Spheres without number

Character Creation

Courier

The expedite transport of goods and information is hard, and it requires an equally hard breed of heroes to carry it out. Couriers might be independent shippers or messenger riders risking grave peril to deliver small packages.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Navigation, Sail, Notice, or Trade

Criminal

Whether thief, murderer, smuggler, spy, or some other variety of malefactor, your hero was a criminal. Their ability to deal with the most desperate and dangerous of contacts make them attractive associates.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Sneak, Connect, Notice, or Persuade

Dilettante

Your hero never had a profession, but spent their formative years in travel, socializing, and a series of engaging hobbies. By the time your hero’s adventures start, they’ve run through the money that once fueled their lifestyle.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Connect, Know, Persuade, or Perform

Gambler

Some gamble out of necessity, others become addicted to the thrill. And for some, it is less a matter of chance and more a matter of seeking every advantage to ensure an outcome. Regardless Lady Luck is your hero's muse.

• Growth: +2 among Dexterity or Charisma
• Skills (choose two): Connect, Perform, Persuade or Sneak

Helmsman

You mastered spelljamming helms, and fulfill an essential role on providing propulsion and sensory information about your ship. *You need some magic or psychic ability.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Arcana, Notice, Sail, or Navigation

Hunter

Your hero might be a hunters of wild beasts, treasure or bounty hunter. Either way you excel at getting what you set yourself.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Shoot, Sneak, Notice or Survive

Marine

Your hero is a professional fighter, whether a professional marine or veteran mercenary. Your skillset and ability to stay calm in the face of danger is an asset to any party.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Any-Combat, Exert, Survive, or Lead

Master-at-arms

In charge of security and operating siege weapons on a ship. A skilled Master-at-arms affects the accuracy of weapons being fired under their command, and maintaining a ship safe.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Any-Combat, Administer, Lead, or Craft

Merchant

Your hero was or is a trader. You might be sales person, smuggler, or a merchant specializing in the transport of goods across the stars.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Trade, Administer, Connect, or Persuade

Navigator or Astronomer

The Navigator or Astronomer is a student of the Known Spheres. He studies the spheres, the stars, the phlogiston, and the worlds of space. They typically server as navigator is determining the fastest and safest routes of travel.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Navigation, Education, Notice, or Arcana

Noble or Politician

The nature of a political career varies from world to world. Whatever the details, your hero was a noble or politician, in space you likely don't have much power, but your skills are valuable and your style enviable.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Lead, Connect, Persuade, or Education

Performer

Poets, dancers, actors, musicians, sometimes spies or assassins. Your hero was a dedicated entertainer, one likely focused in a particular form of art.

• Growth: +2 among Dexterity or Charisma
• Skills (choose two): Connect, Perform, Notice or Sneak

Chirurgeon

Your hero was a healer, trained to cure the maladies of the body or the afflictions of the mind. Some healers might be military medics, missionary healers, or dubious witch doctors. The skills of a physician are always welcomed.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Heal, Education, Notice

Quartermaster

The quartermaster and boatswains (bosun) are the leaders of the crew members in charge of maintaining the basic operations of the ship, provides technical advice to the captain, plans travel and maintenance efforts.

• Growth: +2 among Strength or Wisdom
• Skills (choose two): Sail, Administer, Exert, Any-Combat

Salvager or Junker

You likely are a daring soul risking life and limb to explore ruins, or salvaging goods from derelict ships, to take them back for repairs and trade. Salvagers and junkers tend to get caught up in adventure, whether they like it or not.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Survival, Craft, Notice, or Trade

Scholar

Mages, sages, and professors all qualify under this career. However sometimes that search of understanding takes you beyond your familiar surroundings, and for one reason or another, you now venture the stars.

• Growth: +2 among Mental
• Skills (choose two): Education, Connect, Administer, Arcana

Spellwright

Spellwrights combine arcane knowhow with crafting. Maybe you are an alchemist, or maintain and repair spelljamming vessels. Eitherway you create magical artifacts, and juryrig faulty systems

• Growth: +2 among Strength or Intelligence
• Skills (choose two): Craft, Arcana, Education, or Exert.

Sailor or Pirate

Your hero might have been captain of a ship of their own, or an expert crew mate willing to work on any ship that would hire him. Whatever their usual berth, sailors are accustomed to lives of sudden peril and hard labor.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Any Combat, Sail, Notice or Exert

Vagabond or Stowaway

You are a free soul that roams space. Some heroes find this life satisfying, with its constant novelty. Others long for a more stable arrangement, either way their pragmatic talents are useful where ever they go.

• Growth: +2 among Physical
• Skills (choose two): Survive, Sneak, Notice, Any-combat

And more!

Although an extensive list, if none of these backgrounds suits your concept, work with GM to find one that does. If you want an original background, just make sure it has an adventurous streak, and can be a great team player.

Skills

1. Arcana: Understanding metaphysical properties of the universe. Perform magical rituals, or analyze and repair magical effects and artifacts. Be familiar with the gods, eldritch entities, and magical creatures.

2. Administer: Keep an organization running smoothly, scribe things well, plan out logistics, identify incompetent or treacherous workers, analyze records or archives, or otherwise do things that an official or quartermaster would need to do.

3. [COMBAT] Brawl: Fight unarmed, with natural body weaponry, on improvised weapons. Punch, kick, grapple, or otherwise brawl without weapons.

4. Craft: Craft or repair goods and technology. The Craft skill can be used for a wide range of artisan pursuits, though a GM is within their rights to keep the PC from building complex things that are too far away from their past background and experience.

5. Connect: Find or know people who are useful to your purposes, make friendships or social acquaintances, know who to talk to get favors or services, and call on the help or resources of organizations you belong to.

6. Education: Know matters of history, religion, law, chemistry, zoology, botany, and other academic fields appropriate to a sage or scholar. Most learned sages in this age have a broad range of understanding, and will rarely be unable to attempt to answer a question relevant to this skill.

7. Exert: Run, swim, climb, jump, labor for long periods, throw things, or otherwise exert your physical strength, stamina, and coordination. Even a PC with poor physical attributes might have a good Exert skill reflecting concentration and athletic training.

8. Heal: Treat wounds, cure diseases, neutralize poisons, diagnose psychological health issues, and otherwise tend to the wounds of body and mind. The Heal skill cannot cure lost hit points directly, but it’s a vital skill in stabilizing Mortally Wounded allies or ensuring clean recovery.

9. Lead: Inspire and manage subordinates and keep them focused, loyal, and motivated in the face of danger or failure. A successful leader will keep their subordinate’s faith and confidence even when reason might make the leader’s plan appear questionable at best.

10. [COMBAT] Melee: Fight with melee weapons or throw a hurled weapon. Maintain and identify weaponry.

11. Navigation: Use it to navigate using the stars, or currents of phlogiston, chart a safe course, knowing how to deal with cosmic hazzards, as well as general astronomy, astrology, and cartographic principles in general.

12. Notice: Notice small details, impending ambushes, hidden features, or concealed objects. Detect subtle smells, sounds, or other sensory input. Notice cannot be used simply to detect a lie, but keen attention can often discern a subject’s emotional state.

13. Perform: Sing, act, dance, orate, or otherwise perform impressively for an audience. Compose music, poems, writings, or other works of performance art. Most performers will have some particular fields they excel at.

14. Persuasion: Persuade a listener that something you are saying is true. Naturally, the more implausible the claim or more emotionally repugnant it is to them, the more difficult it is to persuade them. Furthermore, how they act on their newfound conviction is up to them and their motivations, and may not be perfectly predictable.

15. Sail: Sail or repair a ship, build small craft, navigate by the stars, manage sailors, and otherwise conduct the business of a professional sailor.

16. [COMBAT] Shoot: Use it as a combat skill when using ranged weaponry, whether hurled rocks, bows, starwheel pistols, hand cannons, or ship’s artillery.

17. Sneak: Move silently, hide in shadows, avoid notice, pick pockets, disguise yourself, pick locks, defeat traps, or otherwise overcome security measures.

18. Spelljamming: Operating a spelljammer helm effectively, to power the movement of a vessel, perceive it's surroundings, extend your magic and power through its weave.

19. Survive: Mitigate environmental hazards, identify plants and wildlife, and craft basic survival tools and shelter. The basic principles can be applied in all but the most alien environments.

20. Trade: Buy and sell at a profit, identify the worth of goods or treasures, deal with merchants and traders, find black-market goods and services, and know laws regarding smuggling and contraband.

Langugages

Foci

Close Combatant

You’ve had all too much practice at close-infighting and desperate struggles with drawn blades. You’re extremely skilled at avoiding injury in melee combat, and at level 2 you can dodge through a melee scrum without fear of being knifed in passing.

Level 1: Gain any combat skill as a bonus skill. You can use knife-sized thrown weapons in melee without suffering penalties for the proximity of melee attackers. You ignore Shock damage from melee assailants, even if you’re unarmored at the time, but invoking this benefit disrupts any spellcasting you might do that round due to the need for violently active evasion.

Level 2: The Shock damage from your melee attacks treats all targets as if they were AC 10. The Fighting Withdrawal combat action is treated as an On Turn action for you and can be performed freely.

Connected

You’re remarkably gifted at making friends and forging ties with the people around you. Wherever you go, you always seem to know somebody useful to your ends.

Level 1: Gain Connect as a bonus skill. If you’ve spent at least a week in a not-entirely-hostile location, you’ll have built a web of contacts willing to do favors for you that are no more than mildly illegal. You can call on one favor per game day and the GM decides how far they’ll go for you.

Level 2: Once per game session, if it’s not entirely implausible, you meet someone you know who is willing to do modest favors for you. You can decide when and where you want to meet this person, but the GM decides who they are and what they can do for you.

Die Hard

You are surprisingly hard to kill. You can survive injuries or bear up under stresses that would incapacitate a less determined hero.

Level 1: You gain an extra 2 maximum hit points per level. This bonus applies retroactively if you take this Focus after first level. You automatically stabilize if Mortally Wounded, provided you have not been incinerated, dismembered, or otherwise torn apart.

Level 2: The first time each day that you are reduced to zero hit points by an injury, you instead survive with one hit point remaining. This ability can’t save you from large-scale, instantly-lethal trauma.

Deadeye

You have a gift with ranged weapons. While this talent most commonly applies to bows, it is also applicable to thrown weapons or other ranged weapons that can be used with the Shoot skill. For thrown weapons, you can’t use the benefits of the Armsmaster Focus at the same time as Deadeye.

Level 1: Gain Shoot as a bonus skill. You can Ready a Stowed ranged weapon as an Instant action. You may use a bow or two-handed ranged weapon even when an enemy is within melee range, albeit at a -4 hit penalty. You may add your Shoot skill level to a ranged weapon’s damage roll.

Level 2: You can reload crossbows or other slow-loading weapons as an On Turn action, provided they don’t take more than a round to reload. You can use ranged weapons of any size in melee without penalty. Once per scene, as an On Turn action when target shooting at an inanimate, non-creature target, you automatically hit unless you roll a 2 on your Shoot skill check or the shot is physically impossible.

Dealmaker

You have an uncanny ability to sniff out traders and find good deals, licit or otherwise. Even those who might not normally be disposed to bargain with you can sometimes be persuaded to pause and negotiate, if you have something they want.

Level 1: Gain Trade as a bonus skill. With a half hour of effort you can find a buyer or seller for any good or service that can be traded in the community, legal or otherwise. Finding a marginally possible service, like an assassin willing and able to target a king, or some specific precious ancient artifact, may require an adventure if the GM allows it at all.

Level 2: Once per session, target a sentient who is not just then trying to kill you or your allies and make a request of it that it can comprehend. If it’s at all plausible for it to make such terms, it will do so for a price or favor it thinks you can grant, though the price for significant favors might be dear.

Diplomat

You know how to get your way in personal negotiations, and can manipulate the attitudes of those around you. Even so, while smooth words are versatile, they’ll only work if your interlocutor is actually willing to listen to you.

Level 1: Gain Persuade as a bonus skill. You speak all the languages common to the sector and can learn new ones to a workable level in a week, becoming fluent in a month. Reroll 1s on any skill check dice related to negotiation or diplomacy.

Level 2: Once per game session, shift an intelligent NPC’s reaction roll one step closer to friendly if you can talk to them for at least thirty seconds.

Gifted Chirurgeon

You have an unusual gift for saving Mortally Wounded allies and quickening the natural recovery of the wounded in your care.

Level 1: Gain Heal as a bonus skill. You may attempt to stabilize one Mortally Wounded adjacent person per round as an On Turn action. When rolling Heal skill checks, roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die. You heal twice as many hit points as usual when applying first aid after a battle, as described on page 48.

Level 2: Your curative gifts count as magical healing. You can heal 1d6+Heal skill in damage to an adjacent wounded ally as a Main Action, potentially reviving them without any lingering Frailty. Each such application of healing adds 1 System Strain to the target, and the gift cannot be used on targets already at their maximum System Strain.

Gunslinger

You have a gift with a gun. While this talent most commonly applies to slugthrowers or energy weapons, it is also applicable to thrown weapons, bows, or other ranged weapons that can be used with the Shoot skill. For thrown weapons, you can’t use the benefits of the Armsman focus at the same time as Gunslinger.

Level 1: Gain Shoot as a bonus skill. You can draw or holster a Stowed ranged weapon as an On Turn action. You may add your Shoot skill level to a ranged weapon’s damage roll.

Level 2: Once per round, you can reload a ranged weapon as an On Turn action if it takes no more than one round to reload. Even on a miss with a Shoot attack, you do an unmodified 1d4 damage.

Henchkeeper

You have a distinct knack for picking up lost souls who willingly do your bidding. You might induce them with promises of money, power, excitement, sex, or some other prize that you may or may not eventually grant. A henchman obtained with this Focus will serve in loyal fashion until clearly betrayed or placed in unacceptable danger. Henchmen are not “important” people in their society, and are usually marginal sorts, outcasts, the desperate, or other persons with few options.

You can use more conventional pay or inducements to acquire additional henchmen, but these extra hirelings are no more loyal or competent than your pay and treatment can purchase.

Level 1: Gain Lead as a bonus skill. You can acquire henchmen within 24 hours of arriving in a community, assuming anyone is suitable hench material. These henchmen will not fight except to save their own lives, but will escort you on adventures and risk great danger to help you. Most henchmen from a civilized society will be treated as Peaceful Humans from the bestiary section of the book. You can have one henchmen at a time for every three character levels you have, rounded up. You can release henchmen with no hard feelings at any plausible time and pick them back up later should you be without a current henchman.

Level 2: Your henchmen are remarkably loyal and determined, and will fight for you against anything but clearly overwhelming odds. Whether through natural competence or their devotion to you, they’re treated as Veteran Soldier from the bestiary section.

You can make faithful henchmen out of skilled and highly-capable NPCs, but this requires that you actually have done them some favor or help that would reasonably earn such fierce loyalty.

Impervious Defense

Whether through uncanny reflexes, remarkable luck, supernatural heritage, or magical talent, you have natural defenses equivalent to high-quality armor. The benefits of this Focus don’t stack with armor, though Dexterity or shield modifiers apply.

Level 1: You have an innate Armor Class of 15 plus half your character level, rounded up.

Level 2: Once per day, as an Instant action, you can shrug off any single weapon attack or physical trauma inflicted by a foe. Environmental damage, falling damage, or other harm that couldn’t be forfended by strong armor cannot be resisted this way.

Lucky

Some fund of remarkable luck has preserved your life at least once in the past, and continues to give you an edge in otherwise hopeless situations. This luck does not favor the already-blessed; this Focus can only be taken by a PC with at least one attribute modifier of -1 or less.

Level 1: Once per week, a blow or effect that would otherwise have left you killed, mortally wounded, or rendered helpless somehow fails to connect or affect you. You make any rolls related to games of chance twice, taking the better roll.

Level 2: Once per session, in a situation of need or peril, you can trust to your luck and roll 1d6. On a 2 or more, something fortunate will happen to further your goal, provide an escape from immediate peril, or otherwise give you an advantage you need, if not immediate victory. On a 1, the situation will immediately grow much worse, as the GM sees fit.

Master Artisan

You have remarkable gifts as a crafter and can often improvise techniques even in fields unrelated to your usual background. You are able to create mods for equipment even if you are not an Expert, as per the rules on page 56.

Level 1: Gain Craft as a bonus skill. Your Craft skill is treated as one level higher, up to a maximum of 5, for purposes of crafting and maintaining mods. Mods you build require one fewer unit of arcane salvage, down to a minimum of one. Your Craft skill is applicable to any normal crafting profession’s work, allowing you to fashion their wares without penalty.

Level 2: The first mod you add to an item requires no Maintenance and only half the silver piece cost usually required. This benefit is in addition to the benefits of installing a mod in masterwork gear you build. You automatically succeed at any attempt to build masterwork gear, and once per month you can reduce a created mod’s salvage cost by one further unit, down to a minimum of zero.

Nullifier

Something about your hero interferes with easy use of magic on them. It may be a strangely powerful birth blessing, a particular supernatural bloodline, or simple occult incompatibility. This Focus cannot be taken by Mages or Partial Mages.

Level 1: You and all allies within twenty feet gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws against magical effects. As an On Turn action, you can feel the presence or use of magic within twenty feet of you, though you can’t discern details about it or the specific source. The first failed saving throw against a magical effect you suffer in a day is turned into a success.

Level 2: Once per day, as an Instant action, you are simply not affected by an unwanted magical effect or supernatural monstrous ability, even if it wouldn’t normally allow a saving throw. Immunity to a persistent effect lasts for the rest of the scene.

Polymath

You have a passing acquaintance with a vast variety of practical skills and pastimes, and can make a modest attempt at almost any exercise of skill or artisanry. Note that the phantom skill levels granted by this Focus don’t stack with normal skill levels or give a skill purchase discount. Only Experts or Partial Experts can take this Focus.

Level 1: Gain any one bonus skill. You treat all non-combat skills as if they were at least level-0 for purposes of skill checks, even if you lack them entirely.

Level 2: You treat all non-combat skills as if they were at least level-1 for purposes of skill checks.

Savage Fray

You are a whirlwind of bloody havoc in melee combat, and can survive being surrounded far better than most combatants.

Level 1: Gain Melee as a bonus skill. All enemies adjacent to you at the end of your turn whom you have not attacked suffer the Shock damage of your weapon if their Armor Class is not too high to be affected.

Level 2: After suffering your first melee hit in a round, any further melee attacks from other assailants automatically miss you. If the attacker who hits you has multiple attacks, they may attempt all of them, but other foes around you simply miss.

Sniper

You are an expert at placing a bullet or beam on an unsuspecting target. These special benefits only apply when making an Execution Attack with a firearm or bow, as described on page 52.

Level 1: Gain Shoot as a bonus skill. When making a skill check for an Execution Attack or target shooting, roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die.

Level 2: A target hit by your Execution Attack takes a -4 penalty on the Physical saving throw to avoid immediate mortal injury. Even if the save is successful, the target takes double the normal damage inflicted by the attack.

Specialist

You are remarkably talented at a particular skill. Whether a marvelous cat burglar, a world-famous athlete, a brilliant engineer, or some other savant, your expertise is extremely reliable. You may take this focus more than once for different skills.

Level 1: Gain a non-combat, non-psychic skill as a bonus. Roll 3d6 and drop the lowest die for all skill checks in this skill.

Level 2: Roll 4d6 and drop the two lowest dice for all skill checks in this skill.

Star Captain

You have a tremendous natural talent for ship combat, and can make any starship you captain a significantly more fearsome opponent. You must take the captain’s role during a fight as described on page 117 of the Ship Combat rules in order to benefit from this focus.

Level 1: Gain Lead as a bonus skill. Your ship gains 2 extra Command Points at the start of each turn.

Level 2: A ship you captain gains bonus hit points equal to 20% of its maximum at the start of each combat. Damage is taken from these bonus points first, and they vanish at the end of the fight and do not require repairs to replenish before the next. In addition, once per engagement, you may resolve a Crisis as an Instant action by explaining how your leadership resolves the problem.

Tinker

You have a natural knack for modifying and improving equipment, as given in the rules on page 100.

Level 1: Gain Craft as a bonus skill. Your Maintenance score is doubled, allowing you to maintain twice as many mods. Both ship and gear mods cost only half their usual price in credits, though pretech salvage requirements remain the same.

Level 2: Your Craft skill is treated as one level higher for purposes of building and maintaining mods and calculating your Maintenance score. Advanced mods require one fewer pretech salvage part to make, down to a minimum of zero.

Spirit Familiar

You have a minor spirit, devil, construct, magical beast, or other creature as a devoted companion. While its abilities are limited, it is absolutely loyal to you.

Level 1: Choose a form for your familiar no smaller than a cat nor larger than a human. It has the traits and abilities of an entity created by Calculation of the Evoked Servitor on page 68, but may be summoned or dismissed as a Main Action, appearing within melee range of its owner. It cannot carry objects with it during its vanishment aside from the clothing natural to its shape. It has no need for food, water, or sleep. If killed, it vanishes and cannot be re-summoned for 24 hours. Once per day, it can refresh one point of Committed Effort for you.

Level 2: Pick two benefits from the list below for your familiar. This level may be taken more than once, adding two additional options each time.

• It has hit points equal to three times your level
• It gains the ability to attack with a hit bonus equal to half your level, rounded up, doing 1d8 damage on a hit with no Shock
• It gains a +1 skill check bonus and can apply it to a range of situations equivalent to one normal human background
• It gains another shape of your choice which it can adopt or discard as an On Turn action
• It can hover or fly at its usual movement rate
• It can communicate freely with others in any language you know

Unarmed Combatant

Your empty hands are more dangerous than swords in the grip of the less gifted. Your unarmed attacks are counted as melee weapons when it comes to binding up opponents wielding bows and similar ranged long arms, though you need at least one hand free to do so.

Level 1: Gain Brawl as a bonus skill. Your unarmed attacks become more dangerous as your Brawl skill increases. At level-0, they do 1d6 damage. At level-1, they do 1d8 damage. At level-2 they do 1d10, level-3 does 1d12, and level-4 does 1d12+1. At Brawl-1 or better, they have the Shock quality equal to your Brawl skill against AC 15 or less. While you normally add your Brawl skill level to any unarmed damage, don’t add it twice to this Shock damage.

Level 2: Even on a miss with a Brawl attack, you do an unmodified 1d6 damage, plus any Shock that the blow might inflict on the target.

Valiant Defender

You are a bodyguard, shieldbearer, or other gifted defender of others, accustomed to the roil of bloody battle and desperate struggle. You have an exceptional ability to shield your allies from the attacks of those who would slay them.

Level 1: Gain Melee or Brawl as a bonus skill. Gain a +2 on all skill checks for the Screen Ally combat action. You can screen against one more attacker per round than your skill would normally allow. Once per round, you can Screen Ally against even intangible spells or magical attacks or bodily shield them from an area-effect explosion or magic. Such attempts require the usual successful opposing skill check, with the assailant using their Magic skill.

Level 2: The first Screen Ally skill check you make in a round is always successful. Gain +2 AC while screening someone. You can screen against foes as large as ogres or oxen.

Well Met

You have a striking ability to charm and pacify people and creatures you’ve just met. Once they get to know you, however, their opinions are more likely to be based on experience; this Focus works only once on a target.

Level 1: Reaction rolls made by those the party meets are given a +1 bonus so long as you are present, whether or not you do the talking. Even hostile encountered beings will usually give the party a round to parley before attacking unless they’re in ambush or have a clear reason for immediate violence.

Level 2: Once per game session, when a reaction roll is made, cause the subject to be as friendly and helpful to you and your party as it’s plausibly possible for them to be. It’s up to the GM to decide why the creature becomes so; it might be mistaken about your nature, or find you hilarious, or perhaps want a favor from you and your allies.

Whirlwind Assault

You are a frenzy of bloody havoc in melee combat, and can hack down numerous lesser foes in close combat... assuming you survive being surrounded.

Level 1: Gain Melee as a bonus skill. Once per scene, as an On Turn action, apply your Shock damage to all foes within melee range, assuming they’re susceptible to your Shock.

Level 2: The first time you kill someone in a round with a normal attack, either with its rolled damage on a hit or with the Shock damage it inflicts, instantly gain a second attack on any target within range using any Ready weapon you have.

Species

Fraal

The fraal are thin humanoids, averaging about five feet in height. They can be distinguished by their large eyes, their pale, almost luminous skin, their socket like ears and nose, and their rounded heads. Fraal do not have hair, and some individuals draw complex geometric shapes upon their heads as a form of self expression.

Fraal are a dying species, they have very long lifecycles, like the elves, but they can only produce offspring every hundred years. Luckily the Fraal lack biological gender, but two individuals are required to create a new fraal, that must later need to be incubated in special breeding vats, as they cannot develop naturally without the aid of psychic energy.

Focus, Level-1: You gain a +1 to all your Mental stats, but suffer a -1 to all physical stats. You have a natural resistance to magic, gaining a +2 bonus on all saves against hostile magical effects.

You can take the full or partial of any Psychic class.

Humans

Humans are hardy and adventurous creatures that rely on grit and teamwork. Humans also are highly social, and excel in a variety of social arenas.

Focus, Level-1 Gain Connect, and Persuation as a bonus skills. Humans have grit and persist where many others would give up, once per scene humans can re-roll, and take the higher result, on an attack, save, or skill roll if they previously tried and failed at that same roll.

Illithid

The illithid, also known as a mind flayer or mindflayer, is a hostile, spacefaring humanoid creature. Illithids are infamous for their grotesque eating habits, which involve grabbing prey with their tentacles, then tearing the prey's brains out to eat. Cruel and sadistic, they often trade slaves. However because of the astronomical distances involved in space faring, many Illithid spend a larger portion of their life away from direct contact with their elder brain, and thus develop hobbies and more of a personality of their own.

Illithid traders though ruthless, know well enough that eating the brains of those it trades with is not good for business. So generally it is safe to be around Illithid in public, and civilized areas. However, raiding an Illithid colony, or being stranded on an asteroid alone with an Illithid is another story...

Illithid outcasts

Illithid character are a thing. However you are an outcast, and serve no elder brain colony. In Wildspace where distances are huge, this is not an uncommon incident. There are also other ways to sustain oneself without fresh brains, although from an Illithid's point of view, for example visiting a morgue for a snack is gross, it might be more acceptable to your party members.

Focus, Level-1: You can speak telepathically to any creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic messages, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language or be telepathic itself.

You can consume the fresh brain and sense the mire of it's fleeting emotions and thoughts. While consuming a fresh brain you can learn information from the brain. The brain only knows only what it knew in life, including the languages it knew. Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive. The brain can't maintain a conversation, and it can't speculate about future events.

You can take the full or partial of any Psychic class.

Lizardlords

Lizardlords, are what spaceborn lizardfolk call themselves. Lizardlords are smarter and way more clever than their groundling brethern, however this is apparently an result of lizardfolk eggs hatched in space near suns. There is no racial divergence besides the rearing aspect of eggs among lizardlords and lizardfolks.

For the lizardlords charity and compassion for the weak is unknown, and not expected. A lizardlord that can no longer provide for themselves will hold a living-funeral ceremony, give up their name, lose all social rights, and will go on to live the rest of it's days at the fringes of their society.

Focus, Level-1 Gain Survive as bonus skills. Your unarmored Armor Class is 13, and if you wear better armor you get a +1 bonus to its AC. You need only half the usual amount of food, water, and air if you are not exerting yourself.

Nadezhda

Nadezhda are a species of evolved space roach. The Nadezhda are stubborn, and take it to heart to never give up hope. But they do believe equally to live another day, retreating and hiding, waiting for the correct moment to strike.

Other species tend to have an irrational fear and repulsion of the Nadezhda visage. The few Nadezhda that do interact with other races for this reason tend to keep their identities veiled in secret using dark robes and masks.

Focus, Level-1 You gain Exert as a bonus skill. You can double your movement by crawling on all limbs, you can squeeze through tight places, and can sense surroundings in complete darkness out to twenty feet, able to distinguish solid objects as if you were using your sense of sight. When trying to succeed at a skill through the use of fear or causing others to be unsettled you may reroll a failed skill check once per day.

Rock Hoppers

The rockhoppers are small yet surprisingly sturdy humanoids, with feathered manes, large eyes, and soft beaks. They are not avian, but many find them somewhat similar to owls. They live among the stars, traveling on skiffs between asteroids, hunting and living off of wildspace behemoths to feed their people.

Although small, rock hoppers are very rugged, active, and have muscles of steel, leading rock hoppers to be much stronger than their appearances would ever suggest. Many a rock hopper enjoys competing in feats of strength with unsuspecting larger humanoids.

Focus, Level-1 You have Exert as a Bonus Skill, and can readily traverse jagged terrain, or anything that would benefit from jumping, like an arena consisting of pillars. You can wield weapons as a medium sized creature, despite being small. You are accustomed to hunting large beasts, and gain a +2 to AC when fighting large beasts and monsters. Additionally Once per scene you can reroll an attack, or save against large beasts.

Plasmoid

Plasmoid are highly intelligent and extremely dextrous oozes, able to manipulate every fiber of their being. Plasmoids can alter the fibers of their bodies to form interior pouches for carrying items, limbs to use as legs, arms, tails, heads, etc., and air pockets that can be squeezed to produce sound to talk.

Plasmoids love treasure and power. Thus adventuring has attracted their attention, particularly space with its endless possibilities. Plasmoids enjoy philosophical debates, storytelling, and they are commonly employed in the political arena because of their near-tireless ability to speak about nothing at great length.

When plasmoids sleep or lose consciousness, they lose their rigidity and ooze to conform to the area they are in. This can be a very dangerous thing for plasmoids, thus they select their sleeping chambers with great care.

Focus Level-1: You are an amoeboid blob that can manipulate objects with extruded pseudopods and flow through small spaces. Constitution modifier by +1. You need an atmosphere to keep your shape indefinitely, but do not need fresh air.

You can take the partial class of Biopsionics or Telepathy Psychic.

Scro

Scro are large goblinoids characterized by prideful ruthlessness and brutality. Scro practice feudalism, and have an honor based warrior caste. However they also practice complex cultural customs, full of symbolic ritualism, enjoy poetry and the art of weapon care.

Scro live in a regimented society, based on a complex system of laws and customs that call for unswerving loyalty and obedience. Each scro is a valued member of society and has a duty to fulfill. Leaders are elders respected and obeyed unless they show obvious cowardice in battle. In that case, it is the strongest scro's duty to overthrow the coward's authority and lead the troops in glorious battle.

Focus, Level-1 Gain Education, and one Any-Combat as bonus skills. You are fearless, and non magical fear and shocks don't affect you. Magical effects still function as normal. You gain a +1 bonus to their normal attack bonus.

Starforged

Artificial automata that need neither sleep, eat, nor drink. They are immune to vacuum and don't require air. They cannot be poisoned or diseased by normal forms of toxin. VIs can be healed with spare parts and the work of someone with Craft-0 skill. VIs can always repair themselves, even without the requisite skill. Each unit of spare parts heals lost hit points equal to the VI’s character level and takes fifteen minutes to apply.

VIs reduced to zero hit points but not entirely smashed are incapacitated and Badly Damaged. Removing this quality requires 24 hours of work by a technician and at least one unit of spare parts, after which damage can be repaired as normal. As a field expedient, a tech can jury-rig a Badly Damaged VI in the field, healing it with spare parts at the normal rate and speed. If such a bot is reduced to zero hit points again while Badly Damaged, however, it must make a Physical save or be permanently destroyed.

Focus, Level 1: Gain a bonus skill related to your intended function. Choose an attribute associated with your work and gain a +1 bonus to its modifier, up to a maximum of +2. You have all the usual traits and abilities of a VI robot.

Thri-kreen

Spelljamming kreen are gifted hunters and surgeons. And it is practically their religion to adorn and augment their bodies through surgery, which they consider temples. Many kreen warriors go as far as replacing limbs with weaponry and tools.

Thri-kreen minds, behavior, and physiology often seem bizarre to members of other races. But despite their fierce appearance, the insectlike humanoids can be loyal and courageous companions. Thri-kreen have most of the same needs and morals as do other races; they simply prioritize those needs and morals differently. Most important, thri-kreen judge others solely on physical and mental ability. The lazy and weak deserve contempt, regardless of race; likewise, strength and cleverness merit respect no matter who demonstrates these qualities.

Focus, Level-1 Gain Exert as bonus skills. And can perform standing jumps upto 20 feet. Your unarmored Armor Class is 13, and if you wear better armor you get a +1 bonus to its AC. You need only half the usual amount of food, water.

You can take the partial class of Biopsionics or Precognition Psychic.

Wiggle

The hurwaeti or Wiggles as they are colloquially called, were once a great spacefaring race that had colonized many systems, spreading art, civilization, morality, and an philosophy favoring altruism and discipline throughout the spheres. But an ancient war broke up their empire. The remaining spacefarers became impoverished wanderers, content to simply earn a living for themeselves and their tribes.

The Hurwaeti never surrender to beholders, illithid or neogi. It is said that their ancient interstellar empire fought all three enemies at the same time, which lead to their fall. If that is true they are lucky to have survived at all. In this era, they tend to work as skilled sailors and mercenaries, they normally get along quite well with the Giff and Hadozee as crewmates.

Don't mature or age until they are ready to go to the spawning stone to reproduce then die

Focus, Level-1 Gain Survival as bonus skills. You can breath in water or air, and are an excellent swimmer. You have a natural resistance to magic, gaining a +2 bonus on all saves against hostile magical effects.

Other playable species

Aarakocra, flying Bird folk.

Halflings, Goblins, small folk.

Kobolds and Dragonborn.

Felid-folk.

Vodoni, Canid-folk.

Other species

Air Units, Vaati

The typical air unit is the vaati (named after Wind Dukes of Aaqa). One vaati is the amount of air a small or medium creature requires to survive for one day. This table shows the amount of air a creature consumes.

Paying to breath

Inhabited wildspace ports and citadels charge an air tax of 1 gp per medium or small creature upon docking, and an additional 1 gp for each additional week. These fees are used by authorities to replenish air and other resources.

Travel

SpellJamming Helms

Jammer Leeches

Resembling the barnacle-like immature krajens, jammer leeches are unwittingly attracted by the spellcasters who power ships through wildspace and the phlogiston. They can be very dangerous if mishandled, and they always cause the ships they infest a great deal of trouble.

Kindori

Kindori are called space whales, and they are among the largest living creatures found in space. They resemble aquatic whales in general shape and are mammals as well. However, they lack any noticeable mouth, and the leading edge of their fishlike bodies is dotted with small eyes. Rock hoppers and other people tend to hitch rides or use kindori as means of travel as they can reach spelljamming speeds.

Krajens

The krajen develops in three stages: small spaceborne spores, a barnaclelike immature stage, and the huge, adult krajen that is the bane of the shipways. In its adult stage, the krajen can grow longer than most ships, and resembles a gargantuan aquatic squid. Its tubelike body is dominated at one end by a thick central tentacle, the base of which is surrounded by a cluster of smaller tentacles.

Maruts

A marut are incarnations of order and universal laws. They resemble massive statues made entirely of onyx, gold, diamond, or other materials, they tend to be humanoid in form but some look like suns or planetoids. Maruts are impervious to magic, and can bind entire regions to laws, gaining immediate awareness when one of their laws is broken, which causes them to take relentless action.

Q'nidar

The q'nidar are bat-like creatures that frequent the warmer areas of wildspace in search of food. They appear as gigantic bats with a semi-crystalline hide (not unlike that of the radiant dragon in appearance). The q'nidar feed on heat and light, which can be seen constantly arcing around and through them; from afar, these heat and light patterns streak behind them, resembling a vaporous trail.

Slaadi

Are creatures that frequently look like toads of different colors, shapes and sizes. The more powerful ones can change their shapes to anything they like however. Slaadi are creatures born from the primordial chaos, they are not metaphysically evil, but they enjoy violence, bullying anything weaker than themselves, and generally causing chaos and confusion as they strive to increase the entropy of the universe.

Slinkers

Slinkers are small, vaguely bird-like creatures. They stand approximately eight inches high on two hind legs. Their forelegs are short and usually held close to the body when the slinkers move, but these are also used to hold bits of food and handle small items.

Although not a danger in combat, but they are known to invade food supplies and multiply rapidly, draining supplies and air from unsuspecting spelljamming ships.

Space swine

The space swine are a species of boar, custom-bred by the mercantile dohwar for a variety of uses. They serve primarily as trackers, since they have uncanny senses.

Starfly plant

This colorful butterfly-shaped plant drifts slowly through wildspace, much to the delight of spelljammer crews – its fruit is delicious! Spelljammers consider the starfly plant an omen of good luck, since it not only ends hunger but also symbolizes wealth and happiness.

It is said that elves created their first organic ships through magically breeding Starflies over millenia of work.

Syllix

The syllix is a highly developed invertebrate, resembling a cross between a worm and a salamander. The syllix's body is segmented, tapering to a pointed tail and a worm-like head with a pair of wide, unblinking eyes. It has a long, forked tongue that is often slipping in and out of its mouth.

Umber hulks

Umber hulks looked somewhat like a cross between a gorilla and a beetle, they have four-eyes capable of causing unrest and confusion to anyone that looks into them. Their massive claws tunnel through rock with ease and their thick armor was as strong as full plate. These underdark titans would seem out of place in wildspace if not because Neogi praise them as servants and slaves. Meaning that they are very common anywhere neogi can be found.

Zeikune

The Zeikune a mysterious floating starfish that, like the grell can apparently travel under space, as they seem to appear out of nowhere even in enclosed areas. They hunt animals and devour their organs, leaving only the empty carcass. How they travel is a mystery as they normally crawl out of impossible places, and while observed they never just "leave" as easily as they arrived.