Character Creation
Creating your character is done in three steps.
1) Select your skills
2) Spend your attribute points
3) Create a name, description, personality and background for your character
Skills and Professions
Your 'skills' basically determine your characters profession. Each skill-tree consists of three standard professions (or, 'skills') and two 'specialist-professions', of which only one can be chosen. Note that a person that chooses a profession that is above level 1, typically gets the perks of all of the lower-tier skills as well. For instance, a 'capship controller' will also be able to pilot smaller ships. A new character starts with four skillpoints. This means that you can choose to pick either two level two skills, a level one and a level three skill or a single level four skill. It also needs to be noted that profession is typically unrelated to rank.
Piloting:
(1) Civilian Pilot
The player can pilot simple spacecraft, such as Shuttles and Transport ships.
(2) Fighter Pilot
The player can pilot all small- to medium-sized Naval-spacecraft, such as Fighers, Freighters and Corvettes.
(3)Capship Controller
The player can pilot all Navy spacecraft, including Destroyers, Dreadnaughts and Carriers.
(4)'Ace'
The player is an expert pilot and gets high bonuses when flying Naval-ships or Fighters.
(4)'Rogue'
The player is a veteran spec-ops operative, capable of flying virtually every human made spacecraft.
Military:
(1)Conscript
The player has received some basic military training. He gets a small bonus when engaging in hand-to-hand combat, ranged combat and is proficient in the use of all light-weapons.
(2)Marine
The player has received extensive military training. He receives a moderate bonus when engaging in hand-to-hand or ranged combat and is proficient in the use of all standard-issue military weapons. He is also trained to operate the turrets and other similar weapon-systems on any Federation-Capital ship.
(3)Specialist
The player is specialised in infiltrating hostile environments. He receives high bonuses in hand-to-hand combat and moderate bonuses when using standard-issue military weapons. He gains an additional bonus when using the sniper-rifle and has an extremely high stealth-modifier.
(4)Commando
The player is trained to deal with every perceivable emergency. He automatically gains all level 1 skills on the skill-tree and is a proficient hacker.
(4)Cyborg
The player has various cybernetic implants that allow him to survive without oxygen and in small- to medium-radiation environments. Due to his enhanced strength and constitution, the Cyborg gains a massive bonus when engaging in hand-to-hand combat and is almost impervious to small-arms fire. He is also capable of using the heaviest weapons in the human arsenal. He does, however, incur a penalty to charisma and dexterity.
Medical:
(1) First aid
The player is capable of using basic medical equipment to treat small injuries and can try to keep his more seriously wounded fellows alive until a doctor can look at them.
(2)Medic
The player is skilled in all basic medical procedures. He may also try his hand at more complex treatments, but gains a significant penalty when doing so. His specialisation is stabilising heavily wounded troops, even when under fire himself.
(3)Doctor
The player is proficient in the use of all medical equipment and is specialised in recognizing and treating virtually all common diseases.
(4)Surgeon
The player is extremely skilled in the use of all medical equipment and can treat almost any disease. The surgeon can even attempt to revive someone who has been dead for less than 12 hours. He does, however, incur a small penalty when practicing his craft on the battlefield.
(4)Xeno-Medicus
The player has studied alien plantlife, animals and diseases on a variety of planets and is skilled in recognizing and treating even the most exotic conditions. He is also proficient in the use of all medical equipment and is an expert researcher.
Operations:
(1)Maintenance Officer
The player is a highly trained computer-specialist that can perform virtually all functions that centre involve extensive data processing, such as Communication and Research.
(2)Engineer
The player is capable of maintaining and repairing almost all forms of military-equipment.
(3)Operations Officer
The player is capable of using all basic primary capital-ship systems. However, he does incur a moderate penalty when attempting to pilot the ship or use its weapon systems. He is also a skilled hacker.
(4)Scientist
The player is a highly trained Operations Officer that can identify virtually all ships, weapons and astrological phenomena. He has access to a wealth of knowledge that can be applied to virtually every situation.
(4)Senior Engineer
The player is capable of working with virtually all terran-made equipment. His repair skills greatly surpass those of a regular engineer.
----------------------------------------
Attributes
While the Skill-Tree determines what characters can do, their attributes generally determine how well do they it. Although it needs to be noted that common sense and roleplaying also go a long way towards determining if an action is successful. For instance, an engineer that decided to bring a tech-guide along on a mission will gain a temporary Knowledge-bonus. In total, a character gets twelve points to divide over his attributes. The average on each skill is 2, with four being exceptionally high. You must put at least one point in each skill. The DM automatically makes all rolls, although it needs to be noted that some actions or events are scripted. Ability scores can also be raised by training or through experience. For instance, if a character spends most of his time studying, his knowledge will eventually rise.
Physical: A high score in this attribute will grant your character significant strength and constitution. This allows him to operate under demanding circumstances and dish out more damage in hand to hand combat. A below-average score will make your character more likely to get sick or perish because of his wounds. Cyborgs get an automatic +4 on this skill.
Dexterity: This attribute determines how well a character performs when in ranged combat or piloting small-ships. Surgeons and (Senior) engineers also gain bonuses from their dexterity during certain actions. The Commando and the Ace get an automatic +2 bonus on this skill, while the Cyborg loses 1 point.
Charisma: This attribute determines a characters social skills and empathy. A character with high charisma has a greater chance of getting through to another person or conducting successful negotiations. The Cyborg automatically incurs a -2 penalty on this skill, although his charisma attribute still cannot go below 1.
Knowledge: This statistic is essential in determining if an engineer can repair a device or if a scientist recognises a certain object. For all of these actions, minimum-knowledge scores are required, depending on the complexity of the action. For instance, a regular engineer with 5 points in knowledge may be able to fix a machine whereas a senior-engineer with just 2 points in the same attribute may not. Note that the knowledge skill only applies to the specific profession of a character. For instance, a Marine with a high Knowledge-score may know how to disable an enemy ship, whereas a Surgeon with an equal score would not. A Character with the Xeno-Medicus or the Research skill gets an automatic +2 bonus on this attribute.
Wit: This statistic determines how well a character can improvise and how fast he works. It can occasionally be used as a substitute for Knowledge. For instance, a character may use his wit skill (deductive reasoning) to determine the function of a device, whereas a person with a high knowledge score might simply have recognised it.
Attribute Overview:
1] Weak
2] Average
3] Strong
4] Exceptional
5] Super-human
Background information:
-The Terran Federation
The Terran Federation is a coalition of wealthy planets that have joined hands to protect their mutual interests. Despite the absence of large amounts of natural resources and agricultural planets, the Federation is well ahead of larger groups (such as the Confederation of Independent Planets and the Orion Alliance) in terms of technology and wealth. The Federations main advantage comes in the form of the Wayfarer Space-stations, which allow for instant communication between two points in space. The Federal Planets are often referred to as the ‘cluster-planets’, since they are located remarkably close to each other.
-The Confederation of Independent Planets
The Confederation consists of a large number of barren but resource-rich planets. Since the ties between the Confed worlds are mainly economical in nature, it is home to a wide range of political systems, some of which can be considered less-than-democratic. Although the number of CO-ID planets has grown steadily over the years, population growth has stagnated decades ago. This is mainly due to the low life expectancies on many of the mining-outposts. Many of the Confed worlds are reluctant to deal with the Terran Federation, fearing that the dwindling resources on the cluster-planets will eventually make them a target.
-The Orion Alliance
The signatories of the Orion-treaty are the breadbasket of humanity. Together, they provide nearly eighty percent of the Confederations total food-supply. They also export significant amounts of food to the Terran Federation. Oddly enough, none of the OA worlds are located in Orions Belt.