Future Genre Types: Imperial Space - Humanitys presence among the stars is no longer new. Space has been settled for centuriesperhaps even millenniaand vast interstellar empires dominate known space. These powerful states control hundreds or thousands of star systems, bound together by reliable and relatively economical faster-than-light travel. For governments, militaries, and commerce, interstellar travel is routine. For most civilians, however, life begins and ends on a single homeworld they will never leave. War is a constant feature of imperial life, though it rarely reaches civilian populations directly. Instead, its effects are felt through political upheaval, resource shortages, conscription, and shifting allegiancesoften more disruptive than invasion itself. Technological development may have plateaued or slipped into stagnation; innovation is rare, and new discoveries seldom change daily life. In some regions, ancient technologies persist long after their creators are forgotten, while critical knowledge slowly erodes. Interstellar conflict is frequent, fought between rival empires, against xenophobic alien powers, or by rebels and insurgents struggling to overthrow entrenched, authoritarian regimes. FeaturesBackgrounds:Characters come from many walks of life, though a large number of adventurers have military experience.Alien Presence:The role of alien races varies by setting. Some universes teem with countless species, others are largely human-centric, and some may lack sentient aliens entirely. Personal Spacecraft:When an encounter grants the character a personal spacecraft, roll {1d10}. On a result of 410, the ship is reasonably up to date with current technology. On a lower result, it is an outdated clunkerbarely competitive on the spacewaysoften relying on obsolete, temperamental, or dangerously antiquated interstellar travel systems.
Character Species: Human - Standard issue pure stain human being. This includes all it's faults and flaws humanity has been battling since the beginning.
Tech Level: First Stellar Age - Faster-than-Light (FTL) drives drastically reduces travel time between stars, but months, even years are still needed for interstellar travel. Exploration/colonization of the galaxy begins. Fully sentient, self-aware computers and artificially intelligent robots perform tasks formerly only possible by humans.
Home Culture: Dynamic - This is a culture marked by rapid growth, development and expansion. New lands or worlds are being discovered and claimed. Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, often progressing a full Tech Level within a generation or less. However, the fast growth also outpaces the ethical application of the new discoveries, leaving the culture wide open for future disasters. Governments are similar to Developing cultures, but access to political power moves out of the grasp of common people. Class stratification still exists as fewer and fewer people profit from new discoveries. It is a time of "Humanistic" theology, imagining the people of the culture to be the apex of creation, the "gods" of their universe. Gameplay Benefits: {1d6}. On a result of 3-5, select one Neutral trait. On a result of 6, select {1d3} Neutral personality traits and one trait Darkside Trait. Roleplay: Dynamic cultures are often self-centered, caught up in the wonderfulness of themselves. In their eyes, they can do no wrong. It is a culture of great Ego, one that believes that great risk taking and great intellect should earn greatthem reward. Moral bankruptcy has begun. A character from such a culture might share those values. Emphasis is placed on Neutral values.Survival Skills: (additional skills, GMs Discretion).
Social Status: Comfortable - This is the middle class of any Culture, regardless of the Tech Level or average wealth of its citizens. These folk usually live in clean, nicely apportioned homes or apartments, often in better neighborhoods. They eat regularly and occasionally very well. Children are schooled and often go on to higher education. They usually own conservative forms of transport - a modest ground car or other inexpensive vehicle. Luxuries include travel vacations, good food, the ability to hire occasional menial services, nice clothing, and leisure devices. This class includes "impoverished" nobility, upper level office workers, professors and teachers, skilled craftsmen and technicians, highly-skilled laborers, lower govem ment officials, low-ranking military officers, lesser clergy, and shopkeepers. Folk from this Social Status are considered to represent the mainstream of their Culture's beliefs and attitudes.
Social Status: Nobility: Commoner - Commoner/Not of a Noble Line
Birth Legitimacy: Legitimate - Legitimate Birth
Family Members: Relatives - More Relatives. Then select {1d6} additional relations from Other Relations.
Other Family Relations: Sibling - Sibling.
Siblings: Sister - Sister
Other Family Relations: Mysterious - The person claims to be a relation, yet the character was not aware of the person's existence.
Other Family Relations: Aunt/Uncle - Aunt/Uncle.
Other Family Relations: 2nd Cousin - A cousin's child or a parent's cousin.
Other Family Relations: Adopted Sibling
Other Family Relations: Distant Relative - Shares a common ancestor.
Siblings & Birth Order: 6 - sixth of 7
Home World: Racial Homeworld - Racial Homeworld
Home World Types: Forest world - Covered by huge tracts of virgin forest.
Place of Birth: Hospital - The character is born in a fully equipped hospital or major medical facility.
Unusual Events at Birth: None - Nothing unusual. Normal Birth
Parents/Family Details: Head of household is or was an adventurer.
Parent 1
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - Blue Collar & Moderate Income Jobs
Blue Collar & Moderate Income Occupations: Starship Ship Captain
Spacecraft: Ship Type: Battlewagon. Large, heavily armed military ship.
Spacecraft: Space Capabilities: Long ranger interstellar. Travel to moderately distant stars in one trip.
Spacecraft: Armament: None. Ship carries no weapons.
Spacecraft: Special Features: None - None.
Spacecraft: Liabilities: Dark Reputation - The ship has a grim and sordid past. Rumors persist that it is cursed or haunted, and strange events occasionally reinforce that belief. Some ports refuse service to this ship (25%)
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC is noted for his extremely unusual personality. Link the Exotic Personality Traits together in some fashion. Collectively, they should make the NPC character even stranger, possibly a real weirdo.
Exotic Personality Traits: Categories: Sexual Disorder - Sexual Disorder
Exotic Personality Traits: Sexual Disorders: Sadism. Derive pleasure from inflicting or viewing pain in others. Often combined with masochism.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: The accomplishment of a motivation. Work out the Motivation with the GM
Parent 2
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Research Scientist: Physics
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: A relationship with someone.
Others: A friend. Possibly a Companion. GM decides who.
Parent 3
Occupations Selection: LoTech Occupation.
Lo Tech Occupations: Riding Master: breeds riding beasts, breaks them to the saddle and teaches riding skills.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a Rival. The Rival has not been heard from in a while
Rivals: Who?: A friend (rivalry other than "friendly" is kept secret).
Rivals: Why?: Their distant ancestor's were rivals.
Rivals: What?: Obsessive: The rival's entire life focuses on the character and his ultimate destruction. No risk to self or others is too great in the rival's quest to utterly destroy the character. In this competition, there can be only one survivor.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has an obsession regarding something that had happened (or might happen), something that dominates the rest of his life. The working out of a personality trait. - Lightside Trait
Personality Traits: Lightside: Careful - Cautious in thought and deed.
Parent 4
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - Blue Collar & Moderate Income Jobs
Blue Collar & Moderate Income Occupations: Construction Professional: Mason
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: A relationship with someone.
Others: An alien.
Aliens: Multiple - Roll two results on this table and combine them to create a hybrid or unusual alien body plan.
Aliens: Botanic - Plant-like beings whose physiology is based on vegetal structures such as vines, bark, leaves, or photosynthetic tissues.
Aliens, Biology: Humanoid - Broadly human-shaped beings with a familiar body layout (head, torso, two arms, two legs), though clearly non-human in detail.
Talents, Mutations & Alien Abilities: Psionic Resistance - Character has a natural immunity to psionics. Use a system compatible with your system or {1d8}x5. The result is the percentage chance that the character will be immune to the effects of any psionic ability used against him.
Aliens: Avion - Bird-like beings whose physiology resembles terrestrial birds, typically featuring feathers, beaks, and lightweight skeletal structures, regardless of whether they are capable of flight.
Aliens, Biology: Humanoid - Broadly human-shaped beings with a familiar body layout (head, torso, two arms, two legs), though clearly non-human in detail.
Talents, Mutations & Alien Abilities: Psionic Ability - The character manifests a psionic power. See the specific ability below in Psionics.
Aliens, Biology: Humanoid - Broadly human-shaped beings with a familiar body layout (head, torso, two arms, two legs), though clearly non-human in detail.
Talents, Mutations & Alien Abilities: Rapid Healing - The character heals at twice the normal rate.
Others: A relative.
Other Family Relations: Spouse - Spouse (husband or wife).
Parent 5
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - Low Income Jobs
Low Income Occupations: Technician: Power
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a Rival. The Rival has not been heard from in a while
Rivals: Who?: Sibling (younger).
Rivals: Why?: An insult was percieved by one or the other.
Rivals: What?: Jealous: Rival dislikes the character, and takes secret pleasure in embarassing, thwarting or beating him. Physical injury is usually not intended, but if it happens, it happens. Rival may be appear to be a friend or ally.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has many close friends (Roll {1D12} for their number). These folks usually dwell in the NPC's home town. If the NPC is the character's parent or guardian, they are known as "uncle" or "auntie." Because they are like family, they may be relied on for aid in times of trouble. Determine backgrounds for these folks only as needed.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC's relationship with his family involves one of the following. NPC does not love family or children.
Parent 6
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Research Scientist: Electronics/Computers
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a Rival. The Rival seeks out the character.
Rivals: Who?: An Alien. See Aliens.
Aliens: Amphibian - Equally at home in water and air. These beings can breathe in both environments and often dwell in coastal, aquatic, or swamp regions.
Aliens, Biology: Humanoid - Broadly human-shaped beings with a familiar body layout (head, torso, two arms, two legs), though clearly non-human in detail.
Talents, Mutations & Alien Abilities: Unusual Sleep Cycle - The character requires significantly less sleep or enters unusually deep sleep compared to species norms.
Rivals: Why?: Their parents were rivals.
Rivals: What?: Jealous: Rival dislikes the character, and takes secret pleasure in embarassing, thwarting or beating him. Physical injury is usually not intended, but if it happens, it happens. Rival may be appear to be a friend or ally.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC was originally from a different culture.
Tech Level: First Stellar Age - Faster-than-Light (FTL) drives drastically reduces travel time between stars, but months, even years are still needed for interstellar travel. Exploration/colonization of the galaxy begins. Fully sentient, self-aware computers and artificially intelligent robots perform tasks formerly only possible by humans.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has an obsession regarding something that had happened (or might happen), something that dominates the rest of his life. The working out of a personality trait. - Darkside Trait
Personality Traits: Darkside: Irreverent - Mocks religion and the gods.
Sibling 1
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Government Official: If the occupation appears to be of low status within the government, assume that the character is in charge of all that type of activity for the government.
Government Jobs: Spy: covert intelligence agent.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has an obsession regarding something that had happened (or might happen), something that dominates the rest of his life. A significant event from the past.
Significant Adolescence Events: Personal Violation - Something deeply harmful happens to the character during adolescence, leaving lasting emotional scars.
Others: A friend. Possibly a Companion. GM decides who.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a Rival. The Rival has not been heard from in a while
Rivals: Who?: A former lover/best friend/love interest/crush.
Rivals: Why?: Their parents were rivals.
Rivals: What?: Intense: Rival hates the character, and goes out of his way to foil him. Secretly hopes for the chance to injure the character in some way (physically, emotionally, financially, socially, etc.)
Sibling 2
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Diplomat or Negotiator: establishes or soothes relationships between governments or between businesses and governments.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC untimely dies. If sibling, it occurs during childhood. If parent or guardian, it occurs in early adulthood
Death Situations: Victim died accidentally (falling from a ladder, run over by a vehicle, touching a live wire, etc.). No one is really to blame (unless someone has Caused the death to occur, in which case it is an arranged accident). However, people think the character is responsible.
Death Situations: Special Circumstances: No special circumstances surround this death
Sibling 3
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - Low Income Jobs
Low Income Occupations: Tavern or Bar Employee: Bartender
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC is noted for or hesitant to speak of something that occured in his past. NPC is famous for the occurance of a Significant Event, possibly even a hero.
Significant Adulthood Events: Job Loss - The Character loses their job due to personal problems interfere with professionalism.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: Accomplishing a future event.
Significant Adulthood Events: Cover-Up - The character is paid, threatened, or coerced into helping conceal a factions wrongdoing.
Other Groups - Factions: Pirate Clans - Independent or semi-organized pirate groups operating beyond formal law.
Other Groups - Factions, Pirate Clan: Starshard Clan - Raiders who favor asteroid belts and debris fields as hunting grounds.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a patron.
In the Service of - Who is the Patron: A Noble. See Nobles.
Nobles: Noble Notes: Baron (Baroness): Rules a barony, smallest sized fiefdom.
Nobles: Sphere of Influence: Local: influence limited to a country and its neighbors, either by control or reknown (fame).
In the Service of - Why a Patron: The patron has a sexual interest in the character.
In the Service of - What happened: The character leaves the patron's entourage after {1d6} years. Gains gift of years x 1,000 credits.
Sibling 4
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group Special Income Jobs
Special Income Occupations: Jack of All Trades: Multi-Craftman
Crafts Table 1: Blacksmith: maker and repairer of metal goods.
Crafts Table 1: Joiner: makes wooden furniture & cabinets.
Crafts Table 1: Gunsmith: makes and repairs solid projectile guns.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC was originally from a different culture.
Tech Level: Second Stellar Age - Most stellar colonies are independent of home planet. Faster-than-Light (FTL) drives now capable of rapid jumps between stars, crossing the gaps between stars in a matter of weeks. FTL communication allows information to travel between stars. Powerful non-laser energy weapons found on large ships and battle machines.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC won't speak of something that occurred in the past.
Sibling 5
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - Blue Collar & Moderate Income Jobs
Blue Collar & Moderate Income Occupations: Public Safety: Special Weapons And Tactics
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has a Rival. The Rival seeks out the character.
Rivals: Who?: A former friend.
Rivals: Why?: Rival is jealous of the character's looks.
Rivals: What?: Intense: Rival hates the character, and goes out of his way to foil him. Secretly hopes for the chance to injure the character in some way (physically, emotionally, financially, socially, etc.)
Sibling 6
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Research Scientist: Aerospace
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has many enemies. The rivals seeks out the character.
Rivals: Who?: Sibling (younger).
Rivals: Why?: They are sporting event rivals.
Rivals: What?: Jealous: Rival dislikes the character, and takes secret pleasure in embarassing, thwarting or beating him. Physical injury is usually not intended, but if it happens, it happens. Rival may be appear to be a friend or ally.
Rivals: Who?: Sibling (older).
Rivals: Why?: Rival is jealous of the character's possessions.
Rivals: What?: Intense: Rival hates the character, and goes out of his way to foil him. Secretly hopes for the chance to injure the character in some way (physically, emotionally, financially, socially, etc.)
Rivals: Who?: Sibling (older).
Rivals: Why?: Always trying to outdo each other in everything.
Rivals: What?: Fierce: Rival hates the character bitterly. This is an unhealable grudge. This rivalry often clouds judgement and could lead to no-holds-barred conflict. The rival maximizes all opportunities to thwart the character, hoping to cause injury in so doing.
Rivals: Who?: A relative. See Other Relations.
Other Family Relations: First Cousin - The offspring of an uncle or aunt.
Rivals: Why?: Always trying to outdo each other in everything.
Rivals: What?: Fierce: Rival hates the character bitterly. This is an unhealable grudge. This rivalry often clouds judgement and could lead to no-holds-barred conflict. The rival maximizes all opportunities to thwart the character, hoping to cause injury in so doing.
Noteworthy Items of Parents/NPCs: NPC has an obsession regarding something that had happened (or might happen), something that dominates the rest of his life. The working out of a personality trait. - Lightside Trait
Personality Traits: Lightside: Enthusiastic - Excited, can't wait to act.
Significant Childhood Events:
Character is betrothed in a political marriage to be consummated upon reaching age of majority (about the time that a character would begin adventuring). The character's future mate lives on another planet, one that few have ever heard tell of.
Significant Childhood Events: Family has the a certain attitudes towards the character. Mother is distant and cold towards the character.
Significant Childhood Events: Character runs away from home ... but returns after {1d8} days.
Significant Adolescence Events: Family Ties to a Faction - A parent or guardian is secretly or openly associated with a powerful group, drawing the character into its orbit.
Other Groups - Factions: Corporate Security - A private military and enforcement arm serving corporate interests with legal immunity.
Other Groups - Factions, Corporate Security: Orion Extractives Site Defense - Hard-nosed industrial mercenaries defending mines, refineries, and frontier extraction operations.
Significant Adolescence Events: Runaway & Extended Absence - The character runs away and has an additional event. They return home after {1d12} months.
Significant Adolescence Events: Fateful Event Tragedy - A defining moment of adolescence ends in loss or disaster. A Tragedy Occurs.
Education : Outstanding Education.
Occupations Selection: LoTech Occupation.
Lo Tech Occupations: Shipwright: a builder of sailing vessels.
Occupations Selection: Occupation Group - High Income Jobs
High Income Occupations: Research Scientist: Physics
Significant Adulthood Events: Blessed by a Priest - The character rescues an old priest from pirates and receives a blessing. Gain bonuses to future checks (GM discretion).
Personality Traits: Neutral: Creative - Creative: able to make something oul of nothing.
Personality Traits: Neutral: Materialistic - Materialistic: puts emphasis on possessions.
Personality Traits: Neutral: Emotional - Emotional: rarefy keeps emotions in check,
Personality Traits: Darkside: Obstructive - Acts to block others actions.
Personality Traits: Darkside: Violent - Seeks physical conflict
Personality Traits: Darkside: Self-doubting - Unsure of self and abilities.
Personality Traits: Darkside: Cruel - Coldhearted and hurtful.
Personality Traits: Lightside: Honest - Always gives what is due.