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Space Mafia!
A Galaxy Command Sourcebook
Written by Chris A. FieldCover Art by Sphere Productions
Interior Art Courtesy Anthony Cournoyer, Shaman’s Stock Art, Action RPG Counters, Black Hand Stock, Cogwork Creations, Louis Porter Jr. Image Portfolio, Sphere Productions
Some artwork taken from Sci-Fi Clip Art Collections 1 and 3, copyright © Phillip Reed and Christopher Shy. Used with permission. To learn more visit www.roninarts.com.
Planetary Artwork © 2009 Wydraz, aka Anthony Affrunti
Space Images courtesy www.nasa.gov
Copyright 2010, Otherverse Games
WWW.OTHERVERSEGAMES.BLOGSPOT.COM
Requires the Use of the D20 Modern Core Rulebook and D20 Future Sourcebook
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The war between GalaxyCommand and the relentless forces of the WARSTAR Empire may be the universe’s biggest conflict, but its far from the only one. And as Galaxy Command’s famous
Galactic Marshals and other heroes are occupied by the conflict, forms of crime long thought eradicated flourish. An entire shadow economy, one based around murder-for-hire, weapons smug-gling, trade in xeno-slaves and exotic chems, blockade running and high piracy, has emerged from the shadows.
Even a star-spanning organization like Galaxy Command can’t be everywhere, and with an entire universe available as bolt-holes, clever galactic racketeers can stay a few light-years ahead of the law. Unafraid of the
Command’s psycho-rehabilitation programs and hardened to life on some forgotten prison asteroid, the galaxy’s worst criminals run ram-pant. The toughest, most daring and most violent criminals swear the Omerta Oath of the Space Mafia, and draw their power from the Black Sun of Crime!
Law of the Galaxy
Galaxy Command’s Galactic Marshals, Adorable Avengers and other heroes act as traveling law-bringers, solving crises beyond the capabilities of planetary law enforcement agencies. The year 3476 is a time of peace, and for the vast majority of the Milky Way’s trillions of citizens, a time of plenty and prosperity. Old crimes and the old hopelessness of the pre-starflight era have all but vanished on Command worlds, though many of the smaller and less prosperous ‘fringer’ worlds have their own problems. Outlaw worlds, which have utterly
rejected Galaxy Command’s aid and assimilation, can range from libertarian paradises with their own kind of honor to violent hell-pits where only the strong survive, and gangers thrive. Behind WARSTAR’s iron curtain of space, criminals may be freedom fighters, or they can be greedy opportunists looking to make a credit off others misery.
The galaxy’s criminals are well organized, though not as monolithic as most Galaxy Command operatives would have you believe. The criminal community is organized into a loosely aligned federation. The major galactic crime families,
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at this Council of Crime. The Council of Crime meets under the dark light of the Black Sun of Crime, a dying grey-dwarf star deep within the Prison Zone.
Once or twice a year, the Black Sun’s radioactive corona dims, as some system deep within the electronic star fails for the umpteenth time. The Council of Crime meets there, on the barren world
New Montanya, which is bathed in lethal
radiation 8-10 months of every Galactic Standard year. Those unable to attend the conclaves in person appear as flickering blue holo-wave ghosts. Each council meeting is a chance to air grievances and settle territorial disputes, set prices for the next quarter and decide new strategies to be used in the constant struggle against Galaxy Command cops.
The Black Sun of Crime
The Black Sun of Crime is an artificial AI-operated sun created millions of years ago, and exiled to the Prison Zone for its atrocities. Originally intended to warm the outer planets of a Proximite colony system, the Black Sun instead bathed the worlds in lethal radiation storms, killing millions and demanding the worship of its creators. Only heroic intervention was able to deactivate the Black Sun of Crime long enough to arrange its permanent exile to the Prison Zone. Over the next few million years, the Black Sun of Crime languished in obscurity, its systems failing one by one until it is the stellar wreck known today.
The Space Mafia and most of the senior members of the Council of Crime have learned how to extract energy from the dying star. This energy gives Council members and Silencer enforcers vast psychic power. Upon their induction into the Space Mafia, a young soldier swears an oath of loyalty to the Black Sun of Crime, promising to uphold the Mafia’s honor and follow the Code of Omerta.
Impossibly ancient and frail, the Black Sun of Crime no longer dreams of being a living stellar god. Today, it’s only ambition is to hire the best star-techs it can afford, buying whatever replacements and upgrades it can find to stave off its eventual demise. The sentient sun is the aging ‘don’ of the Space Mafia, a respected and almost feared figure-head, but forced to leave the day to day operations of the Space Mafia to its capos. Even in its weak-ened and decrepit state, the Black Sun can expect to endure for another hundred thousand years, or more. As one of the galaxy’s most ancient super-intelligences, the Black Sun has little nice to say about the universe’s other immortals: to the Black Sun, the Adam Intelligence is just a little punk, and the majestic Quith are just a bunch of damn bugs.
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The Code of Omerta
The Space Mafia has its own code of honor and conduct, one dating back to Earth’s pre-spaceflight era. Though criminals, the men, women and things of the Space Mafia aren’t animals, and have their own strange laws. Loyalty and silence are the organization’s foremost virtues. Ratting out a fellow made-sentient to the Command is punishable by death, and any friendly contact with a Galaxy Command agent is frowned upon. The Space Mafia upholds traditions thousands of years old, renitence and xenophobia foremost among them.
Most Space Mafia families are insular and paranoid, protected from Command incursion by their asteroid-palace’s security screens. Many Space Mafiosos distrust everything about Galaxy Command, rejecting every aspect of the culture, even the most benign parts of Command life out of hand. Space Mafia children will never set foot in a Command Academy, and are instead educated by Mafia tutors and slave-AI. Knowing nothing else, these Mafia-born kids eventually follow their fathers into the family business, and on their 21st birthdays,
take the Oath of Crime.
Once a sentient takes the Oath of Crime he, she or it is ‘made’ and is considered a full member of the Space Mafia, with all the privileges that entails. Made-sentients are allowed access to Mafia safehouses and pleasure-dens across the galaxy, allowed to become Silencers or Shipbreakers, and given the respect that is their due. On Mafia-run worlds, disrespecting a made-sentient is a death sentence for the offender, and even the
‘unmade’sons and daughters of senior Capos must defer to made-sentients. Characters can only take the Oath of Crime during a Council of Crime conclave, and must directly address their oath to the Black Sun of Crime. In a strange way, towards the end of its impossibly long existence, the Black Sun finally has the worship it demanded during its infancy.
Starting Occupation: Space Mafioso
You grew up hard and strong on a Mafia-owned planet or habitat. Instead of a conventional education, you learned how to fight, to crack a safe, to shakedown a merchant freighter at a specialized Crime Academy. When you were old enough to take your oath, childhood was over and you fol-lowed your father and older brothers into the family business, and your loyalty to your crew is unques-tioned.
Prerequisite: Age 21+
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as
permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Bluff, Demolitions, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Knowledge (business, streetwise), Move Silently, Sleight of Hand
Preselected Feat: Oathbound (Space
Mafia). All made-sentients must declare their loyalty to the organization’s immortal capo, the Black Sun of Crime.
Bonus Feat: Select either Black Marketer,
Brawl, Combat Reflexes, Confident, Exotic Melee Weapons Proficiency, Personal Firearms Proficiency or Toughness
Wealth Bonus Increase: +2 Reputation Bonus Increase: +1
Starting Occupation: Psych-Reformed Criminal
Galaxy Command does not execute conven-tional criminals, and their prison planets are small, humane places run by efficient AI wardens, exclu-sively for the most hardened criminals. Instead of punishment, the Adam Intelligence’s government focuses on rehabilitating young offenders through psyhic reconditioning and job training. Minor criminals often serve a sentence of psycho-rehab from home, rather than a term of imprisionment, while others young offenders might be inducted to a Command Academy, where they learn a Command approved profession while completing the rehab program.
Once released from a psycho-reform program, former criminals often find work aboard Galaxy Command’s ships and stations, and many
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find their old criminal skills and contacts make them useful adventurers and police themselves, now that they’re on the right side of the law. A few manage to overcome their mental reprogramming, returning to a life of crime with a new knowledge of their
adversary’s culture and tactics.
Prerequisite: Age 16+
Skills: Choose three of the following skills
as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Bluff, Craft (electronics, mechanical) Disable Device, Disguise, Drive, Hide, Intimidate, Knowl-edge (streetwise, technology), Move Silently, Pilot, Repair
Bonus Feat: Select one of the following
feats: Brawl, Deceptive, Confident, Educated, Lightning Reflexes, Low Profile, Oathbound (Galaxy Command), Planetary Adaptation, Personal Fire-arms Proficiency, Vehicle Expert
Wealth Bonus Increase: +1
Special: The psycho-reconditioning is as
humane as 35th century psi-science can make it, but
it leaves some psychological scars. Characters from this starting occupation can never receive the Iron Will feat.
In Mafia-controlled space, crime is a respected way to make a living, and knowing how to shim a lock or pick a pocket is a viable study path for young sentients. The Blue Collar, Criminal, Gladiator, and Heir occupations are extremely common. Heirs are the privileged children of Space Mafia capos and under bosses, who are better educated than their Space Mafioso counterparts, and are expected to branch out into legitimate business and galactic politics, to better serve their family’s interest. Gladiators and Blue Collar charac-ters are usually slaves forced to labor for Mafia overlords. Many lower-class citizens of Mafia-worlds dream of becoming soldiers to improve their lot in life, and many of the most desperate become Gladiators in hopes of changing their lives with the prize money.
The Silencer
Advanced Class
Silencers are the Space Mafia’s most elite enforcers. They are trusted underbosses and pro-spective capos allowed to lead teams of junior Space Mafiosos and hired thugs. Silencers are responsible for ensuring ‘client’ worlds pay their protection fees on time, and don’t rat to the Com-mand. When somebody finally gets up the courage to talk to the Galactic Marshals, a Silencer is dispatched to eliminate the witness, the Marshals involved, and even the entire hemisphere if neces-sary. Bloodthirsty in the extreme, Silencers are coldly professional, and are equipped with some of the most frightening weapons the Mafia has to offer.
Requirements:
To qualify to become a Silencer, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Intimidate +8, Knowledge (Streetwise) +4 Feats: Oathbound (Space Mafia)
Starting Occupation: Space Mafioso Class Information
The following information pertains to the Silencer advanced class.
Hit Die
The Silencer gains d8 hit points per level. The character’s Constitution modifier applies. Silencers are tough and battle ready, but they lack the disci-pline of true soldiers.
Action Points
The Silencer gains a number of action points equal to + one-half of his character level, rounded down every time he attains a new level in this class.
Class Skills
The Silencer’s class skills are as follows.
Bluff (CHA), Climb (STR), Demolitions (INT), Escape Artist (DEX), Gamble (CHA), Intimidate (CHA), Knowledge (streetwise, tactics,
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technology) (INT), Move Silently (DEX), Pilot (DEX), Read/Speak Language, Spot (WIS)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + INT Modifier
Bonus Feats: At 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th level, the
Silencer receives a bonus fear, which must be chosen from the following list.
Advanced Combat Martial Arts, Armor Proficiency (any), Black Marketer, Boarding
Expert, Brawl, Canny Smuggler, Combat Martial
Arts, Drive By Attack, Exotic Firearms Proficiency, Improved Combat Martial Arts, Low Profile, Starship Operations, Toughness, Two Weapon Fighting, Unlikely Escape, Weapon Focus, Wind-fall, Zero-G Commando, Zero-G Training
Bold feats are described in the Galaxy
Command campaign setting.
Frightful Presence (EX): A first level Silencer
receives Frightful Presence as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequistes. If the character already has this feat, the save DC to resist the Silencer’s frightful presence is increased by +4.
Legbreaker (EX): Silencers prefer victims that
can’t run away. Anytime the Silencer successfully confirms a critical hit with a melee attack, in addition to the normal effect of the hit, the victim’s base land speed is reduced by 5 ft for 24 hours. The effects of this ability stack with themselves and other effects that slow the target.
Expert Intimidator (EX): At 3rd level, a Silencer
really learns how to throw his weight around and get what he wants. When the Silencer uses Intimidate to change a target’s attitude, the target remain intimi-date for at least a number of days equal to your Silencer Class level, and remains intimidated even when out of your presence.
Code of Silence (SU): Starting at 5th level, the
Silencer gains specialized psychic talents to help him enforce the harsh code of Omerta. The Silencer can invoke this mind-affecting ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his CHA modifier, as a stan-dard action.
By locking gazes with any creature within 30 ft who can clearly see and hear the Silencer, the
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s s a l C l e v e L e s a B k c a t t A s u n o B T R O F e v a S F E R e v a S L L I W e v a S Special e s n e f e D s u n o B -u p e R n o i t a t s u n o B t s 1 +0 +1 +1 +0 FrightfulPresence, Legbreaker +1 +0 d n 2 +1 +2 +2 +0 Bonus Feat +1 +0 d r 3 +2 +2 +2 +1 Expert Intimidator +2 +1 h t 4 +3 +2 +2 +1 Bonus Feat +2 +1 h t 5 +3 +3 +3 +1 Code ofSilence +3 +1 h t 6 +4 +3 +3 +2 Bonus Feat +3 +2 h t 7 +5 +4 +4 +2 Silenced Hostages +4 +2 h t 8 +6 +4 +4 +2 Bonus Feat +4 +2 h t 9 +6 +4 +4 +3 Relentless Pursuit +5 +3 h t 0 1 +7 +5 +5 +3 Track and Kill +5 +3character may attempt to impose psychic silence on the target. If the target fails a WILL Save (DC 10 + the Silencer’s class level + his CHA modifier), the target becomes unable to speak, write or otherwise communicate about a specific topic, chosen by the Silencer. If the target attempts to communicate information about this forbidden target, he or she suffers 3d6 points of psychic-based subdual damage.
This Code of Silence remains in effect for a number of days equal to the Silencer’s class level plus his CHA modifier.
Action Enhancement: By spending an action point
after successfully affecting the target with this ability, the Silencer can transform the psychic damage inflicted into lethal damage.
Silenced Hostages (SU): At 7th level, the
Silencer’s psychic talents become even more cruel. Now, when he affects a target with his Code of Silence talent, the Silencer may name or otherwise
clearly identify one additional character, who is allied with the initial target. This additional target also suffers damage if the target violates the Code of Silence, regardless of distance, so long as both initial and secondary targets are on the same plane of existence.
Relentless Pursuit (SU): Silenced victims can’t
run, can’t’ hide from a 9th level Silencer. The
Si-lencer gains an infallible psychic insight into the current location of any creature he has ever success-fully used his Code of Silence class ability on.
The Silencer knows the current location, the location’s name, and the distance and direction to any Silenced target, current or past. It requires a full round action to get a lock on a specific target. Targets on another plane of existence, or traveling through hyperspace at the time of the lock-on attempt can’t be tracked.
Track and Kill (SU): At 10th level, the Silencer
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has ever successfully used the Code of Silence classability on. The Silencer automatically confirms critical hits made against these targets, and the critical threat range of any weapons used against Silenced targets is increased by one.
The Silencer receives a +2 competence bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, Intimidate and
The Techno Samurai
Advanced Class
The old Yakuza clans bred into the Space Mafia centuries before, bringing their own traditions and sense of honor to the Council of Crime. Techno Samurai are the sword and fist of the Space Mafia, killing with specially designed blades, and acting as guards for both senior Capos and veteran Silencers.
You call yourself samurai; you live by a code of strength and honor, of stoic murder and obedi-ence to those above you in the Space Mafia. Your code demands substance: you must be willing to die for the gang, to take a 9,000 year sentence to the Wraith Zone with a smirk and never speak a word of who gave you your orders. It also demands style: you must be a consummate lover, a gangster in thousand dollar silk, able to swing a katana with enough skill to put the swordplay in Old Terran legends to shame.
You’re a genetically engineered Neo-Yakuza gangster, wearing your dueling scars and rainbow of tattoos as both armor and uniform. You’re a Techno Samurai, the last bastion of honor and strength left in this sadly fallen Galaxy and let your enemies piss themselves at your approach.
The fastest path into the Techno Samurai Advanced Class is through the Dedicated Hero basic class, though other paths are possible At least on Dreadnaught Level is required to become a Techno Samurai.
Requirements:
To qualify to become a Techno Samurai, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Skills: Knowledge (history) 4 ranks; Knowledge
(popular culture) 4 ranks; Knowledge (streetwise) 4 ranks; Speak Language: Old Terran (Japanese)
Feats: Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency (katana),
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Dreadnaught Class Feature: Fearless. Techno
Samuari must be without fear, and young sword-warriors turn to genetic engineering to remove their flight instincts completely.
Special: The prospective Techno Samurai must
swear allegiance to the Neo Yakuza and the Space Mafia and its ruling Council of Crime.
Most Samurai must undertake a mission, murdering an enemy of the Yakuza with Hit Dice or levels equal 1.5 x to the character’s own and bringing back photos when the deed is done. The prospective Samurai must make the killing blow, but may be aided by allies and other gangsters.
Class Information
The following information pertains to the Techno Samurai advanced class.
Hit Die
The Techno Samurai gains d8 hit points per level. The character’s Constitution modifier applies. Techno Samurai train every bit as hard as their Edo-period ancestors, but they are slightly weakened by the drugs, sex, and good booze of today’s Mafia pleasure domes.
Action Points
The Techno Samurai gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half of his character level, rounded down every time he attains a new level in this class.
Class Skills
The Techno Samurai’s class skills are as follows. Balance (DEX), Climb (STR), Diplomacy (CHA), Disguise (CHA), Drive (DEX), Escape
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Artist (DEX), Forgery (INT), Gamble (CHA),Gather Information (CHA), Hide (DEX), Intimidate (CHA), Jump (STR), Knowledge (history, popular culture, streetwise, tactics) (INT), Listen (WIS), Move Silently (DEX), Read/Write Language, Speak Language, Spot (WIS), Tumble (DEX)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + INT Modifier
s s a l C l e v e L e s a B k c a t t A s u n o B T R O F e v a S F E R e v a S L L I W e v a S Special e s n e f e D s u n o B -u p e R n o i t a t s u n o B t s 1 +0 +1 +1 +0 35thCenturyBushido, Crime d r o w S s s e l t r o f f E , e d a l B +1 1 + d n 2 +1 +2 +2 +0 Atone inHatred +1 +1 d r 3 +2 +2 +2 +1 Bonus Feat +2 +1 h t 4 +3 +3 +2 +1 Blade ofthe Onior Neo Samurai +2 +2 h t 5 +3 +3 +3 +1 Resolve or Sword Meditation +3 +2 h t 6 +4 +3 +3 +2 Bonus Feat +3 +2 h t 7 +5 +4 +4 +2 Undefended Sword +4 +3 h t 8 +6 +4 +4 +2 RecitationofHonor +4 +3 h t 9 +6 +5 +5 +3 Bonus Feat +5 +3 h t 0 1 +7 +5 +5 +3 UnseenBlade +5 +4
Bonus Feats: At 3rd, 6th and 9th level, the Techno
Samurai may choose a bonus feat, which must be selected from the following list.
Acupuncture, Agile Riposte, Acrobatic,
Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Atemi Gunman,
Atemi Mastery, Atemi Strike, Blind Fight, Body Hardening Defense, Combat Martial Arts, Combat
Reflexes, Confident, Deceptive, Dodge, Double Tap, Far Shot, Frightful Presence, Heroic Surge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, One Inch
Punch, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank
Shot, Quick Draw, Samurai Resolve,
Strangle-hold, Snakefinger Jab, Two Weapon Fighting,
Weapon Focus (katana), Windfall
Italicized Feats originally presented in another Otherverse Games product
35th Century Bushido (EX): The Techno Samurai
has adapted the ancient teachings of bushido to the modern world, and blended them with the equally ancient traditions of the yakuza. The Samurai’s code emphasizes honor, personal responsibility and trustworthiness within the gang, and resolute silence when dealing with outsiders. A Samurai may brag of his exploits, but will never testify to his crimes in court.
Each day, the Samurai receives a pool of bonus points equal to the number of enemies (with CR/levels equal to his own) he has personally slain on the gang’s orders. The maximum bonus pool is 20 + the Techno Samurai’s class level.
The Samurai may spend any amount of bonus points, up to his current class level, to im-prove the result of any of the following checks:
Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot and all WILL saves.
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The Samurai may spend bonus points after rolling the check, but before the results of the check are revealed.
Upon their first level in this class, Techno Samurai are issued a High Frequency Sword styled after a traditional katana. The Techno Samurai can use all features which require the use of a katana with this specialized High Frequency sword as well. Traditionally, Techno Samurai carry their HF Katana into battle, and reserve their traditional samurai’s katana for ceremonial use.
Effortless Sword (EX): Techno Samurai are
expected to train with the katana until their hands tremble with exertion and their muscles scream with torment. To do anything less dishonors not only them, but the gang and the obyan they serve.
Each day, the Samurai receives a pool of bonus damage points equal to his CHA modifier plus his Samurai class level (minimum two points). When attacking with a katana, the Samurai can add any number of bonus damage points to any success-ful attack roll. The Samurai decides to add the bonus damage after the attack roll is resolved; allowing the Samurai to slice through an adversary with seemingly no effort. The bonus damage is added in, not multiplied on a critical hit.
Crime Blade (SU): The Techno Samurai can
manifest a crimson version of the standard Galaxy Command cosmic blade. The Techno Samuari may select Blade of the Cosmos and any feats in the Cosmic Blade feat tree even without meeting the allegiance requirements. These feats are considered Bonus Feats for the Techno Samurai.
The Techno Samurai can use any class ability which requires a katana with a Cosmic Blade instead.
Atone in Hatred (EX): When the Samurai fails,
when his dishonor becomes great, he atones in the traditional way: he severs one of his fingers and presents the bloody offering to his lord as a token of shame. If the Samurai is ever defeated in battle,
surrenders to, or is humiliated by any one he or she considers a worthy enemy (always someone of equivalent CR/level), he must perform a bloody ceremony of atonement.
The ceremony takes at least 30 minutes to perform, and requires the removal of one of the Samurai’s finger joints. Each time the ceremony is performed, the Samurai permanently sacrifices 1 rank in any skill involving manual dexterity.
Once completed, the ceremony refocuses the Samurai’s mind and stokes the fires of hate in their breast. The Samurai receives a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls against the enemy named in the ceremony from that point on. The ceremony can only be preformed once in reference to any specific enemy.
Blade of the Oni (EX): Techno Samurai fight as
fearsomely as any dog-faced demon, and with their swords, send the enemies of the gang screaming towards Hell. The Samurai receives a +4 bonus on all Sunder and Disarm attempts he makes when wielding a katana.
Neo Samurai (EX): The Techno Samurai is bound
by tradition, but not blinded by it; he wields 35th century weapons as adroitly as he wields his blade. The Samurai may choose any specific ranged weapon he is proficient in the operation of. Any Techno Samurai class abilities that would apply when he wields a katana also apply when he wields his chosen ranged weapon.
Resolve (EX): The Techno Samurai’s soul is as
strong and unbreakable as a Samurai’s lacquered armor, and allows him to push his body on past the point of failure. Once per day, the Samurai can delay the damage dealt by a single attack or effect for a number of rounds equal to his Samurai class level.
Sword Meditation (EX): The Samurai has made
his sword the center of his being, meditating on the perfection of the steel and the union of muscle and blade. The Samurai receives a +2 insight bonus on all WILL saves and Initiative checks made when he holds his unsheathed blade in his hand.
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Undefended Sword (EX): The Samurai can focus
his mind, clearing it of all distractions, and slice cleanly through even the most powerful opponent’s defenses. Once per day, prior to making an attack roll against a specific target, the Samurai can declare that he is using this class ability. When he does so, all attacks made against a specific foe during that round ignore natural armor and equipment bonuses to Defense.
When using this ability against a foe with any form of Damage Reduction, the Samurai ignores a number of points of DR equal to one plus his WIS modifier (minimum two points).
Recitation of Honor (EX): By reciting his name,
the name of his obyan and the fearsome deeds of his gang, the Techno Samurai can strike terror into cowardly hearts. As a standard action, the Samurai can declare his allegiance and brag about his prow-ess as a killer.
Any sentient creature within 30 ft who hears the recitation must succeed at a WILL Save (DC 15 + the Samurai’s CHA modifier) or become shaken for 2d4 rounds. Any creature with 5 HD/levels or
fewer becomes frightened instead.
The Family Business
The Space Mafia’s primary concern is making money, and the criminal cult has no concern about how it makes a credit. The Mafia doesn’t care how the citizens on its world live, so long as they pay up on time. The Space Mafia’s major business is smuggling- brining proscribed chemicals, weapons and technologies to client worlds, usually right under Galaxy Command’s nose. Prostitution, gambling and the galactic slave trade are also big business. The Space Mafia also shakes down planetary business owners and major shipping companies, forcing them to pay protection or face a squad of Shipbreaker thugs.
Capricorn Station: This ultra-plush orbiting
habitat is located a few parsecs from the major shipping lanes running between Earth and Alpha Centuari, right in the heart of the galaxy. One of the Space Mafia’s most legitimate ventures, Capricorn Station is a mecca for gamblers and tourists across the cosmos. One of the most expensive hotels in known space, nearly twenty square miles of station
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habitat is given over to luxury casinos, where million-credit bets are the norm, and more than one scruffy nerf herder has walked away with the pinkslip to a former buddy’s smuggler-ship. The rest of the station is given over to restaurants, bars, theaters, luxury accommodations, zero-g spas and sports arenas, and other high-credit luxuries.
Capricorn Station isn’t officially on Galaxy Command’s list of forbidden establishments, but Command officers frown on young adventurers spending too much time there. A weekend leave to Capricorn Station is usually overlooked as a rite of passage, though, provided everyone makes it back to their Command Academy in time.
Gambling on the Future
Characters with a few ranks in Gamble might want to try their luck at some of the 35th
Centuries most popular games. High stakes games can be found at Capricorn Station and the best Mafia pleasure-domes, but lower stakes pots can be found any where bored spacers congregates, even Galaxy Command barracks.
Frak
Frak is a card game similar to Poker, and is played with triangular cards. Each card has a unique point value for each of its three sides. Deciding how to hold your hand of four cards to maximize points is the game’s hardest to learn stragety, though bluffing and drawing are major aspects of the game as well. Other similar games include Sprock, a three card variant, and Nass, played with two decks.
Variant Rules: Players with 4 or more ranks
in Bluff receive a +1 synergy bonus on Gamble checks made when playing Frak.
Holo Chess
One rule. Always let the big furry guy win. This game plays like a traditional game of Terran chess, but the playing pieces are named for various galactic monsters. When pieces clash, while their relative value usually determines who is captured, a skillful player can sway the holographic contest with some deft button mashing.
Variant Rules: Characters with a DEX
score of 15+ receive a +1 synergy bonus on Gamble checks made when playing Holo Chess.
Orbital Roulette
This high-tech roulette variant is designed to
be played even in zero-g and is popular in older and poorer space habitats, where artificial gravity is kind of erratic. The playing board is decorated with a space theme, and the board is divided into Com-mand (Blue) and WARSTAR (Red) spaces, and instead of numbers, slots depict planets and moons. An unhackable randomizer circuit in the roulette wheel uses random magnetic surges to pull the ferrous ball into the winning slot.
Variant Rules: The randomizer chip can’t
be hacked, but it can certainly be sabotaged. A cheater with a penny-sized hand magnet can attempt to influence the ball’s drop with a successful Sleight of Hand check, opposed by the dealer’s Spot check. Success grants the gambler a +1d6 circum-stance bonus on his or her next Gamble check at this game. Failure gets the gambler tossed out an
airlock…
Shooter
This holographic strategy game is popular with spacers. Players are dealt holographic cards depict-ing a mix of famous and fictional military units, Planetary Champions and infamous WARSTAR generals. The object of the game is to assemble the best hand, taking into account all the thousands of variant rules and special abilities of the cards, and Shooter plays like a mix of Texas Hold ‘Em and a modern CCG.
Variant Rules: Use INT as the Key Ability
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Freebooter’s Asteroid: This well defended
raider hideout is basically an enormous starship carved from an asteroid that dwarfs the Martian object Ceres. Equipped with its own propulsion systems, the Freebooter’s Asteroid prowls the border between Galaxy Command space and the frontier. Criminals, terrorists and space pirates of every breed are welcome here, and the
Freebooter’s Asteroid is usually the only port of call where space’s most wanted can rest, repair and resupply.
However, the Asteroid’s owners, the Nova-Swarm Cartel, one of the larger Space Mafia families, knows it has a monopoly on starship repair and resupply, so prices (for everything, right down to oxygen rations!) are at least twice as high as they are anywhere else in the galaxy. Slaves often end up doing time here, especially if they have even basic mechanical skills, while the sleazy “Romance Alley” always needs bar girls and xeno-prostitutes.
Many Demok adventurers have escaped from the Asteroid, and have damn good reason to never want to go back. Several families of Proximite technicians, especially those exiled from their ark-ships for experimenting with antisocial or forbidden technology, have set up shop on the Freebooter’s Asteroid. These curt little techno-paths can rebuild or modify anything, from starship warp drivess to combat mecha to just putting a new scope on your blaster. The waiting list for a Proximite techie stretches into years, but a substantial bribe (usually 3-4 times what the repair would cost elsewhere) can move a client to the front of the line.
Knox-17: Security? Andromeda VII
doesn’t have this good of security. This enormous space vault is located somewhere deep in the Prison Zone, and like the Freebooter’s Asteroid, is capable of spaceflight and even warp-travel. Anything coming within a parsec of Knox-17 is blasted into space dust, and for good reason. The space vault is the size of a small moon and holds centuries worth
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of ill-gotten wealth. Gold coins, pressed latinum strips, even Thomite and enough good Spice to turn every eye in the Western Spiral Arm bright blue all fill the planetary vault’s coffers in numbers big enough to tempt even saints to crime.
Finding the vault is almost impossible, as the planetoid is protected behind dense, multi-layered stealth screens. It’s rumored that the Space Mafia has reverse engineered Argonite Wraith Zone technology, allowing the planetoid to zip away to an other dimensional sanctuary in an instant if it is ever truly threatened. Only the Black Sun knows where the vault is in at any given time, thanks to a real time ansible link between the stellar AI and the vault. Its control over the Mafia’s wealth is the Black Sun’s true power.
The Lightspeed Pipeline: An illegal
shipping trade ensures that the Mafia remains well supplied. Space Truckers in over their head in gambling debts, down on their luck or just deperate for some quick credits ply the ‘Lightspeed Pipeline’, ferrying cargo and passengers anywhere they’re not wanted. The Lightspeed Pipeline transports drugs, proscribed technologies, weapons and people from place to place without ever seeing a Command tax station or inspection crew… if everything goes right. The Pipeline can smuggle people into or out of a closed world- useful for getting criminals or spies off planet in a hurry, or helping illegal refugees settle on a new planet.
The Pipeline is naturally a pure-profit operation, and its only concern is the bottom line, but occasionally, the Pipeline can serve Galaxy Command’s altruistic interests. Galaxy Command isn’t averse to using the Pipeline to smuggle weap-ons, literature and military aids to planets behind WARSTAR’s Iron Curtain of Space, nor are civilian organizations dedicated to freeing oppressed planets. The Pipeline’s agents are fairly trustworthy-for spacer scum. The Pipeline Runner code of honor means that dumping a load in anything but the most extreme circumstances, or selling out a passenger or client are death sentences. Silencer assassins are usually dispatched to terminally punish cowardly or
treacherous Pipeline Runners, making the Pipeline a more reliable cargo-carrier than the Galactic Post Office!
Neo-Italy: This once pristine farming world
has been taken over by Space Mafia thugs and turned into a sanctuary for the Mafia’s senior capos. Locals are bullied by the Space Mafia thugs at every turn, and are kept techno-starved. Local technology resembles 1950s earth, except for the Capo’s estates, which have the nastiest security features 35th
Century technology can provide. The planet’s peasant population toils to feed and clothe the Space Mafia, and can only wait for a hero to appear and finally free them… Go for it!
New Montanya: This blasted world
resembles scalding Mercury, but has even less to recommend it as a tourist destination. At least Mercury has some nice beaches for UV-rad immune aliens. The heavily fortified world is home to the Crime Council, and meets under the light of the ancient Black Sun of Crime. The surrounding system is studded with space-mines, fleets of mercenary starships and dangerous kill-bots, all ready to respond to an invasion with lethal results.
The Galactic Kill-Brawl Championships are held on New Montanya every third Council meeting. The deadliest gladiators and kill-bots from a 212 worlds or factions converge on the blasted world. Each crew is escorted by a squad of Black Sun Elites, and is kept under heavy security. The Cham-pionships last nearly one month, as brackets of fighters are winnowed down to a final four gladia-tors, who must face each other on a specially designed, lethal field designed by the Black Sun itself. The contest’s single survivor wins a prize purse of nearly ½ billion credits! Surviving competitors (if there are any) are usually find positions as Space Mafia thugs…whether or not they want them. Especially valiant slain competitors are resuscitated by Space Mafia cyber-surgeons, transformed into tech-laced monstrosities, and unleashed on the universe.
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Rigel II Theta: Another world in the
populous and multiply colonized Rigel system is known as the “Dirt Market”. This rainy, humid world has been converted into low rent open-air market where anything is for sale. Need slaves, combat drugs, a new kill-bot or just a fusion initiator for a ’07 Starbomber? You can probably find it among the tin-roofed stalls and merchant tents of the Dirt Market. Don’t expect any real order, decent cus-tomer service or safety though. Anyone who doesn’t come armed rarely leaves the planet, and either they or their component organs end up on the auction block themselves.
Doin’ Time in the Zoritum Mines
Galaxy Command maintains a few prisons for those too dangerous for conventional psycho-reform programs, or for those (like CrimeWire Cultists) who simply can’t be reformed. The Prison Zone is reserved for the worst of the worst, for star-devouring ameobeas, pirate gods, and other epic level threats, while ordinary, humanoid criminals are sent to one of the Command’s other penal institu-tions. In some cases, Galaxy Command is reluctant to send a particularly dangerous threat to the Prison Zone and is forced to devise other incarceration, because they know once within the Zone the crea-ture will likely be recruited directly into WARSTAR
and become an even bigger threat.
The following galactic prisons are described in their order of sadism, with the worst coming towards the end of the section. Don’t drop the space-soap.
Penal Colony X-1, X-2 and X-3
Penal Colony X-1 through X-3 are located at the outer edges of the Earth, Andromeda and Centuari systems, relatively close to the major settlement zones. These colonies are usually located on one of the outer worlds of the system: the Jupiter moon, Ganymede in the case of Penal Colony X-1. These large and spartan facilities are supervised by android jailers, and actual human staffers are rare and usually limited to psi-capable counselors and rehabilitation specialist.
X-series Penal Colonies are reserved for relatively non-violent offenders, and kept close to human-controlled space to allow for relatively easy visitation. Those serving their time at an X-series pen are usually first time offenders, or habitual criminals undergoing psycho-rehab. Given the relatively low security nature of an X-series pen, a hardcore criminal incarcerated in one might have an easy time breaking free. Hacking the guard-bots, taking a
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staffer hostage or commandeering one of the visitor’s shuttles are all challenges, but not impossible ones.
The
Command’s military prisoners, especially those in the brig for shorter sentences or for minor infractions are usually sent to a cell at an X-series. Space Mafia capos can usually bribe or connive their way into a cell at an X-series pen, if they can’t avoid imprisonment entirely. Finally, prisoners requiring specialized medical
care, as well as those serving out the last year or two of a longer sentence usually do their time at an X-series penal colony.
The Black Brig
The Black Brig has been retrofitted from an orbital starship drydock orbiting Neptune. This aging, juryrigged institution is home to Galaxy Command’s military prisoners. Discipline is harsh, boot camp all over again (only worse), and all military prisoners are expected to complete psycho-rehab with exemplary scores. Galaxy Command’s meanest drill instructors all rotate through the Black Brig for a tour of duty.
The Black Brig’s goal is to return military troublemakers to the fleet in a minimum amount of time. Galaxy Command’s military sentences are unbelievably long, with sentences of more than 2,000+ years being all too common. However, the Brig’s staff can commute or shorten these sentences as a reward for good behavior, completion of drills and training, or performing missions while on
probationary status. If a prisoner (even one with a four millennia sentence) does well, he or she can return to the fleet in as little as three years.
Red Max
Ventura is a desert world balanced precari-ously in a triple solar system. The three competing stellar gravities and high radiation make navigation virtually impossible. Ventura is famous for two things: Red Max, one of the hardest maximum security prisons in the galaxy, and the Venturan Thermo-Med Center, a xeno-medical center specializing in the treatment of aliens who need an intensely hot or irradiated environment to survive.
Red Max is often used to incarcerate energy casters and psychics, because its specially designed cells can withstand, or even absorb exotic energy discharges. The Red Max facility is strangely beauti-ful, compared to the stark grey ulitarian designs of other penal facilities. The entire structure is com-posed of crimson and violet crystal and is semi-translucent from the outside. Guards patrol the outer
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perimeter and are constantly on watch for escapeattempts or smuggled weapons. The gigantic prison covers several square miles, and glistens brightly in the sun. At “Highest Noon” when all three of the system’s suns align, the facility is a blazing beacons. Guards and prisoners alike are dependant on specially tinted goggles to preserve their eyesight.
Correctional Mining Facility RAGE-666
The Galaxy Command’s prison mine, RAGE-666 was unfortunately named by an untested AI with a penchant for the dramatic, who had watched way too many cheesy sci-fi movies. Also unfortunately, the facility lives up to its intentionally ominous name. Especially dangerous humanoids are incarcerated here, watched over by a full time staff of Galactic Marshals, a battalion worth of combat drones and a fierce unit of specially trained Urlok riot-troops.
Only male humanoids incapable of undergo-ing psycho-rehab are incarcerated at RAGE-666. Each of the miners are serving an average 250 year hard labor sentence, and most have ties to
WARSTAR or are high level killers working for the Space Mafia. Prisoners rarely escape the facility, but disappear with alarming regularity. The mines are a dangerous place, and the equipment is substandard, at best. Monstrous xeno-predators swarm the deeper tunnels, killing at will and dragging off
unlucky convicts to serve as incubators for their eggs (which are inserted in some very, very uncomfort-able places).
RAGE-666 is located deep within the Algol System, which accounts for the fearsome predators on-site. There is evidence of prior colonization by some alien race that used the distant, darkling world as a prison thousands of years before Galaxy Command’s formation. Some of the deepest tunnels extend down into ancient alien complexes, some of which contain as-yet-uncatalogued threats. Occa-sionally, one of these tunnels leads to an armory, which a canny prisoner can use to mount an escape attempt. There is a persistent but unproven rumor of an ancient and still functioning star-gate deep within
RAGE-666’s bowels. Many prisoners have slipped away from their mining gangs in search of this fabled escape route, and maybe, just maybe some of the disappearances mean that the prisoner found the stargate… instead of ending up in some creature’s stomach.
Argonite Wraith Zones
The Argonite civilization does not imprison its criminals in this reality. Instead, it uses a special-ized dimensional gate system to deposit its prisoners on the Astral Plane. With the destruction of Argos, many portals to the Wraith Zone were lost forever, potentially trapping thousands of Argonite convicts in the endless white nothingness of the Astral Plane. The government of New Argos does not believe in rehabilitation of criminals, simply warehousing them in another reality until their long sentences are up. Since time does not pass on the Astral Plane, Argonite convicts can have centuries measured in millennia, even longer.
Argonite judges usually decide their sen-tences based upon the lifespans of the victims, and often keep a convict in the Wraith Zone until his victim (and an extra generation or two) has died of old age, to prevent retaliation. Once in the Wraith Zone prisoners have only minimal contact with their jailers, since they have no real physical needs on the Astral Plane.
Sensory deprivation, boredom and a rare few Astral predators are the inmates’ only concern, but these threats claim a majority of prisoners before their long sentences are up. Those who survive to their release date receive a specially tailored nutrient pill through the same gateway that deposited them on the Astral Plane. This pill’s purpose is to make up for the years (or centuries) of missed meals, so the prisoner simply doesn’t die of starvation upon their return to normal space-time. Prisoners can only be released from the same space-gate that brought them to the Astral Plane, meaning that millions of prisoners are stuck in the Astral Plane for eternity.
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A few Wraith Zoners have found ways out of their misty imprisonment over the years, usually exploiting short-lived wormholes created by atomic explosions, but now, an entire army of disgruntled and possibly insane convicts stands poised to rampage across the galaxy…. if they can just figure out an escape method…..
WARSTAR Prisons
WARSTAR is a criminal regime and usually prefers to execute threats rather than imprison them. Whole worlds have been turned into charnel houses, and Galaxy Command’s military has sent several missions deep into the Prison Zone to liberate planets transformed into apocalyptic concentration camps. WARSTAR only keeps prisoners alive if they have something it wants: a set of harvestable organs, a strong back for slave-mining or informa-tion.
WARSTAR’s hostages and prisoners of war are shuttled to inhospitable and highly defended hell-worlds deep within the Prison Zone. These prisons are guarded by legions of Omegan war-bots, who can’t be bribed or pleaded with. The most notorious is EVEN-WORSE-THAN-RAGE-666, a hellish prison located deep within a red giant system. The prison is run by an AI of the same unimaginative make and model as RAGE-666, and desperately wants to achieve the fearsome reputation of its predecessor.
The AI Warden finds out everything it can about other prisons and tries to incorporate these fact into building the cruelest and most sadistic prison in the Galaxy. The Blackstar Tyrant fully approves of the Warden AI’s hobby, even if the results are sometimes more comedic than threaten-ing, especially when the computer adopts a “South-ern” accent and recites lines from old Terran crime movies… which it does incessantly.
WARSTAR gladiators are often convicts, forced to fight for survival. The best gladiators aren’t given their freedom after a final climactic bout: instead, they’re press ganged into service with the Empire’s military. Those too stupid or savage for traditional military service are warped, body and mind, into fearsome beasts used as shock troops.
Cult of the Crime-Wire
Some criminals hate and fear the idea of being psycho-rehabed into becoming good citizens far more than they fear conventional incarceration. The Cult of the Crime-Wire is a cybernetic terrorist cult which offers career criminals a way to keep their minds their own. Funded by Space Mafia dollars, the cult leaders have invented a cybernetic brain-implant that keeps Galaxy Command psions out of a criminal’s thoughts, one which they sell for high dollars.
Crime-Wire implants are a growing scourge within the Command, a new illegal technology that the Galactic Marshals can’t intercept fast enough. The devices are used by Space Mafia criminals, small time free-booters and WARSTAR agents alike, and even the Command’s under classes are becoming device users. The Cult of the Crime-Wire has had great success marketing the illegal bio-implant to fringers concerned about Galaxy Command’s rising and unchecked power. Posses-sion of Crime-Wire implants is highly illegal, but that doesn’t stop would-be revolutionaries on a dozen worlds from owning them.
The Cult of the Crime Wire began on space-pirate cutters, a cobbled together religion based on half remembered Space Mafia doctrines,
WARSTAR propaganda and selfish rationalization. The Cult is popular among career criminals, because it justifies theft and murder as the privileges of the strong and cunning. Anyone brave enough to be a criminal deserves their victories. The Cult views Galaxy Command as a bunch of self righteous thugs, that the only difference between them and the Mafia is that the Mafia doesn’t care if you believe its Code of Omerta or not, as long as you pay up. Cult members are taught that the Command’s idealistic
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and merciful nature are weaknesses to be exploited, and its’ their divine duty as Cultists of Crime, to take full advantage of those weaknesses.
The Cult of the Crime-Wire’s favorite targets are reformed criminals now serving within Galaxy Command. Cultists will attack former criminals in preference to other targets. Reformed criminals are sometimes kidnapped, forcibly im-planted with a Crime-Wire and forced into service on a pirate vessel. The Cult of the Crime-Wire views these pressgangings as liberation, regardless of what the unfortunate former crook thinks of the matter.
The Legion of Serial Killers
The Legion of Serial Killers is the driving force behind the Cult of the Crime Wire. A selection of thugs, misanthropes and stone-cold sociopaths from twelve dozen worlds, the LoSK is one of the most feared (and most reclusive) organizations in the galaxy. The LoSK is headquartered on the dead world, Styx, located deep within the prison zone. This world was once a prosperous inhabited moon in the system the Black Sun of Crime was eventually banished to. The long-extinct Stygian natives wiped themselves out in a genocidal war so barbaric the eco-system never recovered, even uncounted millions of years later. To the monsters of LoSK, walking through the ruins is a rare pleasure, because the ruins represent an entire species and culture lost to death.
LoSK members are nihilists, cruel sadists and blood-thirsty thrillseekers. Only the
organization’s stringent by-laws prevent the mem-bers from turning their blades and nerve-blasters on one another. Instead, LoSK members compete amongst themselves to build the most impressive roster of kills. One of the Council of Crime’s regular duties is to assign the monsters of the LoSK new targets.
On one hand, the Council knows that unleashing the Serial Killers against a target sends a powerful message, and is occasionally even success-ful, as hordes of crazed killers can eventually wear down even the most determined defense. On the other hand, the Space Mafia is careful never to attract too much attention by allowing the Serial Killers too much leeway. The gory, high profile violence of a Serial Killer is seen as a poor substitute for the subtle violence of a Silencer or Techno Samurai. The Council of Crime knows the Serial Killers will rampage and murder in any case, and try their best to steer the mad-sentients towards annoy-ances, and use the cult as a distraction… while saner agents conduct the Space Mafia’s real business.
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Even though the Space Mafia is reluctant to become too dependant on the Serial Killers, the mere threat of their involvement can often shut up a stubborn witness or convince a reluctant space trucker to part with his cargo. Left to their own devices, the LoSK would murder entire worlds, using everything from forbidden bio-nukes to their bare hands and filed-down teeth and a lot of time and malice. WARSTAR often hires Serial Killer mercs as assassins and shocktroops. The Blackmoon Tyrant enjoys their madness, and appreciates their ‘high art’- a well put together massacre brutal enough to shock the entire galaxy.
Crime-Wire Implant (PL 7)
This implant is surgically installed in a
cyborg’s brain and protrudes through skull just a few centimeters as a visible pattern of metallic wires and circuit components. A cyborg can easily conceal the device under long hair.
Benefit: Creatures with this implant cannot undergo
Galaxy Command psycho-rehab. They receive a +4 equipment bonus on any WILL save made to resist alignment or allegiance change.
Drain: 0.5 Type: Internal Hardness/Hit Points: 0/5 Base Purchase DC: 18 Restriction: Illegal (+4)
New Species
The new races have all ended up involved in the Command Penal system in one way or another. Orpaks are born criminals, canny, cruel and treach-erous. Gravoks are a former slave race, often used as brute labor by the Space Mafia and freed by Galaxy Command. Seductive Demoks still struggle in bondage, and often turn to crime for survival. Monasists are a race whose forefathers were the worst criminals Old Earth had to offer, whose descendants have evolved past violence. Reptids are mercenary cannibals, and doing time is a natural state of being for these monsters. Sethzinians, well, those idiots just like violence. And Argonites… they’re the universe’s most merciless jailers.
The Argonites (PL 8)
Medium Humanoid (Psionic)
The destruction of their homeworld has hardened the Argonite species. Once a peaceful and scientific race, the Argonites in exile have become pragmatic to the point of cruelty. The species has always placed the letter of the law above emotion, valuing logic and legalism far above individual feeling. The Argonite’s fearsome Wraith Zone is the ultimate symbol of the race and its almost mechani-cal detachment… the invention of a prison crueler and more remote than anything a WARSTAR tyrant could ever conceive.
Today’s Argonites survive on orbital stations orbiting their homeworld’s star, and harvest valuable minerals from the ruin of their birth-world. Their devotion to law and obedience has only been strengthened due to the rigors of station life. Every-thing is regimented and rationed aboard an Argonite station, from food and consumable gases to degree of affection. Argonites rarely show emotion, and the stoic species can accept the judgment of its govern-ment even when the Science Council’s judggovern-ments are monstrous. Argonites who embrace emotion, or reject the wise ruling of the Science Council are criminals, and on New Argos, there is only one way to deal with criminals….
Appearance: Argonites are tall, slender humanoids
with slick, plasticine blue skins. They stand a little taller and weigh a bit less than humans, because before its destruction, Argos’ gravity was only 0.6 Earth standard. Their elongated skulls hint at the race’s cold intellect, as do their silvery, strangely reflective eyes.
Upon reaching the age of majority at 190 Terran solar years, Argonites have a Wraith Crystal implanted in the back of their hand. All surviving Argonites are expected to serve the cause of cosmic justice, and prevent tragedies like the death of their home world. These strange crystalline implants serve as a portal to the Wraith Zone, a way to exile
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Reproduction: Argonite reproduction, like
every-thing else about the species is tightly regulated by the Science Council. The species has no conception of romance. Marriages are initiated or dissolved for the good of the species as a whole, and children are raised communally. Argonites have no interest in sex for pleasure, and no concept of love. The average Argonite adult will mate with several different mates over the course of his or her fertile period, in hopes of breeding genetically superior and diverse off-spring. Unauthorized breeding or romances are both crimes that carry a long sentence in the Wraith Zone.
Size: Argonites are medium humanoids, and
as such receive no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. Their base land speed is 30 ft Argonites have the Psionic Subtype and may select freely from Psionic Precursors and Psionic Feats, described fully in Psi-Watch.
Ability Score Modifiers: -2 STR, +2 INT,
+2 WIS. Argonites are physically frail, thanks to the low gravity conditions they exist in, but are quick witted and pragmatic. Stupidity is a crime on New Argos, one which can be punished by Wraith Zone exile, so Argonites make it a point to be keenly intelligent.
Racial Feats: All Argonites are trained to
accept their station in life from an early age, and are trained in a useful life-skill from infancy. Argonites receive one of the following as a racial bonus feat, which determines their caste: Educated, Gearhead, or Medical Expert.
Wraith Crystal (SU): This unique
bio-implant is hardwired into the Argonite’s neurology and ceases to function when the alien dies. As a full round action, similar to a coup de gras, the Argonite can displace an unconscious, dying or helpless defender of Size Large or smaller into the Wraith Zone. Doing so requires the targeted creature to succeed at a WILL Save (DC 12 + the Argonite’s INT modifier) or be banished to the Astral Plane.
The Argonite can use this ability at will. An Argonite may also release any creature it has personally banished to the Wraith Zone. Doing so is a full round action, and the creature returns to ordinary space/time in the nearest open square to the Argonite. What condition (mentally and physi-cally) the creature is upon re-emergence is at the gamemaster’s discretion. Some creatures may reemerge from the Zone in the same wounded condition they went in, others may emerge at full
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strength physically (though who knows what condi-tion mentally) and others may have devolved into a fearsome Argonite Wraith Zoner, hungry for ven-geance….
Restricted Starting Occupation: Argonites
tolerate no dissent or deviation from societal norms. An Argonite’s starting occupation is based upon the racial feat he or she selected. An Argonite who has chosen Educated can only be a Student or White Collar. Those choosing Gearhead can only select Technician as their starting occupation, while those who have chosen medical expert can only be Doctors or Emergency Services.
Favored Classes: Smart Hero, Dedicated Hero Demoks (PL 6)
Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Demoks are probably the most seductive species in the galaxy, and that’s where their troubles began. Demoks are in great demand as prostitutes, and where willing Demoks can’t be found to work the Space Mafia’s pleasure domes, slavers are more than willing to satisfy the demand for these attractive xeno-forms. The Demok’s home world deep in the LeVay Nebula hasn’t been truly free in three millen-nia. Their home system has been carved up by a consortium of competing business interests and low-rent imperialists. The Space Mafia, unaligned slavers, WARSTAR garrisons, even the occasional Galaxy Command humanitarian team have all staked out their own claims and run their own little fiefdoms.
In disgust, the majority of Demoks have utterly abandoned their world, trying to survive a galaxy that just wants to exploit them. Some make a living manipulating their exploiters- it’s easy for a psi-capable prostitute to turn blackmailer, after all. Others have become angry, intent on finally freeing their world from all external influence, and scour the space-ways in search of the fire power needed to do the job. Some Demoks are able to call them-selves truly free but the vast majority are slaves of one extent or another. A few have settled on the utopian Pacifica, where they fit in with the lusty
natives, but many Demoks wonder if they’re trading obvious bondage for a gilded cage by settling among that world’s hedonists.
Appearance: Demoks resemble extremely
attrac-tive humanoid females, as a single gendered species, there are no males of their kind. Their bodies are evolved to attract the widest possible array of humanoid mates, and beauty is genetically encoded into the xeno-species. Demoks have enormous bat like wings protruding from their shoulder blades. At full extension, these leathery wings have a span that rivals even the biggest Tal-Anon, and the Demoks boast similar in-air maneuverability. A small, spade-tipped tail gives them a little bit extra stability when in flight.
Demoks have curling ram-like calcium horns in place of hair. Their horns grow constantly, and most young Demoks spend at least an hour a day filing down their horns. Demok matrons stop filing their horns when their childbearing years are done, and some of the eldest boast impressive crowns.
Many xeno-anthropologists believe that early contact with Demok slaves aboard alien starships and pre-spaceflight humanity gave rise to legends of succubi, angels and other supernatural beings. The fact that many Demoks have given names taken from ancient Terran cultures gives credence to this theory.
Reproduction: Demoks are an all female species.
They are born pregnant, with a near-clone of their mother, and give birth to a single infant during their late teens or early twenties. Demoks raise their young communally. After giving birth to a clone off spring, Demoks can mate and bear viable young with any male of any humanoid species The offspring is always a full blooded Demok girl, though she may bear some cosmetic traces of her father’s genome. Demoks enjoy sex for pleasure, but probably not the extent that galactic rumor would have you believe.
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Size: Demoks are
medium monstrous humanoids, as such they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. As monstrous humanoids, Demoks are immune to effects which specifi-cally target humanoids, such as Charm
Person.
Demoks have a base land speed of 30 ft. Their bat-like wings give them a Flight Speed of 30 ft (aver-age). They can only fly when unarmored or lightly armored, and when carrying a light load or less. Assuming the Demok is conscious and capable of flapping her wings, she never takes damage from a fall, regardless of distance, even if she can’t truly fly.
Ability Score Modifiers: -2 STR,
+4 CHA. Demoks are frail but stunning- their sex linked traits are
selected for attraction, not upper body strength or cardiovascular endurance. Their body has evolved (perhaps artificially) along lines that most humanoid males find attractive.
Enhanced Senses: Demoks possess the scent
special quality. A Demok who learns the Track feat may track by scent alone.
Demoks can communicate among them-selves silently through scent cues alone. Demoks must be within 100 ft of one another to communicate through scent cues, past that distance, messages become muddy and indistinct.
These scent messages can convey informa-tion just as complex as spoken language, and the Demok native tongue is purely scent based. Non-Demok cannot ‘speak’ this language without some kind of technological assistance, though other
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creatures with the scent quality can learn to understand the language.
Attractive Pheromones (EX):
The Demok’s body naturally secretes a pleasant, sexually appealing chemical. She receives a +4 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Gather Information checks made against anyone who would normally be sexually attracted to her.
This bonus is increased to +6 if the Demok make skin to skin contact with the subject; this additional bonus lasts for 2 hours after the exposure ends. This effect is useless against anyone wearing a gas mask or CBR gear, or any creature magically protected from toxic gases, as well as most forms of mechani-cal and Silicon Based life.
Favored Classes: Charismatic Hero,
Personality, Swindler
The Gravocs (PL 6)
Large Humanoid
The Gravocs are a bulky race of genetically engineered laborers, originally created as a slave species. The Gravoc genome has passed through so many hands and batches of the super-strong clones have been grown on so many
worlds, it’s all but impossible to determine who really invented the bulky humanoids. By longstanding Galaxy Command law, Gravocs within its territory are free sentients. However, the clone species finds the past difficult to shake.
WARSTAR and the Space Mafia alike still breed Gravocs into slavery in incredible numbers. Free Gravocs within Command Space often have to contend with old prejudices and stereotyping as dimwitted, machine-like thugs. Their frustration often forces Gravocs into a life of crime, and those born within Mafia Space or the WARSTAR Empire know nothing other than brutality and service. Free
Gravocs within the Command often become infantry troops- they’ve got no taste for space combat, and most are too big to fit into the cockpit anyway. They excel in their chosen role, demonstrating the strength and endurance their species was bred for.
Appearance: Gravocs are humanoids adapted to
survive on high-G planets and have incredible strength and endurance. Even the smallest stand over seven feet tall and weigh as much as a hover-bike. Gravocs of both genders are completely hairless and densely muscled. Gravoc skin is usually
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pale, though on many worlds the creatures aredesigned with pale blue or dingy grey skin. Gravocs of both genders are completely hairless, for better hygine in water-rationed environments, such as starships and low-tech space habitats.
Reproduction: Though Gravocs can enjoy sex for
pleasure, they are sterile and created only in labora-tories. Gravocs in Command Space are allowed to adopt humanoid children to begin their families.
Size: Gravocs are Large humanoids. As large
creatures they suffer a -1 size penalty on attack rolls and their Defense score, a -4 size penalty on Hide checks, but receive a +4 size bonus on grapple checks. A Gravoc’s base land speed is 30 ft, and this land speed cannot be reduced by encumbrance or by wearing heavy armor.
Ability Score Modifiers: +6 STR, +2 CON, -2
INT, -2 WIS. Gravocs are designed for strength, durability and hard labor. Their intelligence and will power is intentionally reduced to make them more controllable.
Racial Feats: Gravocs receive Endurance as a
racial bonus feat, thanks to their enormous, efficient lungs and circulatory systems.
Racial Skills: Gravocs are taught from an early age
how to repair and modify starship components, because they are needed as high-G mechanics, despite their relative dullness. Training makes up for lack of raw brain power, and Gravocs receive a +2 racial bonus on Repair checks.
Enhanced Senses: Gravocs receive lowlight vision.
High G Adaptation (EX): Gravocs are
designed for service in intense gravity wells. They suffer no penalties to skills, attack rolls, carrying capacity or land speed reduction when in a High G environment.
Simple Pleasures (EX): Gravocs are
hardwired to find satisfaction and take pleasure in doing their assigned work. A Gravoc who rolls a natural 20 on any STR based skill check or any Craft, Profession or Repair check, or who takes 20 and succeeds on a check, receives a +1 morale bonus to their WILL Save for 24 hours.
Favored Classes: Strong Hero, Tough Hero,
Bodyguard, Helix Warrior
The Monasists (PL 5)
Medium Humanoid
The Monasists are an evolved human sub-race hailing from the barren world of Point Promise. The Point’s first colonists were exiled Terran soldiers and terrorists, hawkish warmongers exiled from Earth during the mid 2800s, as the culture attempted a clean break with its warlike past. Unlike many other prison colonies, the men and women of Point Promise evolved past the attitudes and crimes that lead to their imprisonment, and today Point Promise is a peaceful and prosperous member of Galaxy Command.
The Monasists have earned a reputation as some of the Milky Way’s best martial artists- a highly trained Monasist warrior is one of the few humanoids who can go toe-to-toe with a Trius black belt (Free20: Threeway, 2009 Otherverse
Games). The men and women of Point Promise practice martial arts as a tribute to their warlike past, but themselves are one of the most non-aggressive species in the galaxy. For Monasists, martial arts is a way of passing down important cultural lessons, remaining fit and able to defend themselves from outside threats, and an important way of learning control of both body and soul.
Appearance: Monasists resemble humans of
indeterminate racial origin. Their homeworld is demographically mixed, as the original colonists hailed from every country and tribe 29th Century
Earth had to offer. All Monasists are lean and fit, and are capable of acts of amazing physical control. By the time she is eight or nine, a Monasist child has
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been studing the martial arts for more than five years, and is the equal of a veteran human black belt.
Reproduction: Monasists reproduce identically
to their human cousins, and this fit and confident subspecies is interfertile with humans born on other worlds.
Size: Monasists are Medium humanoids, and as
such receive no special bonus or penalty due to their size. A Monasist’s base land speed is 40 ft, due to generations of selective breeding and incredible physical training.
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 DEX. Monasists
are incredibly fit, and their physical prowess expresses itself through a dancer’s lean, graceful physique.
Racial Feats: All Monasists are taught the basics
of unarmed self defense, especially judo and
akido, from infancy. All adult Monasists receive
Defensive Martial Arts as a racial bonus feat.
Enhanced Senses: Monasist eyes aren’t any
keener than human eyes, but the rigorous mental training the aliens receive provides them with
lowlight vision.
Superior Training (EX): Monasists are
masters of most known forms of galactic martial arts. They receive a +1 competence bonus to melee attack rolls and their Defense score when engaged in melee combat with any character with either the Defensive Martial Arts or Combat Martial Arts feature. Their familiarity with various martial arts styles allows the Monasists to exploit weaknesses built into traditional fighting styles.
Favored Classes: Fast Hero, Martial Artist, Field