ZeroSpace 4e EN:Powers

Contents

At its height, the Commonwealth encompassed millions of populated worlds, and that is just a fraction of the populated worlds in the galaxy. Across these worlds is scattered a variety of sentient life forms, the diversity of which beggars the imagination.

That being said, the aliens in ZeroSpace can generally be categorized as one of three types: humanoid, robotic, or exotic.

Would you like to create a random alien? You can!

Table: Random alien type

Roll 3d6	Type
3-13	Humanoid alien
14-15	Robot
16-18	Exotic alien

Humanoid Aliens

Humanoid aliens are the most common, and resemble humans in size and physique. They may differ cosmetically (skin color, eye color, hair color, etc.), but they typically have the same number of arms and legs, the same facial features, and so on. A humanoid alien species might have pointed ears, exaggerated brow ridges, or they might have tentacles or horns in addition to (or instead of) cranial hair.

Would you like to create a random humanoid alien? You can!

Table: Random humanoid alien, skin

Roll 1d6 Saturation 1 Pale 2 Light 3 Medium 4 Deep 5 Dark 6 Patterned (roll twice!)

Roll 1d6 Color 1 Blue 2 Brown 3 Green 4 Grey 5 Red 6 Yellow

Optionally, a "pale grey" result can mean "snow white", and a "dark grey" result can mean "pitch black".

Table: Random humanoid alien, eyes

Roll 1d6 Type 1 Circular pupil 2 Horizontally slit pupil 3 Vertically slit pupil 4 Pupilless 5 Solid color 6 Compound

Roll 1d6 Saturation 1 Pale 2 Light 3 Medium 4 Deep 5 Dark 6 Glowing

Roll 1d6 Color 1 Blue 2 Brown 3 Green 4 Grey 5 Red 6 Yellow

Optionally, a "pale grey" result can mean "snow white", and a "dark grey" result can mean "pitch black".

Table: Random humanoid alien, head

Roll 1d6 Type 1 Hairless 2 Hair (normal) 3 Structure, hairless 4 Structure, hairless (roll twice!) 5 Structure, with hair 6 Structure, with hair (roll twice!)

Roll 1d6 Structure 1 Antennae 2 Brow ridges 3 Cranial ridges 4 Horns 5 Pointed ears 6 Tentacles

Roll 1d6 Hair Saturation 1 Pale 2 Light 3 Medium 4 Deep 5 Dark 6 Bright

Roll 1d6 Hair Color 1 Blue 2 Brown 3 Green 4 Grey 5 Red 6 Yellow

Optionally, a "pale grey" result can mean "snow white", and a "dark grey" result can mean "pitch black".

Skin color and eye color here are those of an individual, of course. An alien species may have lighter or darker tones among the population, or even a range of colors.

Robots

Robots are artificial beings designed to interact with biological sentients using ordinary conversation and social cues. Robots are usually constructed to serve a particular purpose. Due to the perennial threat of the Instrumentality, there are restrictions on how advanced a robot's behavioural heuristics may be. Robots might be humanoid in shape, or they might be shaped completely unlike humans, depending on their original purpose and the whims of the maker. Robots might be obviously artificial, or they may be lifelike and virtually indistinguishable from the species they have been constructed to resemble. Lifelike robots are illegal on some worlds. In most of known space, robots are hard-coded with Asimov's Three Laws Of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure an organic sentient or, through inaction, allow an organic sentient to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by organic sentients except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

While robots are inorganic, and thus do not "eat", "sleep", or "heal" in the biological sense, they have functional requirements that serve the same purposes -- recharging, "powering down", "auto repair", and so on. As with exotic aliens, these requirements can be removed with the purchase of a suitable power.

However, all robots must purchase the following powers:

• Immunity To Suffocation
• Immunity To Poison

Some powers which are common for robots, but not required, are:

• Armor
• Data Jack
• Immortality
• Mental Calculator
• Perfect Recall
• Self-sustaining

Exotic Aliens

Exotic aliens might superficially resemble humans, or they might be utterly alien. What makes them a distinct group is that they possess traits beyond those possessed by humans and humanoid aliens. The line between humanoid alien and exotic alien is an arbitrary one.

Would you like to create a random exotic alien? You can!

Table: Random exotic alien type

Roll 1d6	Type
1	Animal-headed humanoid
2	Anthropomorphic animal
3	Anthropomorphic plant
4	Insectoid
5	Symmetrical organism
6	Weird biology

Table: Random exotic alien details

Roll 1d6 Animal Type 1 Avian 2 Canine 3 Cephalopod 4 Feline 5 Mustelid 6 Reptilian

Roll 1d6 Symmetry Type 1 Dendriform with bilateral symmetry 2 Dendriform with radial symmetry 3 Globular with bilateral symmetry 4 Globular with radial symmetry 5 Serpentine with bilateral symmetry 6 Serpentine with radial symmetry

Roll 1d6 Weird Biology 1 Colonial organism (roll for Symmetry Type) 2 Crystalline (roll for Symmetry Type) 3 Cybernetic non-humanoid (roll for Symmetry Type) 4 Gaseous 5 Myconoid (roll for Symmetry Type) 6 Viscous fluid