The GM is responsible for establishing which professional, social, and racial origins are (and aren’t) appropriate for PCs. No GM can hope to anticipate every possible character concept, but a good GM shares his expectations with his players and helps those who are struggling for ideas. One effective way to do this is to provide the players with a set of “templates”: collections of traits that typify the kinds of characters that are likely to figure prominently in the campaign. This section gives rules for template design, and is intended for GMs. It assumes you have read the rules for template use in Chapter 7.

How GURPS Works: Character Templates Aren’t Rules!

Character templates are not rules. They are just a character- design aid with no effect on point costs, success rolls, NPC reactions, character development, or any other aspect of game play. The traits on templates are suggestions as to what abilities a hero will need to fill his role in the game world. Make sure your players know this! They should feel free to customize or alter templates, or to create characters without using templates at all.

Character Templates and Player Perceptions The character templates you offer your players will affect their view of the game world and the type of campaign you intend to run. Suppose you are planning a fantasy campaign. If you present only thief and warrior templates, your players will justifiably conclude that you intend to run a freebooting campaign set in a world where rough-and-tumble “professional adventurers” are common. But if you also include templates for farmers, herbalists, and minstrels, your players may infer that you intend a more staid campaign, set in a quasi-medieval world. Make sure your template list sends the right message! Always make clear when templates are for PCs and NPCs alike – and when they aren’t. Players usually assume that the abilities listed on templates reflect status quo in the game world. For instance, they will expect enemy thieves and warriors to have certain abilities . . . and spend their points and cash to prepare accordingly. If this assumption proves costly or fatal, you might end up with confused or angry players! Finally, design your templates as a complementary set. If some templates outshine others, or are clearly of lower quality, the players might feel that you favor those who play certain character types – even if that is not actually the case.

CHARACTER TEMPLATES A “character template” is a carefully structured list of the attribute levels, secondary characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and skills the GM feels a PC should possess to fill a particular professional, social, or dramatic role in the campaign. The GM calculates all point costs in advance and gives the results with the template, reducing the amount of math involved in character creation. The main purpose of a character template is to prevent new players from overlooking vital abilities when choosing from among all the options in Chapters 1-6. The secondary goal is to accelerate character design. Thus, a template should list only necessary traits – not everything that might fit. The player should always have room to customize his PC!

TYPES OF CHARACTER TEMPLATES Most character templates fall into one of the general categories below – a few will fall into more than one. There is no harm in mixing PCs built using different classes of templates within a single campaign. Occupational Templates Someone who does a certain job (e.g., a physician or a mechanic) should have the necessary job skills – see Jobs (p. 516). Not all occupations are jobs, however; you could create occupational templates for hereditary nobles, idle rich, slaves, students, etc. These latter templates might include Duties, codes of conduct (see Self- Imposed Mental Disadvantages, p. 121), and “entrance requirements.” All occupational templates should suggest Wealth and Status appropriate to the occupation, and should specify attribute levels and advantages that would lead to success at – or successful adaptation to – that career. Cultural Templates Cultural background is a powerful defining concept in many settings. For instance, Alexander the Great was first and foremost a Macedonian, and this identified him throughout his adventures. A cultural template might specify the genetic traits of a closed breeding group, skills taught to all members of a culture, or the beliefs and prejudices of a given tribe, nation, or religion. It will often include Cultural Familiarity and Languages. Dramatic Templates A dramatic template defines a character’s role in the plot – often in terms of an archetype such as “wise man” or “trickster.” Some roles are genre-specific (“screaming victim” is rare except in horror, for instance); others are universal (e.g., “femme fatale”). The dramatic template ensures that the PC has the traits he needs to advance the plot, regardless of his exact occupation or culture. This type of template attempts to define personality as much as ability; therefore, it often includes more mental disadvantages than other kinds of templates. CONCEPT A character template is a partially built character. To design it, you need a “concept” – a clear idea of what it represents and where it fits in – just as for a fully realized character (see Character Concept, p. 11). Decide on the type of template you are designing and what role it will fill, and then visualize which traits would best meet the demands of that role in your campaign. Use your knowledge of the game world to help you here! Example: We shall construct a “heroic knight” template for a fantasy campaign. This template is both dramatic (the “heroic” part) and occupational (the “knight” part). We could create separate templates for each aspect – or even treat one as a “lens” on the other (see Lenses, p. 449) – but we have chosen to keep things simple. We decide that a heroic knight should be strong, honorable, a wise leader, and a skilled warrior. FLEXIBILITY The concept behind a template should be sufficiently flexible that the player can easily individualize his character. Leave enough creative “space” that the player is not stuck playing a stereotype. There are two useful measures of flexibility: the number of abilities on the character template (its degree of detail) and the extent to which those abilities use up the player’s “budget” for character creation (its point cost). Degree of Detail A “dense” character template includes many traits. It defines a particular role precisely . . . so precisely that it can rob a PC of individuality. A “sparse” template makes a few suggestions, perhaps only a skill or two. It makes the resulting PC easier to customize, but leaves inexperienced players wondering, “What’s my role?” The secret is to strike a balance between the two: don’t try to give the template every trait that might fit – just focus on the traits that define the role! Template Cost The more expensive the template, the more points you’re spending for the player. Keep the campaign power

level in mind and come in under the point budget for PCs, leaving enough unspent points (and enough unused points in disadvantages, if you are enforcing such a limit) that the player can customize his character. If a template absolutely must tie up a lot of points, make it “interactive” (see p. 449). Example: We’ll design our heroic knight for a 150-point game with a -75-point disadvantage limit. This means we’ll try to spend fewer than 150 points total, and take less than the full -75 points of disadvantages. SELECTING TRAITS The next few sections offer concrete advice on selecting the actual traits that appear on character templates. Attributes The 9-13 range is suitable for most characters. “Adventuring” templates should have one or two above-average scores, but those for most normal jobs should leave everything at 10. Remember that an 11 or 12 is noteworthy, and that a 13 or 14 is exceptional – see How to Select Basic Attributes (p. 14). Dramatic templates are a special case, as it often serves the purposes of drama for an archetype to have extreme attributes. Still, try to avoid excessive stereotyping. Example: We see our knight as a capable warrior, so we give him superior physical attributes: ST 12 [20], DX 12 [40], and HT 12 [20]. To reflect his wisdom and resolve, we give him IQ 11 [20] – he is supposed to be a wise leader, not a genius. This comes to 100 points. Secondary Characteristics It is usually best to leave Hit Points, Will, Perception, Fatigue Points, Basic Speed, and Basic Move at their base values. Tweaking these numbers is likely to confuse new players. Unless the concept absolutely requires exceptional talent in one of these areas (e.g., high Perception for a detective), just choose attributes that give fair secondary characteristics and leave finetuning to the adventurous player. Advantages For occupational templates, list the job’s requirements (e.g., Languages for a translator) or benefits (e.g., Clerical Investment for a priest). Other possibilities include “tricks of the trade” (e.g., Combat Reflexes for a soldier) and talents that would lead a person to select this particular career (e.g., Night Vision for a thief). For cultural templates, also consider genetic and cultural traits (e.g., “All Northerners have Temperature Tolerance”), as well as Cultural Familiarity (p. 23), Languages (p. 23), and Social Regard (p. 86). For dramatic templates, include traits that are invariably found in literary and cinematic examples of the archetype (e.g., Charisma or Handsome appearance for a swashbuckler). Justify each advantage using an argument similar to one of those above – which means that most advantages on a character template should be learned or social in nature. Also, try to avoid unusual advantages. If every single character of a given type has a rare advantage, it will dilute the value of the advantage and possibly strain the suspension of disbelief. Example: A knight requires Status 2 [10]. His Wealth should be at least Comfortable [10], to cover his cost of living and buy his expensive equipment. This costs 20 points. Disadvantages For the most part, follow the advice given for advantages. In the case of occupational templates, avoid disadvantages that are liable to inhibit job performance (e.g., Honesty for a thief). Focus instead on those that are likely to help with the chosen career (e.g., Fat for a sumo wrestler) and those that are expected (e.g., Disciplines of Faith or Vows for a priest). Some professions tend to lead to disadvantages, a few of which might be so common that they merit a place in the template (e.g., Social Stigma for a thief). Dramatic templates are often defined almost entirely by their mental disadvantages, and frequently have “good” disadvantages or tragic flaws – see Disadvantages for Heroes (p. 119). Example: Our knight owes fealty to his liege lord, so we give him Duty (Liege lord, 9 or less) [-5]. Since he’s a heroic knight out of fantasy, we also give him Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15], Honesty (6) [-20], and Vow (Never refuse a request for aid) [-15]. This comes to -55 points. Skills Pick the skills needed for the character to be competent at the role the template describes. Avoid excessive numbers of skills, but include all necessary skills, a few skills that are complementary but not vital, and perhaps one or two skills that serve mostly to provide background color. When assigning skill levels, assume that skill 12 suffices for “safe” jobs (e.g., accountant or librarian) and that skill 14 is plenty for “risky” jobs (e.g., assassin or surgeon) – including most “adventuring professions.” Save skill 16+ for those who truly stand out in their field; don’t water down the value of high skill by making it commonplace. Of course, these guidelines assume relatively realistic characters. Many larger-than-life heroes have dozens of skills at high levels. It is up to the GM whether he wishes to encourage this pattern of skill buying in his campaign.

Examples: Our knight is an adventurer first, so we make his primary skills Broadsword-14 [8], Lance-14 [8], Riding (Horse)-12 [2], and Shield-14 [4]. We make his leadership abilities secondary: Leadership-11 [2] and Tactics-11 [4]. Finally, we add Armoury (Melee Weapons)-10 [1] and Heraldry-10 [1] as background skills, to cover his knowledge of arms and armor. Total cost is 30 points. SETTING THE PRICE Total the cost of everything on the character template. This is the “template cost”: the number of points the player must pay to purchase the template. If template cost comes to more than 90% of the campaign’s starting points (see Starting Points, p. 10), players are liable to find it restrictive. To remedy this, lower attribute levels, remove noncritical advantages and skills, or add a few appropriate disadvantages. Alternatively, you can try to optimize the template (see below). If you still can’t get template cost down to a reasonable level, it is likely that the starting points you’ve selected are less than ideal for the heroes you see working well in the game world. It might be a good idea to revise the campaign power level! See Power Level (p. 487) for advice. Example: Our knight has spent 100 points on attributes, 20 on advantages, -55 on disadvantages, and 30 on skills. That’s 95 points, which is well within the recommended 90% limit for a 150- point campaign (135 points). Optimization Experienced players usually attempt to minimize the point cost and maximize the effectiveness of their characters. New players are unlikely to do so; therefore, it is a good idea to optimize templates so that characters built with them are not less efficient than scratch-built PCs. There are two main methods for doing this: 1. Select attribute levels that minimize the cost of the chosen skills. For instance, an Average skill at DX+2 level costs 8 points; six such skills would cost 48 points. An Average skill at DX+1 costs 4 points; six skills at this level would cost only 24 points. By lowering six skills from DX+2 to DX+1, you could free up 24 points – and if you then spent 20 points on DX, you could raise DX by one level, regain the original skill levels, and save 4 points! 2. Add advantages that give skill bonuses at discount rates – notably Talents (see p. 89). If you have trouble justifying this, remember: templates are blueprints for adventurers – exceptional characters built with more points than the average person – so high attributes and rare advantages are going to be more common than in the general population.

Listing Skills When listing skills, include all relevant information in the following format: Skill Name (Difficulty) Relative Level [Point Cost]-Actual Level For instance, “Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8]-14.” This might look odd now, but it makes things much more transparent when the time comes to customize the character! It can also be helpful to break down skill listings as follows: Primary Skills: Vital skills, at level 12+ – or at 14+, if they are likely to matter in life-or-death situations. Secondary Skills: Helpful skills that it’s hard to imagine the character not having, at level 11+. Background Skills: Anything else that fits, chosen for descriptive reasons rather than utility, usually at a lower level than primary and secondary skills.

Discounts Avoid the temptation – often carried over from other RPGs – to offer a discount on template cost. A character built using a template should be indistinguishable from an equivalent character designed from the ground up. Adjusting for Player Experience When designing character templates, be sure that they take into account the character-creation habits of your experienced players. For instance, if all their warriors have Combat Reflexes and all their wizards have Magery 3, your templates should follow suit – even if the “typical” warrior or wizard in the setting lacks this level of talent. This puts the characters of inexperienced players who use your templates on an equal footing with those of more experienced players.

WRITING IT UP Use the following format for the final character template (illustrated here using our heroic knight): Heroic Knight 95 points You are a brave knight out of fantasy or fairy tales – strong, honorable, a wise leader, and a skilled warrior. Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 11 [20]; HT 12 [20]. Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d- 1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 12 [0]; Will

11 [0]; Per 11 [0]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]. Advantages: Status 2 [10]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]. Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15]; Duty (Liege lord; 9 or less) [-5]; Honesty (6) [-20]; Vow (Never refuse a request for aid) [-15]. Primary Skills: Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8]-14; Lance (A) DX+2 [8]-14; Riding (Horse) (A) DX [2]-12; Shield (E) DX+2 [4]-14. Secondary Skills: Leadership (A) IQ [2]-11; Tactics (H) IQ [4]-11. Background Skills: Armoury (Melee Weapons) (A) IQ-1 [1]-10; Heraldry (A) IQ-1 [1]-10. CUSTOMIZATION NOTES Give the player a few thoughts on how he can make his character different from other PCs built using the same character template. For instance, you might include a brief list of useful traits to buy with leftover points, advice on how to flesh out the player-defined traits in the template (e.g., self-imposed mental disadvantages, Patrons, and the details of Ugly appearance), or thoughts on appropriate or necessary equipment. Example: We mention that the player should specify his knight’s coat of arms and liege lord. He also needs weapons, armor, and a mount! Since Wealth (Comfortable) cannot cover all that, we suggest using a few leftover points to purchase additional Wealth – or to buy his liege lord as a Patron who can provide these things. For an occupational template, this is the place to note the job roll, monthly pay, and wealth level for the job – see Jobs (p. 516). Job prerequisites should appear in the template; there is no need to reiterate them here. ADDITIONAL OPTIONS Character templates need not be “set pieces.” With a little extra effort, you can greatly expand the versatility of templates by building in tools that let the player customize his character in the course of buying the template. Lenses You can treat common variations on templates as “lenses” through which to view the basic design. A lens is a package of advantages, disadvantages, and skills that adds to the base template, changing its emphasis. It might be specific to just one template or applicable to several (or all) templates in your campaign. Some lenses are mutually exclusive; others can “stack.” A lens should not add traits that oppose or that are redundant with those on the base template(s). If this is inevitable, explain what to do when conflict occurs. A lens should also be compatible with all other lenses the player can select at the same time (but don’t worry about mutually exclusive lenses). The player adds the cost of any lenses selected to the cost of the base template and writes down both sets of abilities. Example: It is possible to represent the “heroic knight” in our example as a “warrior” template modified by “heroic” and “knight” lenses: Warrior 101 points You are a fantasy warrior – a barbarian, knight, swashbuckler, or someone else who lives by the sword. Attributes: ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 12 [20]. Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d- 1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 12 [0]; Will 10 [0]; Per 10 [0]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]. Skills: Armoury (Melee Weapons) (A) IQ-1 [1]-9; Shield (E) DX+2 [4]-14; and two weapon skills, each (A) DX+2 [8]-14. Lenses Heroic (-9 points): You are wise, honorable, and a leader of men. Add +1 IQ [20], Honesty (6) [-20], Vow (Never refuse a request for aid) [-15], Leadership (A) IQ [2], and Tactics (H) IQ [4]. Knight (+3 points): You are an invested knight, with all the attendant privileges and duties. Add Comfortable [10], Status 2 [10], Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15], Duty (Liege Lord, 9 or less) [-5], Heraldry (A) IQ-1 [1], and Riding (Horse) (A) DX [2]. Interactive Templates Along with fixed character traits, you may wish to include a number of choices with identical point costs. These can be specific (e.g., High Pain Threshold or +1 ST; Chemistry-14 or Mathematics-14) or general (e.g., any DX/Average weapon skill at 15; any three IQ/Hard sciences at 14), as long as the point cost is the same. A good compromise is to set aside a pool of points that the player can spend on a specific list of options however he sees fit. Once you are comfortable with template design, consider using this option for all your templates. It simplifies the player’s choices without eliminating them and is an effective stepping-stone to unassisted character design. It is especially useful for mental disadvantages, because it gives the player more latitude in defining his character’s personality. Example: Not all knights use broadswords; many prefer the mace. On our heroic knight template, we could replace “Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8]-14” with “Axe/Mace or Broadsword, both (A) DX+2 [8]-14” and let the player choose. We could also offer a choice of mental disadvantages. Instead of requiring Code of Honor, Honesty, and Vow, we could say: “A total of -50 points chosen from Charitable [-15*], Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15], Honesty [-10*], Selfless [-5*], Sense of Duty [-2 to -20], Truthfulness [-5*], and Vow [-5 to -15].” Note how disadvantages with variable values offer a range of point costs, and how disadvantages that require self-control rolls are marked (*) to indicate that they might be at ¥.5, ¥1, ¥1.5, or ¥2 value, depending on the self-control number.

RACIAL TEMPLATES

The baseline character in GURPS is human, but nonhumans are common in many game worlds. The collection of traits that differentiate a nonhuman species from humanity is called a “racial template.” Unlike character templates, racial templates are not normally optional or customizable – every member of a species must purchase its racial template, exactly as written. Furthermore, racial templates are subject to a number of special rules that have ramifications in play, and may even include “hidden features” that can affect outcomes in the game. CONCEPT Before building a racial template, you should develop a clear idea of what it is you are designing. A racial concept is not a character concept – you are creating an entire species, and must consider morphology, survival strategies (biological, technological, or magical), group behavior, and culture. What Is a Race? A “race” is normally a biological species – human, tiger, elf, Gray alien, etc. – but you need not limit yourself to this definition. A race might be a genetically engineered subspecies, a particular category of fantastic creature (for instance, “faerie” or “vampire”), or a specific make or model of construct (golem, robot, sentient computer program, etc.). What matters is that every member of the group possesses a common set of identifiable traits. What Do They Look Like? A race’s appearance suggests many of its racial traits. For instance, a species with four arms needs to purchase Extra Arms, because it has two more arms than a human, which is an advantage. Likewise, a species with one eye should have One Eye, as its lack of binocular vision puts it at a disadvantage next to a human. Be sure to distinguish between purely cosmetic features and those that actually affect play. Outward appearance is often just a “special effect,” and special effects should not cost points – see Features and Taboo Traits (p. 452). Only genuine differences in function, relative to a human, call for definition in terms of attributes, advantages, and disadvantages. Assigning point values to racial characteristics unnecessarily is a sure-fire way to make a multiracial campaign confusing, if not unbalanced. How Do They Think? Decide how members of the race act, and lend some thought to the race’s dominant cultural background. These things determine the race’s mental traits, including racial skills. Here again, be careful to distinguish features that affect play from those that do not. The most challenging problem is to determine how the race thinks. This is crucial if you expect people to roleplay members of the race! Humanity’s two primary motivations seem to be sex and material comfort. Other races might not share these drives. Of course, any biological creature must feel some instinct to preserve its young and itself, or the race will vanish. Races that lack this drive would have psychologies that humanity would find truly alien.

PC Races vs. NPC Races A “player character race” is one that the PCs can belong to at the time of character creation. A “nonplayer character race” is one reserved for NPCs under the GM’s control. There is no rule distinction between a PC race and an NPC race. As the GM, you are free to assign a race to either category – or even to move a race from one category to the other during the course of the campaign. Try not to be too restrictive, however. GURPS, being a generic system, has rules for most situations. This makes it feasible to allow PCs to belong to races reserved for NPCs in other games (ghosts, monsters, robots, etc.) if the players and GM are up to the roleplaying challenge. Player-Created Races It is the GM’s job to design the racial templates for his campaign. The rules given here have fewer arbitrary limitations and balancing factors than do those for creating individual characters, because this is intended to be a GM’s system, and the GM is free to decide what is balanced in his campaign. That said, the adventurous GM might allow an especially good player or group to design races for their characters. This can be a major time-saver for the GM in a campaign that calls for a plethora of nonhuman species! A few tips for GMs who wish to allow player-created races: • Watch out for abuse. The lack of balancing factors in these rules makes it possible to create a race that has a significant advantage in effectiveness over the human race. Do not allow such races – at least, not as PCs. • Do not allow abilities (or combinations of abilities) that you do not want in the PCs’ hands, however balanced they may be. In particular, keep an eye on exotic and supernatural traits. If a trait is strictly off-limits to all PCs, then the race of the PC should be unimportant. • Player-generated races work best in game worlds that already have many different races, because “yet another race” will rarely upset the campaign. Be sure to have a few ready-made PC races on hand for players who do not wish to create their own, however – and to serve as examples for those who do. • Be leery of player-created NPC races. In most game worlds, NPC races are supposed to be somewhat mysterious. Mystery is hard to maintain when the creator is a member of the party!

SELECTING TRAITS A racial template consists of attribute modifiers, secondary characteristic modifiers, advantages, disadvantages, quirks, and skills that apply to every member of the race. A race may also have features that do not have a point cost but that do have in-game effects. Most of the mental and physical traits in Chapters 1-3 are suitable as racial traits. More rarely, social traits are appropriate – for instance, an entire race might enjoy Social Regard or suffer from Social Stigma. As the GM, you are free to assign exotic (1) and supernatural (5) traits to racial templates as needed – even if such traits are otherwise forbidden (in which case nonhumans are likely to be the only ones who have such traits). A few traits explicitly note that they are reserved for racial templates, and cannot occur otherwise. In all cases, make sure that the traits you choose are in line with the racial concept and, more importantly, make sense. Racial Attribute Modifiers If the ST, DX, IQ, or HT of an average member of a race differs from the human norm of 10, that race has a “racial attribute modifier.” This costs ±10 points per ±1 to racial average ST or HT, or ±20 points per ±1 to racial average DX or IQ. A member of a race with such modifiers pays for his personal scores as usual, and then applies his racial modifiers to find his final scores. Example: A racial +10 to ST costs 100 points, while a racial -1 to IQ costs -20 points. A racial template with these modifiers notes “ST+10 [100]” and “IQ-1 [-20].” A member of this race buys a personal ST 9 [-10], IQ 14 [80]. He then applies his racial attribute modifiers: ST+10 gives ST 19, and IQ-1 gives IQ 13. Racial Secondary Characteristic Modifiers These work much as do racial attribute modifiers. The main difference is the point cost: ±1 to HP costs ±2 points; ±1 to FP costs ±3 points; and ±0.25 to Basic Speed or ±1 to Will, Perception, or Basic Move costs ±5 points. Example: A racial -0.75 to Basic Speed would cost -15 points. A racial template with this modifier would note “Basic Speed-0.75 [-15].” A member of a race with such modifiers calculates his basic secondary characteristics from his attributes as usual, after applying all racial attribute modifiers. He may buy these characteristics up or down, as usual. After that, he applies racial secondary characteristic modifiers to find his final scores.

Example: A member of a race with DX+2, HT+1, and Basic Speed-0.75 buys a personal DX 12 [40], HT 12 [20]. His racial attribute modifiers make this DX 14, HT 13. These attributes give Basic Speed 6.75. Next, he buys his Basic Speed up to 7.75, for 20 points. At the very end, he applies his racial Basic Speed-0.75 to get a final Basic Speed 7.00. Racial Advantages and Disadvantages A nonhuman race could conceivably possess almost any advantage or disadvantage that an individual could . . . within reason. When in doubt, the GM should exercise common sense. Traits related to build – Skinny, Overweight, Fat, Very Fat, Dwarfism, and Gigantism (see Build, p. 18) – are relative to the racial norm. They’re valid for individuals, not races. To create an entire race that is smaller or larger than humanity, assign an appropriate Size Modifier (see Size Modifier, p. 19). This has no point cost – the advantage of longer reach cancels out the disadvantage of being a large target, while the disadvantages of being short balance the advantage of being hard to hit. Individual members of such races can have any build; e.g., an ogre with racial SM +1 could take Dwarfism and have a personal SM of 0. Note that racial disadvantages do not count against the campaign disadvantage limit (see Disadvantage Limit, p. 11). This limit applies only to personal disadvantages. For instance, a player in a campaign with a -75-point disadvantage limit may take up to -75 points in disadvantages, regardless of which race he selects for his PC. Racial Quirks It can be useful to assign a few quirks on a racial basis to define a race’s minor disadvantages or personality traits. Use these sparingly, however – players are obligated to roleplay their quirks, and too many racial quirks can result in a complicated, unplayable character. Racial quirks do not count against the normal limit of five quirks. Features and Taboo Traits Many traits distinguish a race without actually increasing or reducing its capabilities. Such traits cost 0 points, and fall into two categories: Features: A “feature” is just a note on how the race differs cosmetically or physiologically from humanity when that difference does not grant an advantage or a disadvantage. For instance, a human subspecies genetically modified to lack an appendix has a feature; so does a fantasy race that bears a magical mark from birth. Faster and slower maturation are features as well. A race’s native environmental conditions are also features, if they differ from the human norm (humans are adapted to 1G of gravity, have a temperature “comfort zone” of 35° to 90°, and breathe 78% nitrogen/ 21% oxygen at 1 atm of pressure). A race that can tolerate a broader spectrum of conditions than humanity has an advantage, however! Taboo Traits: A specific advantage, disadvantage, or skill might be offlimits (“taboo”) for the race – that is, no member of the race can possess that trait. Given the number of possible choices, and the small odds that a given character would actually take a particular trait, this is not considered a disadvantage. Often, “taboo traits” result from racial disadvantages; for instance, No Legs (Sessile) logically forbids movement-related traits. To keep a race fun to play, do not assign excessive numbers of taboo traits, and give a plausible cultural, psychological, or physiological reason for each one. Racial Skill Bonuses and Penalties A race with a particular gift for a skill or a set of skills has an advantage, while a race that is unusually inept has a disadvantage. Racial talent for one skill costs 2 points for +1 to skill, 4 points for +2, or 6 points for +3 (the maximum bonus allowed). Write this as, for instance, “+1 to Forgery [2]” or “+3 to Fast-Talk [6].” This trait does not actually grant the skill – it gives a bonus whenever a member of the race rolls against that skill or its default. Treat a racial knack for a group of related skills as a Talent (see p. 89). Each +1 to those skills costs 5 points for six or fewer skills, 10 points for seven to 12 skills, or 15 points for 13 or more skills. The maximum bonus is +4. If this is not a standard Talent, note which skills get the bonus. (Keep an open mind – some unusual things might be “closely related” for a race that thinks nothing like humanity!) Racial ineptitude at one skill is a flat -1 point for -4 to skill. This is just a racial Incompetence quirk (see p. 164), and is subject to all the usual rules for Incompetence. To keep things balanced, no race can be incompetent at more than five individual skills (-5 points), and the affected skills must be important in the game world to qualify for points. Evaluate racial incompetence at a group of related skills like a Talent, but put a minus sign in front of the cost. For instance, -2 with 7-12 skills would be a -20-point racial disadvantage. A race can have only one “group incompetence.” The bonuses and penalties above apply to all specialties of any affected skills. Effects of Experience: When an individual improves a racially modified skill, disregard the racial modifiers and calculate the new level based solely on the points he spent. Apply the racial skill bonus to his final skill level. For example, a member of a race with +1 to Fast-Talk would pay only 1 point to have Fast-Talk at IQ. If he wanted to improve Fast-Talk to IQ+1 later on, he would pay 1 more point.

Racially Learned Skills A “racially learned skill” is an automatic level of proficiency acquired by every member of the race. It is usually innate or instinctive. For instance, a flying race might possess racial Flight skill, while a race with padded feet might have Stealth skill on a racial basis. Price racially learned skills just as if an individual character were learning them; see the Skill Cost Table (p. 170). Write them in the format used on character templates (see Listing Skills, p. 448), calculating the final skill level based on the racial average attribute score. For instance, a race with DX+4, HT-1 would have racial average DX 14, HT 9, and would write “Flight (A) HT [2]-9” and “Stealth (A) DX+1 [4]-15.” The actual skill levels that an individual member of the race enjoys vary according to his personal attribute scores. Effects of Experience: Members of a race may improve racially learned skills just as they would any other skill. For instance, if a race has Flight at HT, it would cost an individual member of that race 2 points to increase his skill to HT+1. Racial Magic Many races of fantasy and horror are magical. Below are two possible ways to handle magical powers. Advantages: Any advantage might stem from the race’s magical nature as a “special effect” (see Advantage Origins, p. 33). Such advantages require mana to work. If regions without mana are common in the campaign world, apply the limitation “Mana Sensitive,” worth -10%, to the cost of such abilities. Racially Innate Spells: Every member of the race might have the inborn ability to cast one or more spells; see Chapter 5. Ignore the usual prerequisites and buy the spells using the rules for racially learned skills (above). Add racial Magery, if any, to the race’s skill level. Magery is not required for racially innate spells – but without Magery, the race’s magic only works in areas of high or very high mana (see Mana, p. 235). A race that can only cast racially innate spells pays the usual 5 points for Magery 0, but may buy Magery 1+ with a -40% Accessibility limitation: “Racially innate spells only.”

SETTING THE PRICE The point cost of a racial template – called the “racial cost” – is the sum of the point values of its constituent traits. Anyone who wishes to play a member of the race must pay its racial cost. If racial cost is 0 points or more, treat the template as an advantage; if racial cost is negative, treat it as a disadvantage. (It costs 0 points to play a human, but there is no need to note this, as characters are assumed to be human unless they buy a racial template.) A template with a negative racial cost does not count against the campaign disadvantage limit, if any (see Disadvantage Limit, p. 11). Individual mental, physical, and social problems are as likely for members of low-powered races as they are for humans and members of high-powered races! Players must normally purchase all elements of a racial template as a unit, and may only “opt out” of a given trait with the GM’s permission. Opting out of an advantageous trait saves points, while opting out of a disadvantageous one costs points. In both cases, pay racial cost normally and note the changes separately – for instance, “No Infravision [-10]” or “No Bad Sight [25].” See Omitting Racial Traits (p. 262) for additional details. SUB-RACES A “sub-race” is a sizeable portion of a race that differs significantly from the racial norm. Examples include extreme sexual dimorphism, true biological subspecies, half-breeds, and radical mutations (or even upgrades, in the case of robots). Sub-races should share most of the parent racial template, but with a few important differences (and a matching adjustment to racial cost). Write up sub-races exactly as you would “lenses” for a character template – see Lenses (p. 449). FILLING IN THE BLANKS After finalizing any racial template, try to answer the following questions. The answers will help you present the race to the players and help them roleplay members of that race! • What do they look like? How big? How tall? What shape? What color? Do they have hair? What color? Do they have eyes? Do they have distinctive markings? Do they have hands or claws? What direction do their joints bend? • Were they created or did they evolve? Where? What environmental pressures combined to give them their advantages and disadvantages? • How do they live? How do they govern themselves? Are they gregarious or solitary in nature? If they are gregarious, do they favor large cities, small villages, or family groups? • How do they think? Do they have a racial philosophy? Do they have a religion? Do they have many religions? How do they react in an emergency? Do they like new things, or are they complacent? Can they be trusted? • How do they get along with others? Do they fight among themselves? How do they react to new races? Suspiciously? Enthusiastically? Do they trade with other races? Are there other races they particularly like or dislike?

Character Cost vs. Racial Strength Many GMs will want to create at least a few races with powers far beyond those of normal humans. In game terms, this means a high racial cost. This may create an apparent contradiction in the campaign: “If these guys are so great, why don’t they control the whole world?” The most obvious answer is “They do!” There’s no reason why humanity has to be the dominant race of the campaign. Mankind could be an insignificant minor race or an audacious upstart to the ancient civilizations of the nonhumans!

However, the GM needn’t forsake superhuman races in an anthropocentric campaign. The factors that allow individuals to excel are quite different from those that allow one race to dominate another. An anthropocentric story or campaign usually assumes that humanity has several advantages, relative to other races, that would never show up on a character sheet.

Humans are prolific. A woman can easily bear six to 12 children in her lifetime; a man can father children with a huge number of women. Other races might be strictly monogamous, tied to a complex fertility cycle, or generally infertile, allowing humanity to dominate them through sheer numbers. This is borne out in nature, where extremely capable species – such as the dominant carnivores – inevitably have smaller populations than “lesser” species.

Humans are aggressive. They tend to want money, property, and power for its own sake. A pragmatic race might let the humans move in and assume the burden of running things! They might insist on a few basic rights, but not necessarily political power. Of course, an extremely powerful or supernatural race might pursue goals that humans cannot comprehend, leaving humanity to do as it pleases.

Humans are organized. A super-race might never need to band together for protection from nature as humanity’s ancestors did. Such a race might be unable to withstand an organized human military campaign or political program. Indeed, such a race might find real economic and cultural benefit in accepting organization by humanity.

This discussion applies equally to extremely low-powered races visà- vis humanity. The members of a hive mind or primitive horde might be no match for us individually, but be more prolific, aggressive, and organized than we are as a race!

This is the end of the file.