[Planet] Races

[khyron1144]

This is what I've got typed up so far.  I will be posting it sort of piecemeal.  Feel free to comment at any stage.


Races
Planet is inhabited by many intelligent species, as well as some not so intelligent ones.  Your character's race is a very important thing that can affect play tremendously.  If you are playing for the first time and are unsure of what to choose, rolling 1d20 on the following table to choose your character's race will probably work best.  Remember 1d20 means one of those funky-looking twenty-sided dice.  If you are experienced, and with the Referee's permission you may simply choose your character race.

Table 1
Roll 1d20
1  Homo sapiens sapiens
2  Elf
3  Dwarf
4  Hairy-footed Short Guy
5  Sasquatch
6  Big-headed Alien
7  Animal:  consult subtable 1A to determine which one exactly
8  Dinosaur:  consult subtable 1B to determine which one exactly
9  Intelligent Bi-pedal Animal: consult subtable 1C to determine which one exactly
10  Small, Winged Faerie
11  Tall, Wingless Faerie
12  Homo sapiens neandertalis
13  Robot:  consult subtable 1D to determine which one exactly
14  Super
15  Scaley-folk
16  Minos Bull
17  Dragon
18  Angel/ Demon
19  IntAmHuP
20  Floating Eyeball

Table 1A Animal Type
Roll 1d6
1  Large-breed Domestic Dog or Wolf
2  Domestic Cat
3  Rodent
4  Bird
5  Elephant
6  Great Cat

Table 1B  Dinosaur Type
Roll 1d6
1-2  Apatosaurus
3-4  Tyrannosaurus Rex
5-6  Utah Raptor

Table 1C Intelligent Bi-pedal Animal Type
Roll 1d6
1  Rodent
2  Cat
3  Dog or Wolf
4  Bear
5  Great Cat
6  Bird

Table 1D Robot Type
Roll 1d6
1-2  Utility Robot
3-4  Companion Robot
5-6  Killer Robot

[khyron1144]

Like I said before I'm doing this rather piecemeal.  Here's the next chunk:


Race Descriptions
Homo sapiens sapiens are found throughout Planet.  They have adapted well to tech civilizations and primitive civilizations, as well as magical and non-magical societies.   Homo sapiens sapiens receive no racial modifier to attributes and get Very Well Rounded as a Racial Nifty.

Elves fairly closely match humans in size and appearance.  Their most distinguishing characteristic is their pointy ears.  They have greater natural lifespans than humans, generally around a thousand years.  Elves are most comfortable in primitive, high magic societies.  They also rather like forests.  Elves receive racial modifiers of -1 to their Strength Attribute, +1 to their Mind Attribute, and +1 to their Speed Attribute.  Elves receive one Wizard Spell and Bow Skill as racial Nifties. 

Dwarves are of about half typical human height maxing out at around four feet tall.  They are densely built, though so weigh more than a human of equal height would.  Dwarves of both sexes grow beards.  Dwarves like to be in places where magic is normal, but never practice Wizardly magic themselves.  Dwarves sometimes like to acquire technologically advanced items but generally trust their axes more than gadgetry.  Dwarves have a strong affinity for the UnderPlanet regions.  Dwarves take -1 to their Speed Attribute and get +1 to their Strength Attribute.  They receive Axe Skill, Underground Skill, Death Resistance, Low Blow, and Small as racial Nifties.

Short Hairy-footed guys are short, topping out at around three feet tall.  When they can, they live in well-furnished burrows in hillsides.   They rarely take up a life of adventure because it interrupts their routine of four meals a day and leisurely pipe-smoking.  They modify their Strength Attribute by -1 and their +1 to their Speed Attribute.  Short Hairy-footed guys get Bootless, Honor, and Quite Small as racial Nifties.

[khyron1144]

Well, I'm off to bed for the night, but here's the end of what I've got finished:


Race Descriptions Continued
Sasquatch are large humanoids standing around eight feet tall.  They live mainly in the forests.  Their own society is always more primitive than that of the other humanoids around them.  Sasquatch have racial Attribute modifiers of +4 to Strength, -1 to Speed, and -2 to Mind.  Sasquatch have the following racial Nifties:  Death Resistance, Forest Skill, Stinky, and Big.

Big-headed Aliens are slightly smaller than humans, but a good deal of their height is in their head rather than legs or torso.  Where they come from is a mystery, but it sure ain't form Planet itself.  The like tech-based civilizations much better than magic-based civilizations.  Big-headed aliens get a +2 modifier to their Mind Attribute and take -1 to their Speed Attribute and -1 to their Strength Attribute.  They receive Tech Understanding as a racial Nifty.

[khyron1144]

Here's another batch.  I don't know if any you will find this interesting, but in the pencil draft I have the Attribute modifiers and Nifties, but I'm pretty much composing the descriptive fluff text as I'm typing:

Race Descriptions Continued Continued
Dogs are canids domesticated by humans.  Wolves are wild canids.  Neither one has hands or a mouth capable of shaping the sounds necessary to form human speech.  They do have some degree of communication among themselves by a means of various barks, yips, howls, and growls.  Both species live in packs, but dogs tend to see humans around them as part of their pack.  Dogs can be trained to have a small vocabulary fo words they understand and will perform when given a command by a human they recognize as dominant.  Either species of canine receives a racial modifiers of +1 to their Strength Attribute, +1 to their Speed Attribute, and -1 to their Mind Attribute.  Dogs and wolves have the racial Nifties of: Natural Weapon, Sniff, and Pack Coordination.

Domestic Cats are not really properly domesticated in the same sense that dogs, cows, or horses are.  Cats are wild animals we allow to live with us and have struck a bargain with.  We allow them to live in our settlements and they kill our rodent vermin.  Cats do not have hands.  They also can not form human speech.  They have some degree of communication among themselves by means of various mews and hisses.  It is sometimes possible to teach a cat to obey spoken commands, but it is a rare thing.  Cats take a -1 to their Mind Attribute and receive a +2 to their Speed Attribute.  A cat gets Stealth, Balance, Natural Weapons, Reflective Eyes, and Quite Small as racial Nifties.

Rodents are mammals with constantly growing incisor teeth that they must gnaw on hard objects to wear down.  The largest are the Cappyberras.  As a playable race for Planet, though I'm envisioning more along the lines of mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and especially rats.  Rats are found everywhere people are.  They are preferred subjects for experiments to learn the nature of the learning process because they can be quite clever for animals and are numerous and cheap.  Rats can not form human speech and do not have hands.  They may have some limited degree of communication among themselves by sort of squeaking sounds.  Rodents receive +4 to their Speed Attribute and -2 to their Strength Attribute.  Rats get Natural Weapon, Squeeze, Stealth, and Very Small as Nifties.  Other rodents might not get Squeeze:  this is entirely the Referee's discretion.

Birds are warm-blooded egg-laying creatures that do not give milk.  There's quite a lot of different kinds.  The stats I'm presenting are for ducks, geese, swans, flamingos, and pea fowl.  I encourage other Referees to customize these stats to come up with more specific species.  These birds have racial modifiers of +2 to their Speed Attribute and -1 to their Strength Attribute.  They receive Flight and Small as racial Nifties.