Ushgarak
Meant to have this up earlier- sorry! Ben busy.
Here is the draft of the new alien powers (they will be drafts until they get final approval, which may take a long time). For now I will allow them in the game, but note that access to them is extremely limited.
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Exotic Aliens and Alien Powers
Most templates in the game are based around the idea of being human or human-like enough to make no real difference to gameplay. Star Wars is a game set in a galaxy of all kinds of aliens, but most protagonists are standard human/near-human types. Of course, then we have Chewbacca...
An exotic alien is a character who is alien enough for there to be particular advantages caused by their unusual physiology. These are represented by a special sort of schtick called 'Alien Powers'. The benefits from Alien Powers are always functional; they do not need to be loaded or the like.
However, even exotic aliens are not THAT exotic. Chewbacca still has two arms and two legs; this is not meant to be Jabba the Hutt weird, or playing superintelligent shades of the colour blue. Aside from whatever bonuses your alien powers give you, all characters most follow the normal rules for the game, particular in areas like movement. You cannot fly, turn into mist, kill people by looking at them or shapeshift.
The Weird and the Wonderful
Alien powers are often pretty handy, but there is a price. If you have an Alien Power, you look unusual enough to cause comment in many areas of the galaxy- less a problem in Hutt Space, more a problem on the very human-centric noble worlds.
Chewbacca is a good example- despite his heart of gold, he naturally frightened those who saw him, not helped by Han talking about him pulling arms off of people.
The GM will decide what effect this has on social gameplay. Generally, if you have a lot of physical alien powers, you will likely scare people unintentionally. If you have lots of mental ones, you look strange and unsettling.
Gaining Alien Powers
For both thematic and balance reasons, Alien Powers are restricted to certain templates
Note- this powers work with the new draft templates, not the older ones that you may have found linked form the main rules
Some templates come with Alien Powers by default, whilst some can choose to have them in lieu of other abilities.
Generally speaking, it is best to only take Alien Powers at creation. However, the GM may approve the 'evolutionary development' of further powers of he feels it is reasonable and appropriate. This option can only be taken by those who already have Alien Powers. They cost the same as Blade Schticks (12 xp).
If your template can have Alien Powers but you did not take any, you can, if you wish, state at character creation that you want to evolve some later. However, if you do this, you suffer from the exotic social penalty described above, even without any active powers. so you had better be sure!
Categories
Alien Powers come in three categories- Physical, Common and Mental. These have no associated rules by default, but your template will direct you to what powers you can and cannot take, with the emphasis being on no aliens having both physical and mental powers.
Here is the draft of the new alien powers (they will be drafts until they get final approval, which may take a long time). For now I will allow them in the game, but note that access to them is extremely limited.
-
Exotic Aliens and Alien Powers
Most templates in the game are based around the idea of being human or human-like enough to make no real difference to gameplay. Star Wars is a game set in a galaxy of all kinds of aliens, but most protagonists are standard human/near-human types. Of course, then we have Chewbacca...
An exotic alien is a character who is alien enough for there to be particular advantages caused by their unusual physiology. These are represented by a special sort of schtick called 'Alien Powers'. The benefits from Alien Powers are always functional; they do not need to be loaded or the like.
However, even exotic aliens are not THAT exotic. Chewbacca still has two arms and two legs; this is not meant to be Jabba the Hutt weird, or playing superintelligent shades of the colour blue. Aside from whatever bonuses your alien powers give you, all characters most follow the normal rules for the game, particular in areas like movement. You cannot fly, turn into mist, kill people by looking at them or shapeshift.
The Weird and the Wonderful
Alien powers are often pretty handy, but there is a price. If you have an Alien Power, you look unusual enough to cause comment in many areas of the galaxy- less a problem in Hutt Space, more a problem on the very human-centric noble worlds.
Chewbacca is a good example- despite his heart of gold, he naturally frightened those who saw him, not helped by Han talking about him pulling arms off of people.
The GM will decide what effect this has on social gameplay. Generally, if you have a lot of physical alien powers, you will likely scare people unintentionally. If you have lots of mental ones, you look strange and unsettling.
Gaining Alien Powers
For both thematic and balance reasons, Alien Powers are restricted to certain templates
Note- this powers work with the new draft templates, not the older ones that you may have found linked form the main rules
Some templates come with Alien Powers by default, whilst some can choose to have them in lieu of other abilities.
Generally speaking, it is best to only take Alien Powers at creation. However, the GM may approve the 'evolutionary development' of further powers of he feels it is reasonable and appropriate. This option can only be taken by those who already have Alien Powers. They cost the same as Blade Schticks (12 xp).
If your template can have Alien Powers but you did not take any, you can, if you wish, state at character creation that you want to evolve some later. However, if you do this, you suffer from the exotic social penalty described above, even without any active powers. so you had better be sure!
Categories
Alien Powers come in three categories- Physical, Common and Mental. These have no associated rules by default, but your template will direct you to what powers you can and cannot take, with the emphasis being on no aliens having both physical and mental powers.