct as levera lev erage ge to rec recrui ruit t new mem member bers. s. In gen genera eral l thi this s cultisnotparticularlyharmful,thoughmanyofits membersrejectasmuch membersreject asmuchmoderntechnology moderntechnologyasthey asthey can.Theonlyreas can. Theonlyreasonitisclassiedasac onitisclassiedasacultandnot ultandnot afullreligionisthatithasfewconstituents.Mostof itsfollowersarefromBrokenSector itsfollowersare fromBrokenSector..

Tüg-ran ThisphilosophystartedamongstBudetugslaves aftertherstInuuel/Budetugwars,50millionyears ago. ag o. A su surp rpri risi sing ng nu numb mber er of Bu Bude detu tug g ar arou ound nd th the e galaxystillfollowthisstr galaxystillf ollowthisstraightforwardcode, aightforwardcode,anditis anditis oftenknownasthe“BudetugWorker’sCreed.” The pri prima mary ry re reas ason on Tü Tügg-ra ran n wa was s cr crea eate ted d wa was s tokeepBudetugculturealivewhil tokeepBudetugcultur ealivewhilethe etheInuue Inuuelitin liting g contin con tinued ued to ens ensla lave ve and “in “integ tegra rate” te” the them. m. Sin Since ce thenithasbeentakenupbybusiness-minded,nononsensemembersofotherspeciesasamodelfor doingbusiness.Insomeplacesit’saveryeye-for-aneyephilosophy.

 P   a   g  e  5   5 

 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   M  o  r   e  S    e  t    t    i     n   g

QualityEntertainment Whatistheretodoforfunin592? The tra The tradit dition ional al dra draws ws of nig nightl htlife ife, , clu clubs, bs, bar bars, s, and an d da danc nce e ha hall lls s ha have ven’ n’t t fa fade ded. d. If yo you’ u’re re lo look okin ing g for fo r di dinn nner er an and d a mo movi vie, e, yo you u ca can n st stil ill l n nd d it it.Th .The e movie movi e may be holog holographi raphic/im c/immersi mersive, ve,but but it’ it’s s stil still l  just  ju st a mo movie vie. . For tho those se int intere ereste sted d in som someth ething ing a bitmoresophisticated,tryhangingaroundnearan Inuuelitingroyalcourt.It’sgreatentertainmentifyou cangetyourselfinvited.

writings ngsand andstori stories es are arefamo famous us gala galaxyxyHallan writi wide.The wide. The bestknowncover dozen dozensof sof gener generation ations s ofafamily,chroniclingboththeeverydayandthe extraordin extr aordinary ary.Thecommenta .Thecommentary rywritt written enin inthe themar mar-ginsis,insomeways,moreimportantthanthebook, makingeachcopyuniqueandspecial. mostof thegalax thegalaxy’ y’smoviesand smoviesand Humans makemostof Humansmake lms,synthesizingmanydifferentartformsintoone. Acting,writing,music,andcomputereffectsinone production—Humansseemtobegoodatbringing thesealltogether.

The Inuuelitingareknownfortheirepicpoetry. TheInuueliting areknownfortheirepicpoetry. Nothingiswrittensmallinthes Nothingiswritte nsmallinthesestories.Ev estories.EveryproberyprobCard Car d and vid video eogam games esare are sti still llaro around und, , as asare are lemisworld-shaking,everyemotionisoverwhelmRPGs.Adventurecruisesarebecomingmorepopu- ing,anditalltstogetherintosomethingverymovlarforthosewhohavethemoney.Yougettakenon ing.TheoldallianceofHumans,Inuuel,andCaracts board boa rd a cru cruise ise shi ship p or sta starli rliner ner, , gi give ven n yo your ur “id “idenen- isstillaliveandwellintheentertainmentbusiness, tityfortheweekend,”andseehowthingsplayout astheInuuelwriteoperas,Humansproducethem, —sortofathree-day-longdinnermurdermystery. andCaractingessenactinthem. Ifyou’retotallybored,youcanalwayslookthrough theLatticeandndouthowmanywebsitesthere One ofthemostbizar ofthemostbizarreart reart for formsin msin exi existe stence nce areabout,forinstance,doghair. is Nesti arc architec hitecture. ture. The origi original nal Nesti buildi buildings ngs

In ge gene nera ral, l, en ente tert rtai ainm nmen ent t in 59 592 2 is no mo more re risquéorviolentthaninmoderntimes.Itwasmore sountilthe200’s,butsincethenthingshavequieted down.Backthenthereweremoredirect-neural-link dramas mas; ; wit with h int interf erface ace jac jacks ks uni unive versa rsally lly shu shunne nned d     6 dra     5 thesedays,there’slittlecallforsuchtotallyimmer   e    g    a sivepsychodramas.     P

weremadeoutoftheremainsoftheirancestors,and theneweronesstilllookthatway,withintertwined vineseveryw vine severywhereandaveryorganic hereandaveryorganicfeel.Nestiar feel.Nestiar-chitectsoftencontractoutto chitectsof tencontractouttoBudetugsculptorswho Budetugsculptorswho canrendertheirvisionsinstone.

Ogres enjoypainting.Theyputalotofvisceral Ogresenjoypainting.Theyputalotofvisceral emotio emo tion n int into o it, wh whic ich h com comes es out qui quite tecle clearl arly y in thenalproduct.DespitetheirlowCre thenalproduct.Des pitetheirlowCreativityinde ativityindex, x, We’ e’ve ve ta talk lked ed ab abou out t cu cult ltur ural al pr pref efer eren ence ces s ea earr- Ogresaremorethancapableofmakingemotional lierinthebook.Eachspeciesisknownforitsown anduniquepaintings. contributionstotheartworld.Whileeveryspecies    g    n dabblesineverysortofart,somespeciesarebetter     i The Sa’crontor make the gala galaxy’ xy’s s bestbest-known known     t     t knownfortheircontributionstocertainartforms.    e clothing,atleastforthosebraveenoughtowearit.     S    e    r Muchofitisquiteslinkyandsheer.    o The  Archangels ar are e kn know own n fo for r th thei eir r mu mura rals ls. .     MManyoftheirancientbuildingsbearthehistoryof    : known wn for the their ir mus music, ic, wh whic ich h is Valorians are kno     k    o theirspeciessinceancienttimes,paintedacrossthe complex,precise,andmoving.Havingfourtentacles    o     b walls,andthe walls,andtheartformisstil artformisstillpopular lpopular. .    e makethemcapableofplayingsomeratheroddin    l    u struments!     R The stone-loving are known kno wn for carvcar vBudetug    n     i    a ingsandsculpture.Fromcarveddoorwaystofree    M standingstatues,theBudetugusethemostcommon    e    c materialsintheirhomestomakethosehomesmore    n    e     l    a beautiful.     V TheCaractingessenhavethebest-knownoperas TheCaractingessen havethebest-knownoperas acro ac ross ss th the e ga gala laxy xy. . Dr Dram ama a an and d vi viol olen ence ce se seem em to comenaturallytothiss comenaturally tothisspecies,andt pecies,andtheirlungcapac heirlungcapac-itymakessingingeasy.Seepagexxforapicture.

ATimelineHistory oftheGalaxy

MiddleAgeoftheGalaxy  3.5millionBC:TheNestievolvetosentience—rst ofthe“YoungRaces.”

3.1 mil millio lion n BC: Inu Inuuel uel con contac tact t and sub subjug jugate ate the What fol What follow lows s is a bri brief ef tim timeli eline ne his histor tory y of the Budetug Milk Mi lky y Way fr from om it its s ea earl rlie iest st da days ys, , wh when en ev even en th the e Inuuelitingwerestillbangingrockstogethertomake 3millionBC:TheInuuelitingattempttosubjugate re. theNestihomeworldandarecrushed.

ElderAgeoftheGalaxy 

3 mi mill llio ion n BC BC: : The o our uris ishi hing ng ci civi vili liza zati tion on of th the e Archangelsisdiscovered.Inuueliting-Archangel war,Inuuelsufferthei war ,Inuuelsuffertheirsecondmajordefeat rsecondmajordefeat.. 10millionBC:TheInuuelitingevolvetosentience ontheirhomeworldLl’Anderant ontheirhomew orldLl’Anderanth.Intheir h.Intheiroldest oldest 3millionBC:TheBudetugcreatetheirrstTesseract formtheyarearborealandwinged. driv dr ives es in inde depe pend nden entl tly y of th the e In Inuu uuel elit itin ing. g. Fi Firs rst t Budetug-Inuuelitingwar. 7millionBC:theInuuelitingdiscovertheLording. Theirphysicalformevolvesintoitspresentstate 2.9millionBC:TheHallacreatetheirrstTesseract overthecourseofthenextmil overthecourse ofthenextmillionyears. lionyears. drives. 6 mi mill llio ion n BC BC: : The In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g cr crea eate te th the e Pool of Radi Ra dian ance ce du duri ring ng th the e War of Ra Radi dian ance ce. . Fir irst st 2.7millionBC:TheCaractingessencreatetheirrst Tesseractdrives. Daishaining’inuueliting,rstuseofT Daishaining’inuueliti ng,rstuseofTesseractsin esseractsin thegalaxy.BeginInuuelEmpire. 2.3millionBC:TheSa’crontorevolvetosentience. 5.5 mil millio lion n BC: Mal Maltec tec’in ’inuue uuelit liting ing cre create ate the rs rst t meccha me hani nica cal l te tess sser erac act t de devi vice ces, s, al allo lowi wing ng th the e 2millionBC:SecondBudetug-Inuuelitingwar Inuuelempiretoexpandexplosively. 2millionBC:Humanityevolvestosentiencefrom  P   a   g  e apes. 5.3millionBC:The 5.3millionBC: TheBudetugevolveto Budetugevolvetosentience sentience from  5   7  aspeciesofmulti-leggedinsectoidpredators. 1.5 mil millio lion n BC: Inu Inuuel ueliti iting ng vis visit it Ear Earth th for the rs rst t timeandcreateAriels. 5 million BC: The Caractingessen evolve to sentience.Theyarenotactiveingalacticpolitics 1.4millionBC:ThirdBudetug-Inuuelitingwar.Begin until2315BC. BudetugEmpire.  V  4.8millionBC:TheHallaevolvetosentienceonthe  a  l     e 1.3millionBC:TheNesticreatetheirrstTesseract cliffsandshorelinesoftheirhomeworld.  n  c drives.  e  M 4.5 4. 5 mi mill llio ion n BC BC: : The Val alor oria ians ns, , th the e ga gala laxy xy’’s on only ly 1.2 2 mi mill llio ion n BC BC: : Bu Bude detu tugg-Ar Arccha hang ngel el wa warr, n nal ally ly  a  i    sili si lico conn-ba base sed d sp spec ecie ies, s, ev evol olve ve to se sent ntie ienc nce, e, 1.  n  R  settledwhenArchangelsareallowedtogovern and are lar largel gely y pas passed sed ov over er unt until il the Bud Budetu etug g  u  l    theirownplanet.  e Empire.  b    o  o  k   4.1 mill million ion BC:Valori BC:Valorian an math mathemati ematicians cians disco discover ver  :  YoungAgeoftheGalaxy   M theprinciplesbehindT theprinciplesbehind Tesseracts,butnev esseracts,butneverbuild erbuild  o  r  one.  e 900,000BC:theOgresevolvetosentience.  S    e  t    t   4millionBC:Ofcialendofthe“elderage”ofthe  i     n 720,000BC:TheSa’crontorcreateaTesseractdrive   g galaxy. andimmediatelyjoingalacticculture.

500,000BC:theOgresarediscoveredbyBudetug scoutshipsandinvitedintothegala scoutshipsandinv itedintothegalacticculture. cticculture. 200, 20 0,00 000 0 BC BC: : Hu Huma mani nity ty ev evol olvves in into to it its s cu curr rren ent t form. 30,000BC:EarliestdiscoveredHumanart. 10,000BC:BeginningsofHumanagriculture

millio mill ion-a n-and nd-a -a-h -hal alf f ye year ars, s, de deve velo lope ped d ag agri ricu cult ltur ure, e, builtthepyramids,andlandedonthemoon.How isthispossible? Par art t of it is du due e to th the e lo low w Cr Crea eati tivi vity ty of th the e Inuueliting,butnoteverythingcanbeattributedto that.To that .To real really ly answe answer r this quest question, ion, we must spli split t evolutio evo lution n up into intothree three inte interrela rrelated tedcateg categories ories: : genetic,cultural,andtechnological.

2315BC:BattleofLisharnok,Caractingessendefeat The“lawsofgenetics”asweknowthemareonly Budetug. Budet ug. Begi Beginning nning of Cara Caracting ctingesse essen-Bude n-Budetug tug reallyapplicablefora“shortterm”species.Thatsort war. ofspeciesmustevolve ofspecies mustevolvequicklyto quicklytomeetthe meetthechallenges challenges itsenvironmentpresentsitwith.TheInuuelhavenot 115 BC BC: : Im Impl plos osio ion n of th the e st star ar Voc ocif ifer erou ous s Pr Prim ime. e. beensuchaspeciesforalong,longtime.Oncethey BeginCaractingessenEmpire became beca me a spac spacefari efaring ng spec species, ies, thei their r tec technolog hnological ical evolutio evo lution n (or (orin in thei their r case case, , Lordi Lording ng evol evolution) ution) had 1080AD:Caractingessenvi 1080AD:Car actingessenvisitEarthfort sitEarthforthersttime hersttime tak taken en the pla place ce of the their ir gen geneti etic c ev evolu olutio tion. n. Rat Rather her andcreateSuccubi. than their phy physica sical l bodie bodies s chan changing ging, , their Lordi Lording ng andtechnologydid. 1862 AD: Cara Caractin ctingesse gessen n empir empire e coll collapses apses. . Begi Begin n HallanEmpire. Why,then,istherenotrampantultra-hightechnology?Thetruthofthematteristhatthelongera 1976AD:Hallanempirecollapses 1976AD:Hallan empirecollapsesduetoneglect. duetoneglect. specieslives,thelessoftenitlearns.Allspecieslearn aboutthesameamountoverthecourseoftheirlives 2225AD:HumanscreatetheirrstTesseractdrive (Valoriansaretheexception).Mostspecieslearnin andquicklyjointhegalacticculture. “spurts, “spur ts,” ” last lasting ingperha perhaps pstenyears tenyearsapiec apiece.The e.The rst hundre hun dred d ye years ars of hum human an lif life e is one lon long g lea learni rning ng 2318AD:HumansbegintheircrusadeforaGalactic spurt. Empire.     8 Unfo Un fort rtun unat atel elyy, as we al all l kn know ow, , on once ce yo you’ u’ve ve     5    e learnedacertainamountitbecomesmuchharder    g 2437AD:BeginHumanEmpire.GY1.    a     P tolearnanymore.Thus,whentechnologybecomes GY 495 (2932 AD): Human empire collapses adv advanced anced enoug enough, h, it becom becomes es impos impossible sible to lear learn n in “T “The he Fal all” l” (s (see ee be belo low). w). The Co Coal alit itio ion n an and d enoughaboutittomakeacontributiontothattechGenetech Genet echnologi nologies es split split. . Ægis and andArmag Armageddon eddon nol nology ogy. . If Ifit ittak takes esa a hum human an one hund hundred red and ft fty y culturesformed. yearstolearnhowtobuildatesseractdrive,heor    g    n     i shehasverylittletimeleftinwhichtoactuallyapply     t     t    e thatknowledge.     S GY592(3029AD):Presentday.    e    r    o Backtotheissueofgeneticevolution,theInuuel     M    : didnotphysicallychangeinthose4.5millionyears.     k    o HowManyYearsand Thisisdueinparttotheirtechnology,andalsoin    o     b    e NothingHappened? part pa rt to th thei eir r co comp mpas assi sion on fo for r el elde ders rs an and d th the e si sick ck. .     l    u Allspeciescarefortheirelderly,andmostcarefor     R    n TheofcialreignoftheInuuelitingEmpirewas theirweakandsickly.Peoplewhomightotherwise     i    a from6millionBCto1.5millionBC.Inall illionBC.Inallthistime, thistime, notsurvivetoreproduce,suchasthosewithblood     Mfrom6millionBCto1.5m    e    c theInuuelEmpirewaslargelyunchanged,andthe disorders,arekeptalivethroughtechnology.Inthe    n Inuuelitingthems elves(indeanceofw deanceofwhatwethink hatwethink cas case e of the anc ancien ient t Bud Budetu etug, g, the their ir “sa “sacri crici cing” ng” of    e Inuuelitingthemselves(in     l    a ofasthela wsofgenetics)didnotevolv didnotevolvesignicantesignicant- cripp crippled led and mutat mutated ed chil children dren destr destroye oyed d as many     V ofasthelawsofgenetics) ly. ly .Th Their eir cult culture ure was almos almost t unch unchanged anged, , and their usefulgenesasitkept. techno tec hnolog logy y onl only y imp improv roved ed whe when n the Bud Budetu etug g and Valorianscamealong.Keepinmindthatoverthis Cultur Cul tural al ev evolu olutio tion n is som somew ewhat hat sim simila ilar r to getime,Humanityevolvedfromapes,andinthenext neticevolut neticevolutioninthatitundergoe ioninthatitundergoesachangea sachangeathigh thigh

technologies.Whatoncewasaprogressiontowards civiliza civi lizationbecomes tionbecomes cyc cyclic: lic: somet somethingwhich hingwhich isin TheDemonsreachedEarthwiththeclandestine stylenowwillbesoagainintime. helpofthegalaxy’sotherspecies,andperhapseven helpofthegalaxy’sotherspecies,andperhapsev en fromsomewithintheoldEmpirewhosawtheneed Witheveryspeciesthereisapointatwhichtheir forviolentchange. scienc sci ence e can ad adva vance nce no mor more, e, and tec techno hnolog logica ical l progressslowstoahalt.Mostspeciesgetstuckina TheDemoneetcametoEarthfromthegalactic “rut”oftechnology.Onlyexposuretonewknowl- core,wheretheyhaddevastatedtheunder-defended edgewillchangethat. EmpireStation,hometotheHumanEmpire’smilitary forc forces.T es.The heatta attackwas ckwas compl completel etely y unexpe unexpected cted One wa way y or ano anothe therr, all spe specie cies s sto stop p ev evolv olving ing andshowed andshowedhow how effe effecti ctivel velytheDemonshadbeen ytheDemonshadbeen physica phy sicallyandcultura llyandculturallyoncetheyreach llyoncetheyreachTL2 TL2(see (see cr crea eate ted d — ad adap apti ting ng th thei eir r e eet et to an any y al almo most st an any y pagexxforTechLeveldescriptions).Technological thr threat eat, , org organi anizin zing g wit with h sta stark rk ef efcie cienc ncyy, and usi using ng evolutionreachesaplateauateachTechLevel,and tacticsbothunexpectedandbrilliant. ittakesa ittakes abigpushtomoveittothenextlevel bigpushtomoveittothenextlevel.T .The he appear app earanc ance e of the Valo aloria rians ns and the lib liber erati ation on of The e eet et ga gath ther ered ed af afte ter r mi mill llio ions ns of De Demo mons ns theBudetugpushedthegalaxy’sTLfrom1/3to2/4. turnedontheirslavemasters,capturingcapitalships, HumansandtheircreativityarethepushtoTL3/5, communicationsnetworks,sometimesentirespace whichshouldbecomplet whic hshouldbecompleteinanothertwohundred einanothertwohundred stations.Thetimingoftheirassaultwasimpeccable. years.IfcontactwithAndromedaissuccessful,we canlookforwardtoyetanotherperiodofgrowth.If Thisassaultcameas Thisas saultcameasaresultofthe aresultofthetreatmentthe treatmentthe not,lookforthingstostagnateforal not,lookforthingst ostagnateforalong,longtime. ong,longtime. Demonshadreceivedatthehandsoftheirmasters. Soldasaslavespecies,“owned”bythemostimportantandwealthyindividualsinthegalaxy,theysaw rsthandthebenetsoffreedom,butweredenied itutterly...andsometimesviolently.Theirrst,last, and an d on only ly ef effe fect ctiv ive e re revo volu luti tion on be bega gan n wi with th no on one e moreviolentthanasecretary,whohadbeenengineeredandtrainedtoorganizepeoplesecretly neeredandtrainedtoorga nizepeoplesecretly.Asit .Asit “Itstartedwithpride,asmanyfallsdo. turnsout,shedidherjobalittletoowell.  P   a   g Alon Al ong g th the e wa wayy, it en enco comp mpas asse sed d al all l th the e ot othe her r  e T h e D e m o n s w e r e c r e a t e d a n d s o l d b y  5  deadlysinsthatscholarsofancientHumanitymay  9  rememb rem ember er. . The ye years ars bef before ore the Fall wer were e amo among ng GenetechnologiesIncorporated,which,inthepredays, ys, wa was s an of ofcia cially lly san sancti ctione oned d par part t of the Human Hum anki kind nd’’s wo wors rst t an and d da dark rkes est, t, al all l th the e mo more re so Fall da HumanEmpire.Genete Empire.Genetechitsel chitselfwascreatedbythe fwascreatedbythe becaus bec ause e the they y had ch chose osen n thi this s wa way y of lif life. e. Rat Rather her Human thanlookingatthecausesbeforetheeffects,letus CoalitionofSentientRaces,which,inpre-falldays, gobackwards,sothatwecanunderstandhowitwas wasthepubliccongressofthesameHumanEmpire. Oversightwaslaxinthosedays;noonereallyknows  V  alluncoveredintheend. whe heth ther er th the e Co Coal alit itio ion n ac actu tual ally ly kn knew ew ab abou out t th the e  a  l     e  n Demons,butitisabsolutelyc Demons,butit isabsolutelycertainthatsome ertainthatsomeonein onein The De Demo mons ns ar are e sc scat atte tere red d to th the e fo four ur wi wind nds s  c  e theEmpiremusthavekno theEmpiremust haveknown,andapproved. wn,andapproved. in this day and age because of the efforts of  M  a Genete Gen etech chnol nologi ogies es and the Coa Coalit lition ion. . Thei heir r onc oncee i     n T he Demo De mons ns were we re sold so ld beca be caus use e some so mew w here he re mightyeetisdestroyed,andtheirremainingvessels  R  alongtheline,thoseinchargeofGenetechhadlost  u canndlittlesafehavenanywhereinthegalaxy.  l    sight sigh t of basi basic c “human “human” ” decen decency cy. . Inst Instead ead of giv giving ing  e  b    o their thei r greatest great est creations creat ions the freedom free dom they deserved deser ved  o Those Th ose two gre great at mon monoli oliths ths of gal galact actic ic cul cultur ture e  k    :  assentientbeings assenti entbeings,theydecide ,theydecidedthatprotmustbe dthatprotmustbe haveharriedtheDemonsfromthedaytheireets  M moreimport more important.The ant.They y forgot forgo t their original origi nal mission miss ion  o defeat def eated ed tho those se of the Dem Demons ons on the doo doorst rstep ep of  r   e —tousegeneticengineeringtoimprovethelives Earth Ear th its itself elf. . Sad Sadly ly for tho those se on tha that t bea beauti utiful ful blu blue e  S    e ofthegalaxy’smasses—andusedittolltheirown globe,theDemonshadalreadyexactedtheirven t    t    i    pocketsinstead.  n geance,drivingDeimosfromitsorbitaroundMars   g andintoacollisionwithEarth.Seasboil andintoacollisionwi thEarth.Seasboiled,rockv ed,rockvaaThe De Dem mon ons s we were re cre reaate ted d si simp mplly be beca caus use e porized,andtheplanetisshroudedinimpenetrable Genetechnologiescould.Theyweresupposedtobe cloudstothisday.

TheFall

thepinnacleofGT’sengineeringknowledge:beings thepinnacleofGT’sengineeringknowledg e:beings whocarriedthegeneticcodesofallthegalaxy’sspeciesinasinglerace.Atthis,GTmiraculouslysucceeded.Theyweresupposedtobecontrollable.Asif allthatevolutionarypotentialc allthatev olutionarypotentialcouldstayl ouldstaylockedup. ockedup. Nowyouknowthestoryfartherbackthanmost knowit.BothGenetechandtheCoalitionmisrepresentthefactstotheircitizens,playingupthedefeat oftheDemonsandtheirownshameatwhattheir prede pre dece cess ssor ors s ha had d don done. e. Ae Aegi gis s an and d Ar Arma mage gedd ddon on werenotidleduringthesetimeseither,thoughtheir roleisyettobeunderstood.Certainlytheremnants oftheancientInuuelandBudetugEmpiresawthe eviloftheslaverytheDemonsendured,andmust havehelpedthembehindthescenes,butiftheydid, neithergroupspeaksofit.Theremusthavebeenno one in the gal galaxy axy unt untouc ouched hed by the Fall all, , and ye yet t fewpeopleknoweventhislittlepieceofthestory. Hopefullyyoucanndsomemoreofthetruth.

Tesseracts Space is, to the dis Space disma may y of all dev develo elopin ping g cul cul-tures,unfathomablyhuge.Starsareseparatedbydistancesthatsimplycannotbecrossedinanordinary lifetime life time.TheTe .TheTesser sseract actwas wasdisco discovere vered d (rst by the Inuueliting)asasortof“short Inuueliting)as asortof“shortcut”wa cut”waytomov ytomovefrom efrom onestarsystemtoanother.

The sim The simple plestway stway ofexpla ofexplaini iningit ngit isthis: thi think nk ofthefour-dimensionalspacetimethatweliveinas thetwo-dimensionalsurfaceofaglobe.Thisglobe is ri rippl pplin ing g al all l ov over er fr from om gr graavi vity ty wa wave ves s an and d ot othe her r disturbances.Mattercreatesdipsinthesurface,and black bla ck hol holes es cre create ate big dip dips s but don don’t ’t pun punctu cture re it. Wormhole Wor mholes s conne connect ct diffe different rentparts parts of it, it,but but those are har hard dtond.What tond.What aT aTess essera eractdoesis,justfor ctdoesis,justfor onemoment,pulltwopointsontheglobeupand touch tou ch the them m tog togeth ether er, , cre creati ating ng a port portal. al. Don Don’’t ask Stillhere?Youexpectalessonoramoral,per- ho how w, be beca caus use e it tw twis ists ts th the e mi mind nd of ev even en th the e be best st haps?Thisisnotafable.Thiswaslife—anddeath. mathematicians.Tesseractsopenaportalinfrontof Learn Lea rn fro from m it as you sho should uld fro from m all suc such h thi things ngs: : aship,whic aship,whichtheshipthenmov htheshipthenmovesthrough. esthrough. learnhowtoliveabetterlife.” Tesseractscanworkinfunnyways.Sometimes, —Prefacetothesuppressedtext“Demons:The whenyou’ whenyou’retooclosetoa retooclosetoa lotofgrav lotofgravity ity,a ,atess tesseris eris TrueHistoryofTheFall” wildly wildl y inaccurate inaccurate. . If you’ you’re re eve even n close closerr, the tess tesser er portalwilldistort,andspreadyouacrossspacelike creamypeanutbutter.Eachstarhasarangeofspace     0     6 aroundit,aboutwheretheorbitofJupiterisforour    e    g starsystem.Tesseractscannotbeopenedeffectively    a     P withinthisradius.Thelessgravityaround,andthe lessthereisbetweenyouandyourtarget,thebetter andfartheryoucanjump.Thefarthestthatmostordinaryjumpsgoisabouttwothousandlig dinaryjumpsgois abouttwothousandlightyears. htyears.    g    n     i     t     t Most Mo st sp spac ace e vo voyyag ages es co cons nsis ist t of a fe few w da days ys of    e     S travelouttothesafe-tesserzone,instantaneoustran   e    r sitfromonestarsystemtoanother,andafewmore    o     M daystravelingintothenewsystem.    :     k    o    o Almost Alm ost all sta starsh rships ips use som someth ething ing cal called led the     b    e     l TGD—theTesseractGeneratingDevice—tocre   u     R atetheirtesseractsforthem.Jumpscanalsobemade    n     i with wit h the aid ofa ski skille lledArch dArchmag mage,or e,or a Pla Platin tinum um    a     M Inuuel,buttheirrangeisusuallysignicantlyshorter,    e    c andtheytakemuchlongertomo andtheytakem uchlongertomovelargema velargemasses. sses.    n    e     l    a     V

 A crippled Budetug works to repair a satellite.

Interplanetary Communication

GalacticCartography

The ga gala laxy xy wa was s or orig igin inal ally ly co colo loni nize zed d by th the e Inuueliting,butthequadrantandsectornamesused AlmostallplanetsareconnectedviatheLattice. bytheCaractingessen bytheCar actingessenduringtheirempire duringtheirempirearestillin arestillin Essential Essent iallythe lythe int intern ernetof etof 592 592, , the Lat Lattic tice e run runs s on usetoday. threedifferenttechnologiesforthreedifferentscales. On th the e lo loca cal l sc scal ale, e, on a si sing ngle le pl plan anet et, , it ru runs ns on The here re ar are e fo four ur qu quad adra rant nts s to th the e ga gala laxy xy, , wi with th ber-opticandlasercommunicationtec ber-optic andlasercommunicationtechnology hnology.All .All name na mes s ba base sed d on th the e Ca Cara ract cts’ s’ me mess ssia iani nic c re reli ligi gion on. . computerscantalktoeachotherusingtinybeams Gala Ga lact ctic ic “E “Eas ast” t” is toward rdss th the e Ca Carrac acttin ingges esse sen n oflight,thoughnotallofthemarecommunicating home ho mewo worl rld, d, an and d al also so to towa ward rds s Ea Eart rth. h. The Ea East ster ern n allthetime.Onalargerscale,betweenplanetsand QuadrantiscalledChosenQuadra Quadr antiscalledChosenQuadrant,theSouthern nt,theSouthern between betwe ennearb nearby ysyst systems,tach ems,tachyons yons areused.Thes areused.These e one isV isVict ictor or, , the We Weste stern rn one is isBro Broken ken, , and the fasterfaste r-thanthan-light light parti particles cles allo allow w foralmost foralmostinsta instantantaNorthernoneisRisen.EachQuadranthasfourRim neous neo us com commun munica icatio tion n acr across oss man many y lig light ht ye years ars of sectorsalongitsoutside,namedaftervariousmythospace. logicalgures. On the lar larges gest t sca scales les, , the Lat Lattic tice e sen sends ds inf infor or-mation mat ion thr throug ough h tes tesser sercom coms. s.Th These ese del delica icate te pie pieces ces of equ equipm ipment ent are mou mounte nted d in saf safe e pla places ces in dee deep p space, spa ce, and few peo people ple act actual ually ly kno know w whe where re the they y are.Tessercomspickupsignalsmeantfortheother sideofthegalaxyandsendthemthroughamarblesizedtesseractthatstaysopenallthetime.Thereare relativelyfewofthese—perhapsathousand—but their the ir pla placem cement ent ins insure ures s tha that t no mes messag sage e wil will l tak take e morethanadaytocrossthegalaxy.

Each Qua Each Quadra drant nt has twe twenty nty sec sector tors, s, wh whic ich h are typicallynamedaftertheancientInuuelitingprefectureswhichcontrolledthem,orafterHumanexplorerswholedthesecondwaveofg erswholedthesecondw aveofgalacticexplora alacticexploration tion duringtheHumanEmpire.Eachsectoris,inandof itself,avastregionofspace,withbothoccupiedand unoccupiedstarsystems.Sectorsarebrokendown into int o mor more e man manage ageabl able e sub subsec sector tors, s, and tho those se int into o individualsystems.

Thecenterofthegalaxyislaidoutinadifferent  P   a   g Eachtessercomislinkedtotheothersaroundit, manner.TheverycenterisnamedCoreZero,and  e creatingacomplexnexusofwormholes.Infact,it  6  contains conta ins the Coali Coalition’ tion’s s cente center r of gov governme ernment nt and  1  mightbefairtosaythateachofthemislinkedtoevthesupermassiveblackholeinthemiddleofthegaleryothertessercominthegalaxy.Asevereaccident eryothertessercominthegalaxy .Asevereaccident axy.SurroundingtheseareeightCoreSectors,and atonecommstationcanknockothernearbystations surroundingthosearesixteenTertiarysectors,which outofalignment,andtheshockwaveofanexplosion arenumberedratherthannamed. wouldbe would be carri carriedthroughthetesse edthroughthetesseract ract,knocki ,knockingit ngit outofalignment.TheCoalitionstillmaintainsmost Above Abo ve an and d be belo low w th the e ga gala laxy xy ar are e hu huge ge ex extr traa-  V   a ofthegalaxy’stessercoms,sinceitwastheEmpire  e galact gal actic ic sec sector tors s whi which ch exp expand and out outwa wards rds fro from m the  l     n thatcreatedthemintherstplace,andtheyare very  MilkyWayhalfwaytotheneighboringgalaxies.In  c  e territoria terri torial l when it comes to lett letting ingships ships approa approach ch theory,whenstarshipsreachAndromeda,itwillbe  M them. dividedinthesamewaythatourowngalaxyis...but  a  i     n theAndromedansmayhavesomethingtosayabout  R   u Sendingamessageacrossasingleplanetranges  l    that.  e incostfromcheaptofree.Anhouroftransmi incostfromchea ptofree.Anhouroftransmission ssion  b    o  o might mig ht cos cost t ten cre credit dits s at the mos most. t. Int Interp erplan laneta etary ry The Th e Mil Milky ky Wa Way yisstill isstill a ava vastplace stplace, , a ahund hundred red  k    :  communicationscostaboutvetimesthat. thousandlightyearsacross,andtherearestillmany  M  o starsystemswhichhavenotbeensurveyed.  r   e  S    e  t    t    i     n   g

BeyondtheMilkyWay TheMilkyWayhasafewneighboringgalaxies: the Sag Sagitt ittari arius us dw dwarf arf gal galaxy axy, , the Lar Large ge and Sma Small ll MagellanicClouds,afewuninhabiteddwarfgalaxies, ies , and And Androm romeda eda. . And Androm romeda eda its itself elf has a few dwarf dwar f galax galaxy y neig neighbors, hbors, and theT theTriang riangulum ulumspir spiral al galaxyisnotfaraway(inrelativeterms). The Clouds and andSagi Sagittari ttarius us are areboth bothinhab inhabited, ited, byindigenouslifeandbycoloniesfromtheMilky Way.Whiletechnicallydwarfgalaxies,theyarerelativelylarge,andhavemanyyoungstars. Themanydwarfgalaxiesarepopulatedbyvery oldstars,withfewheavyelementsandasmallnumber of dea dead d pla planet nets s aro around und sel select ect sta stars. rs. Col Coloni onies es couldbeestablishedhere,buttheywouldservelittle purposeotherthanresearch.TheMilkyWay’sneighboring dwa dwarfs rfs incl include ude the Fornax, Draco Draco, , Sexta Sextans, ns, UrsaMinor,Carina,andSculptorgalaxies.Eachof thesecontainsafewmillionstarsatmost. Tri rian angu gulu lum m is sl slig ight htly ly sm smal alle ler r th than an th the e Mi Milk lky y Way, an and d An Andr drom omed eda a is tw twic ice e th the e Mi Milk lky y Way’ y’s s size si ze, , bu but t bo both th se seem em to be un unin inha habi bite ted. d. Lo Long ng ag ago o the th e In Inuu uuel elit itin ing g se sent nt pr prob obes es to th thes ese e ga gala laxi xies es in hopes s of nd nding ing mor more e int intell ellige igent nt spe specie cies, s, but     2 the hope     6 the prob probes es cam came e bac back k wit with h not nothin hing.Th g.The e Bud Budetu etug g    e    g    a EmpirefocusedonexploringtheMilkyWayinstead     P ofoutside,andtheCaractandHallanEmpireswere tooshort-livedtodomuchexploration.TheHuman Empire Emp ire wa was s rum rumore ored d to toha have ve a pla plan n for exp explor loring ing Andromeda,butifso,itmusthavebeeninterrupted    g    n bytheFall.     i     t     t    e     S Since Sin cethe then n the gal galaxy axy has bee been n rel relati ative velychalycha   e    r    o otic,andonly otic,andonlyrecentlyhas recentlyhasenoughorderreturned enoughorderreturnedto to     Mthegalaxythatsuchfar-reachingexplorationsmight    :     k    o bepossible. The newtessera newtesseractdrives ctdrives deve developed loped in    o bepossible.The     b the las last500years t500years wil willalsobea lalsobea gre greataidtothese ataidtothese    e     l    u explo explorati rations,ifanyofthecurrentcultu ons,ifanyofthecurrentculturesandcor resandcor-    R    n porationscanmusterenoughforesighttolaunchthis     i    a greatanundertaking.     M    e    c    n    e     l    a     V

InterculturalTrade Five of the gal Five galaxy axy’’s mos most t in inuen uentia tial l cul cul-tures,includingthetwobiggest(theCoalition andGT),cameaboutduringtheriseandfall oftheHumanEmpire.Becauseoftheirclose asso as soci ciat atio ion n in th thos ose e da dang nger erou ous s an and d ch chao aoti tic c days,andfeelingsofHuman-centeredpatriotism,thereweremajortradeagreementsstruck whichmanyofthemnowregret,butfeelthey cannotescape. Therefore,itisnotuncommontond(for exampl exa mple) e) a re rearm arms s sto store re in Coa Coalit lition ion spa space ce owne ow ned d by a co corp rpor orat atio ion n whi hicch is re real ally ly a subsidiary subsi diary of ofArmag Armageddon. eddon. ÆgisÆgis-made made cloth cloth-ing can befoundall acr across oss Gen Genete etech ch spa space, ce, andwhileitmightnotbethemajorityofthe market,it’sstillverysubstantial. Ingeneralthesesalesaremadebywhollyownedsubsidiariesratherthantheparentcompany,for pany ,for public relat relationsreason ionsreasons.In s.In theend, themoneygoestothesameplace.

Character Creation Yourcharacterishow ourcharacterishowyouinteractwiththeworld youinteractwiththeworld ofValence.Charactersarethemostimportantpartof thegame,withnoexceptions.Aplayercharacteris sometimesreferredtoas sometimes referredtoasaPC. aPC.TheGM TheGMwillalsohave willalsohave severalcharac seve ralcharacters. ters. Mostplaye Mostplayers rswill will just hav have e one character,buttheGMisinchargeofeveryonethe PC’smeetduringthegame.Thosearecallednonplayercharacters,orNPC’s. Inthe gam game e yo your urch chara aracte cter r wil will l bedened by manythings—attributes,skills,specialabilities,disadvantages,andsoforth.Thischaptertellsyouhow togureoutalloftheseabilities togureoutalloft heseabilitiesandwhattheydo. andwhattheydo.

ClassedCharacter CreationChecklist Usethischecklisttocreateaclassedcharacteror aDuelist.Y aDuelist. Youmaywanttoprintoutorphotocopy oumaywanttoprintoutorphotocopya a charactersheettomakethingseasier. 1.Comeupwithaconceptforyourcharacter. YoushouldcheckwithyourGameMastertondout whetherheorshehascertainrestrictionsonwhat kindsofcharacterswillbeallowedinthegame.You mightalsowanttocheckwiththeotherPlayersas well,toinsurethatthereisagoodmixofabilities amongstthecharacters.

2.SelectaCulture.Culturesarelistedonpage xxthroughpagexx.Everycultureinthegalaxyhas This Th is ch chapt apter er is imp import ortant ant for bot both h Pla Playe yers rs and itsown“personality,”whichshouldshapeyourcharacter’spersonalitytosomeextent.Whetheryou’ acter’ spersonalitytosomeextent.Whetheryou’rea rea GameMasters.Players,ofcourse,needitforcreatingcharactersoftheirown.GameMastersneedto dedicatedfollowerofyourcultureoradeantrebel, itstillhassomeimpactonyou.Ingam impactonyou.Ingameterms,each eterms,each create creat e the thenon-pl non-play ayer er char characte acters rs who whoinhab inhabit it thei their r itstillhassome world,but world ,butalsoneedtoundersta alsoneedtounderstandthecapabili ndthecapabilities ties culturealsolistsfourskillswhichallmembersofthat culturelearnwhilethey’regrowingup.Youmayput ofthePlayers’characters. theseskillsonyourchar theseskills onyourcharactersheetat actersheetatlevel5. level5. Valencehastwobasic Valencehas twobasictypesof typesofcharacter:Classed character:Classed 3.SelectaSpecies.Speciesarelistedonpagexx charactersandUltramerce characters andUltramercenaries.Classedc naries.Classedcharacters haracters arepeoplefromoneofthegalaxy’smajorspecies throughpagexx.Eachspecieshasasetofbaseat-  P   a who ha have ve spe specia cial l tr train aining ing tha that t mak makes es the them m mor more e tributes,whichyoushouldrecordonyourcharacter   g  e sheet.  6  suited suite d to to“adv “adventur enturing. ing.” ” Ultra Ultramerc mercs s are aregene genetical tically ly  3  engineeredbeingscreatedbyGenetechandloaned 4.SelectaClass.Classesarelistedonpagexx outtoothercompanies.Thereisathirdtypecalled a Du Duel elis ist, t, wh who o is es esse sent ntia iall lly y a Cl Clas asse sed d ch char arac acte ter r throughpagexx.Eachclassgivesasetofskills,some withsomeextracapabiliti withsomeextracapab ilities.Ultra es.Ultramerc mercscannotbe scannotbe baselevelsofCharismaandKnowledge,andaspecialability cial ability.Alloftheseshouldbewritten .Alloftheseshouldbewrittendownon downon Duelists. yourcharactersheet.IfanyofyourClassandSpecies  V  skills lls ov overl erlap, ap, add the tw two o lev levels els tog togeth ether er. . For in-  a  l    It’sveryimportanttoknowyourcharacter.Think ski  e  n stance,MerchantsstartwithaPersuasionskillof5, about abo utwha what t the they y loo look k lik like, e,how how old the they y are are, , and  c  e whattheywear.Thinkofhowtheywouldreactto andCommunalculturesalsoteachPersuasionat5.  M Commun munal al Mer Merch chant ant wil will l sta start rt wit with h Pe Persu rsuasi asion on  a certainthings,whattheythinkaboutotherspecies A Com  i     n andclasses,andhow andclasse s,andhowtheyusetheirskil theyusetheirskills.Ifyou’ ls.Ifyou’re re 10.  R   u stuck,alookthroughthisbookshouldgiveyoua  l     e 4. Incr In crea ease se Attr At trib ibut utes es. . Y ou have ha ve 11 poin po ints ts to  b   fewideasastowhatkindsofcharactersareavail o able.Thiswillhelpyou“getintothegame”more, spreadamongyourattributes.Youcannotputmore  o  k    :  thansixpointsintoanyoneattribute(infact,thisisa andwillalwaysmakethingsmorefun.  C  generallimit—characterscannevernaturallyraise  h    a  r  anattributemorethansixpointsabo anattributemore thansixpointsaboveitsbase). veitsbase).  a  c  t    e  r  5. Ch Choos oose e yo your ur Ba Back ckgr groun ounds ds. . Ea Each ch ch char arac acte ter r  C   e has cer certai tain n thi things ngs the they y ha have ve gon gone e thr throug ough h dur during ing  r   a  i    thei th eir r li life fe wh whic ich h ca cann nnot ot ea easi sily ly be re repr pres esen ente ted d by  t    o their the ir ski skills lls. . Th These ese are rep repres resent ented ed by ad adva vanta ntages ges, ,  n

CharacterAttributes

rememberingthings,andmayevenhavememory disorders.

The hese se ar are e yo your ur ch char arac acte ter’ r’s s el elev even en at attr trib ibut utes es (occasion (occ asionalyl alyl refer referredto redto as“stats”) as“stats”).Th .Theyare eyare typi typi-callyrankedfromzeroto10,thoughtheymayrise above10forexceptionalindividuals(suchasplayer characters).

Lording(Lrd):Thisisyourskillwithcommandingthealmostmagicalfor ingthealmost magicalforceknownast ceknownastheLording. heLording. Thisattributecoversyourrawundevelopedpower andhoweasyitisforyoutosummonthenegative dimensionalenergies.CharacterswithzeroLording areincapableofcommandingtheenergiesofthe Lording.

 Agility(Agi): Agilityletsyoumoveyourwhole body bod y aro around und gr grace aceful fully ly and qui quick ckly ly. . Th This is aff affect ects s most mos t com combat bat ski skills lls, , acr acroba obatic tics, s, gym gymnas nastic tics, s, and Mental tal End Endura urance nce Mental Men tal End Endura urance nce (Mn (MnE): E): Men most athle athletics tics skil skills. ls. Chara Character cters s with zero zeroAgili Agility ty isthetoughnessofonesmind,stubbornness,and oftentrip oft entrip ov over erthe theirown irown fee feet,and t,and ha have ve dif difcu culty lty wil willpo lpower wer. . It aff affect ects s str streng ength th of wil will, l, men mental tal for for-movingaround. titude tit ude, , and som some e asp aspect ects s of Lor Lordin ding. g. Cha Chara racte cters rs with wit h zer zero o Men Mental tal End Endura urance nce wil will l agr agreeto eeto alm almost ost Charisma(Cha):Charismaisyourorationabil- anythingyousaytothem,thoughtheymayagree ity,personability,andabilitytolead.Charismaafwithsomeoneelseinafewminutes. fectsalmostallinterpersonalskills.Thisattributeis determinedbyacharacter’sclass,nottheirspecies. Stamina(Sta):Thisisone’sphysicalendurance, Charac Cha racter ters s wit with h zer zero o Cha Charis risma ma are inc incapa apable ble of tou toughn ghness ess, , and con consti stitut tution ion. . Sta Stamin mina a aff affect ects s the makingfriends,orbeing makingfrie nds,orbeingtactfulor tactfulordiplomatic,e diplomatic,even ven le leng ngth th of ti time me th that at on one e ca can n pa part rtic icip ipat ate e in co communderthebestcircumstances. bat, bat , and how lon long g unt untilyou ilyou jus just t get “wo “worn rn out out..” Creativity(Cre):Creativityisacombinationof intuitivethinking,imagination,abilitytoimprovise, spee sp eed d of th thou ough ght, t, an and d cu cunn nnin ing. g. It af affe fect cts s in inve venntion ti on an and d pr probl oblem em so solv lvin ing. g. Cha Chara ract cter ers s wi with th ze zero ro Creativityare,quitefrankly,themostboringpeople intheuniverse.

    4     6    e Dexterity(Dex):Thisisyourabilitytomanipu   g    a lateobjects,pressbutto ,pressbuttons,anddoothernework ns,anddoothernework     P lateobjects with wi th yo your ur ha hand nds s (o (or r te tent ntac acle les, s, or wh what atev ever er yo you u    n have). have).Ithelpswhen Ithelpswhenperformingskills performingskillssuchaspi suchaspilotlot   o     i     t    a ing,defusingbombs,andpickinglocks.Characters    e with th ze zero ro De Dext xter erit ity y sh shoul ould d avo void id ho hold ldin ing g sh shar arp p    r wi     C objects,asthe yoftendropwhattheypickup. heypickup.    r objects,astheyoftendropwhatt    e     t    c    a    r Intellige Intel ligence nce (Int) (Int):: This is the ability to un   a     h der stand nd wha what t is hap happen pening ing aro around und yo you. u. Aff Affect ects s     C dersta    : le arni ning ng, , pr probl oblem em so solv lvin ing, g, an and d lo logi gica cal l th thou ough ght. t.     k lear    o Char acterswith rswithzeroIntel zeroIntellige ligenceareincapable nceareincapable of    o Characte     b    e thoug thoughtbeyondthatneededto htbeyondthatneededto survi surviveday-t veday-to-da o-day y     l    u existence.     R    n     i    a hiss is a re repr pres esen enta tati tion on Knowle Kno wledge dge (Kn (Kno): o): Thi     M    e of wh what at yo you u kn know ow an and/ d/or or ha have ve le lear arne ned. d. Af Affe fect cts s    c    n scholarlyskillsandalmosteverythingelsedealing    e     l    a     V withknowingthings.Italsodealswiththeabilityto memorizefactsandspitthembackout,butitwon’t help hel p yo you u und unders erstan tand d tho those se fac facts. ts. This att attrib ribute ute is determinedbyacharacter’sclass,nottheirspecies. Char Ch arac acte ters rs wi with th ze zero ro Kn Know owle ledg dge e ha have ve di dif fcu cult lty y

CharacterswithzeroStaminacannotstandorwalk withoutsevereexertion. Repr pres esen ents ts you our r cha hara ract cter er’’s Streng Stre ngth th (S (Str tr): ): Re lift li ftin ing g po powe wer r an and d ph phys ysic ical al st stre reng ngth th. . Thi his s af affe fect cts s damageandphysicalpower.Characterswithzero Strengthcannotliftmuchmorethantheirownbody weight-eventheirclothesfeelheavy. Visualization(Vis):Visualizationisyourability, not to ima imagin gine e new thi things ngs, , but to pic pictur ture e thi things ngs aroundyouinyourmind.Affectsprediction,learning,andpilotingskills.Yoursensesarealsodictated to som some e ext extent ent by Vi Visua sualiz lizati ation. on. Cha Chara racte cters rs wit with h zeroVisualizationarealmostoblivioustotheworld aroundthem,andareincapableofholdingamentalimageorplanningforthelongterm.

 AttributeChecks An“attributecheck”issomethingyouroll whenyouneedtodosomethingthat’sbased onlyoninborntalent,notonanythingyour char ch aract acter er has lea learne rned. d. Rol Roll l 1d2 1d20 0 plu plus s the approp app ropria riate te sta stat. t. If yo you u rol roll l a 12 or hig higher her, , youhavesucceeded.Staminachecksarethe mostcommontype,asall“savingthrows”are basedonaStaminacheck.

disadvantages disadvan tages, , andWalks andWalksof of Life Life. .All Allof of thes these e can befoundstartingonpagexx.Youhavetwentyback3.SelectaMentor.AllUltramercshaveanongroundpointstospendthere,andcanchooseone UM me meno not t wh who o gu guid ides es th them em th thro roug ugh h th thei eir r ea earl rly y WalkofLifeforfree. Walkof Lifeforfree.Y Youwillprobablywanttospend lif life e and tr train ains s the them m for the their ir int intend ended ed pro profes fessio sion. n. someofthesebackgroundpointstogetsomemoney Mentorsarelistedonpagexxthroughpagexx. foryourcharacter. 4.PurchaseSkills.Yourcharacterhassomeskills 6. Pur Purch chase ase Ski Skills lls.Y .Your our ch chara aracte cter r by now has fromhisorherMentor.Inaddition,allUltramercs certainnaturalabilitiesgainedfromherclass,spe- aretrainedinComputerOperations,andMartialArts cies,upbringing,andculture.HerskillscovereveryOffens Off ensiv ive e and Def Defens ensiv ive, e, all at lev level el5.Th 5.They ey ma may y thingelsesheisabletodo.Rulesforpurchasingand als also o use som some e oftheir sta starti rtingbudge ngbudget t topurc topurchas hase e usingskillscanbefoundstartingonpagexx.Your skilltraining.Ultramercskillpackagesarelistedon classwillgiveacertainnumberofskillpointswhich pagexxthroughpagexx. youcanspendthere. 5. In Incr crea ease se At Attr trib ibut utes es. . You ha have ve 11 po poin ints ts to SpecialNote:beforepurchasingtheirskills,any- spreadamongyourattributes.Youcannotputmore oneintendingtoplayaDuelistshouldexaminepage thanthreepointsintoanyoneattribute(infact,this xx,tounderstandmoreabouttheiroptions. isagenerallimit—characterscannevernaturally raiseanattributemorethanthreepointsaboveits 7.BuyEquipment.Takethemoneyyoureceived base). fromyourBackgro fromyour Backgroundssect undssectionandbuysomenifty ionandbuysomenifty Equipment.Seepagexxforgeneralequipment,page 6. Ch Choos oose e yo your ur Ba Back ckgr groun ounds ds. . Ea Each ch ch char arac acte ter r xxforweapons,pagexxforarmor,andpagexxfor has cer certai tain n thi things ngs the they y ha have ve gon gone e thr throug ough h dur during ing cybernetics. thei th eir r li life fe wh whic ich h ca cann nnot ot ea easi sily ly be re repr pres esen ente ted d by their the ir ski skills lls. . Th These ese are rep repres resent ented ed by ad adva vanta ntages ges, , That’ Tha t’s s it!Y it!Your ourchar characte acter r is compl complete eteand andread ready y disa disadv dvantag antages,and es,and Wa Walksof lksof Life Life.Y .You ouhav have e twent twenty y forplay. backgroundpointstospendthere,andcanchoose oneWalkofLife oneW alkofLifeforfree.All forfree.Allofthesecanbefound ofthesecanbefound star st arti ting ng on pa page ge xx xx. . So Some me ba bacckg kgro roun unds ds ar are e no not t availabletoUltramercs;sobesuretocheckthelist  P   a carefully.   g  e  6  7.BuyEquipment.Takethemoneyyoureceived  5  fromyourBackgr fromyou rBackgroundssect oundssectionandbuysomenifty ionandbuysomenifty UsethischecklisttocreateanUltramercenary. Equipment.Seepagexxforgeneralequipment,page Youmaywanttoprintoutorphotocopyacharacter xxforweapons,pagexxforarmor,andpagexxfor cybernetics.ManyUltramercsarealsooutttedby sheettomakethingseasier. Genete Gen etech ch ins instea tead d of out outtt tting ing the themse mselv lves; es; ch chec eck k  V  1.Comeupwithaconceptforyourcharacter. withyourGMtoseeifthisisthecaseinyourstory.  a  l     e  n YoushouldcheckwithyourGameMastertondout  c That’ Tha t’s s it!Y it!Your ourchar characte acter r is iscompl complete eteand andread ready y  e whetherheorshehascertainrestrictionsonwhat  M kindsofcharacterswillbeallowedinthegame.You forplay.  a  i     n mightalsowanttocheckwiththeotherPlayersas  R  well,toinsurethatthereisagoodmixofabilities  u  l     e amongstthecharacters.  b    o  o  k    :  2. Sel Select ect yo your ur Gen Genes. es. Ev Every ery Ult Ultra ramer merc c is isbui built lt  C   h   gene-by-g geneby-gene ene for grea greatest test effe effecti ctivene veness.The ss.The list of  a  r  gene ge nes s be begi gins ns on pa page ge xx xx.Y .You ou ha have ve a §5 mi mill llio ion n  a  c  t   budgetwithwhichtopurchasegenes,amentor,and  e  r  skills skill s for foryour your cha charact racter er. . Left Leftover over money is was wasted ted  C   r   e (or,moreaccurately,wasneverinthebudgetinthe  a  t   rst rs t pla place) ce) and can cannot not be use used d to pur purch chase ase oth other er  i     o  n things.

UltramercCharacter CreationChecklist

Nowwehave11pointstodistributeamongour Attrib Att ribute utes. s. Ther here’ e’s s no rea real l rea reason son to inc increa rease se her LordingorVisualization,butStaminacoulddenitelyuseaboost,ascouldMentalEndurance.Charisma canhelphergetoutofproblemsthatherrecklessnessgotherinto.Afterthatwe’llplaytoherstrengths tomakeherevenmoreeffective.Afterthisstepher Example#1:DariatheExplorer  attribute attr ibutes s are Agili Agility10, ty10, Chari Charisma sma6, 6, Creat Creativi ivity9, ty9, Our rst rstchar characte acter r will be a clas classed sedchar characte acterr. Dexterity6,Intelligence6,Knowledge8,Lording1, Ment ntal al En Endu dura ranc nce e2, 2, St Stam amin ina a3, 3, St Stre reng ngth th1 1, , an and d Let’ssaythatwewanttoplayanexplorer;someone Me whogetstoyaroundthegalaxyandexaminenew- Visualization1 lydiscoveredworldstoseeiftheyhavethepotential Now No w we ha have ve to pi pick ck so some me Ba Back ckgr groun ounds ds fo for r forintelligentlife.Wewanttoplaysomeonewho’s alittledaring,andmaybealittlereckless,withalot Daria.Shehas20backgroundpointstostartwith. ofambition.Weneedaname...let’scallherDaria We’dlikeafewmorethanthat,solet’stakeadisadvantage:aMediumEnemysoundslikefun;someone Windcourt. in he her r e eld ld wh whom om sh she e di disc scre redi dite ted d ye year ars s ag ago o an and d Almo Al most st an any y cu cult ltur ure e co coul uld d be ap appr prop opri riat ate e fo for r whonowseekstothwarther.Noonedeadly,buta thischaracter thischarac ter(exc (except eptperha perhaps pstheAncient theAncient Inuuel Inuuel). ). recurringantagonisttoplayagainst.That’sworthfour Let’schoosetheCoalition. Let’ schoosetheCoalition.Theyha Theyhavethekindofrevethekindofre- extrapoints.NowforAdvantages.LightSleepercan useful ful wh when en exp explor loring ing unu unusua sual l wor worlds lds, , as can sourcestosupporttheseventures,andtheCoalition be use iscertainlyknownforambition.Dariastartswiththe anyoftheenhancedsensesoranenhancedimmune skillsofFirstAid,ComputerOperations,Diplomacy, system.We’lltakeLightSleeper(5points),120,000 §worthofmoney(6points),aMedium §worthofmoney (6points),aMediumContact(her Contact(her andStandGround,allatlevel5. olddepartmentheadinschool,5morepoints),Team Now No w we ne need ed a sp spec ecie ies. s. Ag Agai ain, n, an any y of th them em Playertohelphertinbetterinanadventuring-type game e (4 poi points nts) ) and spe spend nd the rem remain aining ing fou four r on prod oduc uce e so some meon one e li like ke Da Dari ria, a, bu but t ce cert rtai ain n gam could pr Additi itiona onal l Ski Skill ll Poin oints ts (br (bring inging ing Dar Daria’ ia’s s tot total al ski skill ll speciesarealittlebettersuitedtoherjob.Wewant Add a spe specie cies s tha that t is isfas fast,creat t,creativ ive, e,and and sma smart, rt, and the pointsupto75).OurBackgroundsarespent. Sa’crontordenitelytthatbill(eveniftheyarealit    6 AWalkofLifeisnext.Dariacanpickanyofthe     6 tleonthewussyside).WerecordDaria’sattributes:    e gener eral al Wa Walks lks, , an any y whi which ch are spe speci cic c to Sc Schol holar ar    g Agilit Agi lity y 9, Cre Creati ativit vity y 7, Dex Dexter terity ity 5, Int Intell ellige igence nce 5, gen    a     P Lording1,MentalEndurance1,Stamina1,Strength classes,oranyoftheCoalitionwalks.Wecouldtake Explorer,butEarly Explorer ,butEarlyJourneymanals Journeymanalsoseemsapproprioseemsappropri1,Visualization1    n ate;let’sgowiththatone.WenotethatDariawill    o     i     t Someclassesaretotallyunsuit Someclass esaretotallyunsuitableforexplora ableforexplora-   a    e    r tionduties,butnone ofthemareexplicitlydes explicitlydesigned igned     Ctionduties,butnoneofthemare    r forit.ABioDoccouldhelpusdeterminewhether    e Howoldismycharacter?     t    c theplanethasthepotentialforlife,aTechDoccould    a    r    a specializeinplanetary specializeinplanetarysciencesinsteadofengineer sciencesinsteadofengineer-If you our r cha hara ract cter er is a Hu Huma man, n, you wi will ll     h     Cing,aSpaceJockeycouldyaroundinherownship, prob pr obab ably ly be ab abou out t 30 ye year ars s ol old d at th the e st star art t    :     k oraMerchantcouldlookfornewculturestotrade of the game. For other races this varies    o    o with. with.ABioDocseem ABioDocseemstobethebestcho stobethebestchoiceoutof iceoutof     b widely widel y – Inuue Inuueliti liting ng are areusual usually ly around 110,    e all ofthes     l ofthese— e— the medica med icaltrain ltraining ing willhelpkeep wil lhelpkeep Caractin Cara ctingess gessen en near300, and andOgres Ogres only only18 18    u     R Dariaalive,andifthiscareereverfallsthroughshe orso.Itdependsonthelifeexpectancyofeach    n couldstillpracticemedicineelsewhere.TheBioDoc     i    a race.     Mclass giv gives es Daria the thefollo following wing skil skills ls and abil abilitie ities: s:    e MedicalDoctorskillat10,Biologyskillat5,First    c However,ifyourcharacterisanUltramerc,    n    e Aidskillat5(whichraiseshertotalinthatskillto     l youareonly10yearsoldatthemost.While    a 10),Charis 10),Charisma4,Knowled ma4,Knowledge7,and65 ge7,and65 skillpoints. skil lpoints.     V UMbodiesarefullydevelopedat“birth,”the Inaddition,ifDariaeverdressesintraditionalBio trainingtakesplaceinthespanofafewyears. Docgarb,shewillbeleftaloneincombat,whichis Starting Star tingUltr Ultramer amerc c char characte acters rs are 8 yea years rs old aniceabilitytohavewhenthingsgethairy. onaverage.

TwoSampleCharacters

geta+2bonustoBargaining,Carousing, geta+2bonustoBargaini ng,Carousing,Streetwise, Streetwise, and one Mar Martia tialArts lArts ski skillonce llonce she she’’s don done e buy buying ing herskills.

Example#2:AjaxtheWarrior 

Our second sample character will be an Ultramerc.We’llma We’llmakehimabitste kehimabitstereotypical:comreotypical:comNowforpurchasingskills.Wewanttopayspe- Ultramerc. pletel tely y lo loya yal l to Gen Genete etech, ch, pow powerf erful ul but ine inexpe xperiricialattentiontotheMedical,Computer,andScience ple skillsbecausethey’reeasierforhertolearn,andtry enced,andsomehowjust...notallthere.Hisname? to av avoid oid Esp Espion ionage age or Str Street eet ski skills lls. . Unf Unfort ortuna unatel telyy, Genetechtendstogoinformythologicalnamesfor hercharacterconceptmakesthoseskillsdifcultto theirultramercs,solet’scalhimAjax(afterthepowerfulwarriorintheTrojanWar).Wethinkofhimas avoid.Here’swhatwebuy: sortofanenforcertype,takingordersandpounding whomeverGThighcommandtellshimtopound. MedicalDoctorgoesupto20(6points) FirstAidgoesupto20(3points) Weneedalistofgenesforhimrst.MentalcaBiologygoesupto15(2points) pacityisn’tparticularlyimportantforthischaracter, Cyberneticsat10(4points) butphysicalfortitudeandpowercertainlyare.We GeneticEngineeringat10(6points) probablywanttogivehimoneortwoLordingabiliBiomedicalTechnologyat5(3points) tiesdowntheline,justtohavesomediversityinhis Programmingat10(4points) repower.We’llalsowanttotrytobalancespeed InterpretSensorsat15(3points) and an d to toug ughn hnes ess, s, si sinc nce e ve very ry to toug ugh h ch char arac acte ters rs al also so Geologyat10(2points) tendtobequiteslow.Lastly tendtobequiteslow .Lastly,therearesomeoptions ,therearesomeoptions MartialArts:Defensiv Martial Arts:Defensiveat15(6points) eat15(6points) whichare whic hare justplaintooexpensi justplaintooexpensivetoconsider vetoconsider.We .We Pistolsat10(4points) can’tmakehimintoasuperman(asmuchasGT’s Bargainingat5(3points) presswouldlikeeveryonei presswouldlike everyoneinthegalaxytobe nthegalaxytobelieve). lieve). Carousingat10(6points) Streetwiseat5(3points) Here’sourlistofgenesforAjax: Observationat10(8points) BudetugBrain(§370,000) MakeNewContactsat10(8points) HallaEyes(§20,000) OgreEars(§60,000) NowweneedtogetDariasomebasicequipOrdinaryOlfactory(§25,000) ment.Let’sgethersomeStreetarmor(basicallysome  P   a CordedMuscle(§30,000) extremelyruggedclothing),acheapSonicResonator   g  e HeavyCalciumBones(§175,000) pistolincaseshegetsintotrouble,arstaidkit,a  6   7  LargeHumanoidBody(§20,000) nicepocketcomputer,afewBloodStoppagePatches BasicBipedalMovement(§100,000) andRejuvenationPatches,aashlightandbackpack, CaractingessenWings(§400,000) aCoalitionMultipa aCoaliti onMultipass,awatch ss,awatchcom, com,and andsome someneoneoA’darnGlandBiomod(§130,000) morphic morphi c clot clothing hingfor forwhen when she’ she’s s not notworki working. ng.She She NicitatingMembraneBiomod(§20,000) stillhasroughly83,000sectionsleftforpurchases GoldenInuuelitingArms(§250,000) laterinthegame,whichmightcome laterinthegame,w hichmightcomeinusefulifshe inusefulifshe  V  SiliconChemicalBase  a needstorentahotelroomorbuyacar needstorentahotel roomorbuyacar..  l     e CyberneticImmuneSystem(§200,000)  n  c  e CaractingessenEpidermis(§200,000) That’ Th at’s s it — we’ we’re re all don done! e! Dar Daria’ ia’s s com comple pleted ted  M charactersheetcanbe character sheetcanbefoundattheend foundattheendofthebook. ofthebook.  a  n We’ e’ve ve cr crea eate ted d so some meon one e wh who o is ab abou out t ei eigh ght t  i    You’ll notic notice e that thather herskil skills ls hav have e been beengroupe grouped d by type,and typ e,and tha that t all of ofthe the wou wound ndlev levels els and fat fatigu igue e feettall,witha20-footwingspan,coveredinthick  R   u  e scales,withfourarmsandsmallpurpleeyes.Kindof  l    levelsthatshedoesn’t haveareshadedin. haveareshadedin.  b    o afrighteningsort,isn’the?  o  k    :   C  His Hi s Me Ment ntor or is ou our r ne next xt de deci cisi sion on. . Aj Ajax ax wo woul uld d  h   probab pro bably ly wor work k wel well l as a Clo Close se Com Combat bat Spe Specia cialis list t  a  r   a or He Heaavy Wea eapo pons ns Spe peccia iali list st, , tho houg ugh h mak akin ing g  c  t    e himaLordisnotoutofthequestion.Let’susethe  r   C  Heavy Hea vyWe Weapo apons ns Spe Specia cialis list t Men Mentor tor.This .This run runs s us §  r   e  a 1,500,000.Sofarwe’vespent3.86millionsections  t    i     o onAjax.Thatleaves1.14milliontopurchasesome  n

additi addi tion onal al sk skil ill l pa pack ckag ages es. . Le Let’ t’s s ge get t Dr Driv ive, e, He Heaavy Weapons,CovertOperations,CombatLording,and Nowit’stimeforsomeBackgrounds.Enhanced Basic Bas ic Lor Lordin ding g (c (choo hoosin sing g Mag Magnit nitude ude for our oth other er Sightisanobviouschoiceforsomeonewho’sgoing Lord Lo rdin ing g sk skil ill, l, we we’l ’ll l wo worr rry y ab abou out t th the e sp spel ells ls la late ter). r). toseealotoflong-rangecombat.EnhancedTouch We’vesuccessful We’ vesuccessfullyusedupourentirebudg lyusedupourentirebudget. et. isn’tabadoneeither.OurGMinformsusthatthis willbeanall-UltramercgameandGTwillbeproNow it’ it’s stim time etospend tospend our 11 11bon bonusAttr usAttribu ibute te vidingequipment,sowedon’thavetoworryabout points.ThemostimportantAttributesforAjaxarehis money money,butitwouldstill ,butitwouldstillbenicetohavealittle benicetohavealittlefor for Agility Agili ty, , Dexte Dexterity rity, , Menta Mental l Endur Endurance, ance, and andStam Stamina. ina. ou ours rsel elve ves. s. We’ e’ll ll sp spen end d 4 po poin ints ts to ge get t §8 §80, 0,00 000. 0. Afterweplacesomepointsineachofthose(andone Las Last, t, we’ we’ll ll tak take e the Terr errify ifying ing ad adva vanta ntage, ge, to hel help p ortwoelsewhere),Ajax’snalattributesareAgility5, usintimidatepeople.WhilethereareafewtemptCharisma1,Creativity6,Dexteri Charisma1,Creati vity6,Dexterity8,Intellige ty8,Intelligence3, nce3, ing disad disadvan vantage tages s (lik (like eT Tarnis arnished hed Past), we decid decide e Kno Kn owl wleedg dgee1 1, , Lor ordi ding ng 2, Me Ment ntal al End ndur uran ance ce5 5,, agai against nstthem them, , since it’ it’s s alwa always ys nice to star start t witha Stamina7,Strength6,andVisualization6. cleanslate. AsforaWalkofLife,we’dlikesomethingthat enhances enhanc es his hisexis existing tingskil skills, ls,butAjax butAjax isn’ isn’t t reall really y a very ver y soc social ial per person son, , and alm almost ost all Wa Walks lks gi give ve bonusestosocialskills.Let’sjustpickonetoaddavor to th the e ch char arac acte ter: r: Ur Urba ban n As Asss ssig ignm nmen ent. t. He He’’s be been en workinginsomeofthegalaxy’snastierslums,cleaningoutgangswhohavewa ingoutgangswhoha vewaytoomuchrepoweron ytoomuchrepoweron theirside.Hegetsbonusesto theirside.He getsbonusestoCarousing,Streetwis Carousing,Streetwise, e, aDriveskillofchoice,andaCombatskillofchoice. Thosewillbereectedinhis Thosewill bereectedinhisnalskillsbelo nalskillsbelow: w:

    8     6    e    g    a     P    n    o     i     t    a    e    r     C    r    e     t    c    a    r    a     h     C    :     k    o    o     b    e     l    u     R    n     i    a     M    e    c    n    e     l    a     V

Disintegratorsat15 GatlingLasersat17 GrenadeLaunchersat10 Grenadesat10 MissileLaunchersat10 PDS’sat15 PlasmaWeaponsat10 DriveA.P.C.’sat5 DriveCarat5 DriveTruckat7 DriveTanksat5 DriveRaceCarat5 RideMotorcycleat5 Camouageat5 Concealmentat5 PickLocksat5 Stealthat10 LordingDevelopmentat10 Complexityat5 Magnitudeat10 Rangeat5 Targetingat5 Carousingat2 Streetwiseat2

He’snotquiteasskilledasDaria,buthe’spretty He’snotquiteasskilledasDaria,buthe’ spretty goodforanUltramerc.He’salsoveryfocused(typicalforanUltramerc),andverycombat-oriented.

Mostoftheheavyweaponryisoutofastarting character’sleaguemoney-wise,soit’sagoodthing GTwillbeprovidingitonthismission.Ajax’splayer willprobablygettoldwhatequipmenthehasbythe GMearlyoninthegame. That’sit—we’realldone!Ajax’scharactersheet canbefoundattheendofthebook.LikeDaria’s,his skillsaregroupedbytype,andthewoundlevelsand fatiguepointshedoesn’t haveareshadedin. haveareshadedin.

HowdoIchooseskills? TherearealotofskillsinValence,andthe TherearealotofskillsinVale nce,andthe choicesmayseemoverwhelmingatrst.Here areafewthingstorememberwhenchoosing yourcharacter’sstartingskills: 1. St Star art t by im impr prov ovin ing g on th the e sk skil ills ls you alread alr eady y ha have ve. . Pic Pick k ski skills lls tha that t wor work k wel well l wit with h thes th ese e – fo for r in inst stan ance ce, , a Sp Spac ace e Jo Jock ckey ey mi migh ght t wanttoknowalittleaboutxinghership,or aMerchantmightpickupHumor& aMerchantmi ghtpickupHumor&Wittoput Wittoput hiscustomersatease. 2. Be re real ally ly go good od at at le leas ast t on one e th thin ing, g, preferablysomethingrelatedtoyourClass.You shouldprobablypickupafew15sanda20. However... 3.Don’toverspecialize.Youhaveenough skillpointstobranchoutalittle;don’tbeafraid ofpickingsomeskillsthatdon’ttinperfectly withyourcharacter.Wealllearnanoddassortmentofskillsaswegothroughlife. 4.Youwon’tbekillingthingsalldaylong, sodon’ttake just combatskills,butconictis almostinevitableinValencesodon’toverlook themeither.Attheveryleast,takeMartialArts: Defensiveandoneothercombatskill. 5. La Last stly ly, , do don’ n’t t wo worr rry y if yo you u pe pers rson onal ally ly don’t don’ t know anyt anythingabout hingabout these skil skills.Skills ls.Skills representcharacterknowledge,whichdoesn’t havetohaveanythingtodowithplayerknowledge.

HowSmartisaValorian? Smarterthanyou,that’sforsure.No,this isn’ is n’t t an in insu sult lt. . It It’’s ju just st th that at an any y Val alori orian an is smarterthananyHum smartertha nanyHuman,period. an,period.Noquestion. Noquestion. Itcanbequiteachallengeplayingacharacter whoscoredan800ontheirIQtest.Hereare sometipstomakeyourcharacterseemmore likeagenius. First,asktheGMforinformation.Valshave +4toKnowledge,andthatmeansalmostphotographic togr aphic memor memories. ies. If your cha charact racter er read readit it somewhere,heorshe somewhere, heorshewillprobably willprobablyremember remember it. Als Also, o, the their ir inc incred redibl ible e sen senses ses can pic pick k up obscur obs cure e clu clues es tha that t mos most t peo people ple wou would ld mis miss, s, like lik e hea hearin ring g str stress ess in som someon eone’ e’s s vo voice ice wh when en theyspeak. Second Seco nd, , ma make ke co cont ntin inge genc ncyy pl plaans ns.. We Humans Hum ans are gre great atat at thi thinki nking ng on the y y, , but Valoriansarebetteratstrategicplanning.No Val wo woul uld d ev ever er do so some meth thin ing g wi with thou out t co connsideringtheconsequences,andthatcanbea great gre at ad adva vanta ntage. ge. Mak Make e som some e pla plans ns bet betwee ween n gamesessions. Third,buyskillsthattakeadvantageofyour intellect.Yourbrainisgoingtowastewithskills like lik e Gam Gambli bling ng and Qua Quarte rterst rstaff aff. . Rem Rememb ember: er: anythingbasedonIntelligenceisprobablygoingtohavea+4bonustoyourroll!Makethose statscount!Justdon’tmakeeveryskillbased on In Inte tell llig igen ence ce. . You mi migh ght t wa want nt th thin ings gs li like ke MartialArts: Marti alArts: Defe Defensiv nsive, e,so sothat that your enemi enemies es don’tblastyououtofexistance.Betteryet,take stufflikeMakeNewContactsandCarousing, so th that at yo you u do don’ n’t t ma make ke en enem emie ies s in th the e r rst st place.Yourcharacter’sbrainisn’tanygoodif it’ssplatteredonthepavement.

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 V   a  l     e  n  c  e  M  a  i     n  R   u  l     e  b    o  o  k    :   C   h    a  r   a  c  t    e  r   C   r   e  a  t    i     o  n