Character Creation

Character creation in Thousand Stars is relatively simple. Browse the list of character classes below and select one for your character. This is your primary class. Then, select a specialization for that primary class from the list given under the class. This is the area of that class you are best at; though you are still skilled aplenty at the other areas of the class this is your area of expertise. (The Wilder class is the exception to this, read below). Then, select a specialization from a different class. This is an extra skill that you have picked up along the way, roughly on par with your primary class's abilities. (Again, Wilder is an exception to this) As the game progresses, it may be possible for a character to acquire other specializations in accordance with their character's developments.

For example:

Kithkelly Montaigne

Primary: Pilot - Spec: Starfighter

Secondary: Survival(Rogue)

Simple, no?

Character Classes

Medic

The Medic is trained in putting organic life back together after someone's taken it apart. This is preferably done with the latest equipment and medicines, but sometimes you just have to improvise.

Specializations

First Aid - A bandage in time saves a life. First Aid doesn't fix the problem, but it keeps it from getting worse until a remedy is available.

Phamacology - Chemistry as applied to the living body. Whether it's natural or synthetic, you have a pretty good idea what effect it'll have on a being.

Surgery - Repairing significant trauma and removing the source of that injury, so that the body can do the rest.

Xenobiology - Not everyone's human. Xenobiology is what will tell you which medicines will cure and which will kill when you're treating a race that's not your own.

Pilot

The Pilot is trained in operating vehicles. These can be as complex as a starship or as simple as a hang glider. Without his skills, you'd better make sure you're good and comfortable where you are. Navigating the Thousand Stars is not for the ignorant.

Specializations

Atmospheric Vehicles - Flying through space hardly prepares someone for the realities of slicing one's way through an atmosphere - especially when your craft has wings.

Ground Vehicles - Perhaps it's not technically 'piloting', but being able to operate automobiles, tracked vehicles, hovercraft, and the like can come in handy from time to time.

Navigation - Being able to go without knowing where you're going doesn't help a whole lot. Navigation covers finding your way both around a planetary surface or through the depths of space.

Small Starship - Let's be honest, we're talking starfighters here with occasional jaunts in shuttles. Maneuvering in zero-g can be tricky, but it's oh so fun when it works!

Note: Ground Vehicles used to be Large Starship, however after some reflection I decided that steering something the size of a stadium was not going to require sufficient player input to justify a skill specialization.

Rogue

A Rogue can be a hard thing to define. They come from all walks of life and practice skills so varied it's hard to lump them all in together. Suffice it to say, Rogues live by their wits, even if what they're up to is not quite honest.

Specializations

Acquisition - A Rogue can be a font of information on various commodities, not only what they are but where to find them and how to get them for a good price.

Deception - Lying, fast-talking, con games, obfuscation, forgery, smuggling, it's all part and parcel of making things seem to be what they're not. Whether it's information, money, or a crate of illegal explosives, it can be hidden or disguised.

Intrusion - Hiding the truth can be useful, but sometimes you want to know the truth yourself. Intrusion includes such skills as codebreaking, cracking locks, and hacking electronic systems to get them to do what you want. Even a little friendly pickpocketing can come in handy.

Survival - Not just getting by in the wilderness, Survival is about using one's wits and luck to get out of all kinds of distressing and potentially lethal situations. If there's a skill for impossible escapes, this is it.

Soldier

The Thousand Stars can be a dangerous place, those who don't learn how to protect themselves don't last long. By the same token, some people spend a great deal of time and energy learning how to put the hurt on others. Those who specialize in combat, whether they received formal military training or just practiced with sticks in their back yard, fall under the heading of the Soldier.

Specializations

Demolitions - Grenades, satchel charges, binary explosives, if it goes boom you know how to use it safely and to its best effect.

Melee Weapons - Sticks & stones can break your bones, but swords and staves rock! Covers the use of pretty much all forms of handheld non-ranged weapons; even if it's really weird you'll be able to figure it out eventually.

Ranged Weapons - Firearms, energy weapons, arrows, or thrown rocks, if it brings pain at a distance this is it.

Unarmed Combat - Whether it's a martial art with a thousand-year tradition or lots of practice with shoving people, you are skilled at hurting people with just your natural appendages.

Tech

Life in the Thousand Stars often relies on fancy devices, whether mechanical or electronic. Someone has to keep all those devices running, and that person is you. If you're clever enough, you can even build new ones.

Specializations

Analysis - Given that you're usually immersed in six different flavors of science on a daily basis, you're probably the most likely to take a look at all the strange gizmos and phenomenal cosmic events and come away with an explanation that makes sense.

Armorer - You know how to build and repair weapons, whether handheld or mounted.

Electronics - Complex control systems, including computers. Given half a chance, you could probably build a working electronic brain.

Mechanics - Devices with moving parts and/or large amounts of energy input and output.

Wilder

It's a big universe out there, and things happen that science just hasn't explained yet. Somewhere between mind and matter you've tapped into powers that other people don't possess. If the Wilder class is selected as a character's primary class, then the character only receives the abilities granted by the specialization chosen. If it is selected as the secondary skill, then the character receives latent potential that will eventually bloom into some kind of Wilder ability. The character may not be aware of his potential or in which direction it will go, depending on the gamemaster.

Communicant - You are a member of the Sacred Order of Communicants, and have transformed your telepathic potential into the ability to understand and translate any communication used by a sentient being in your presence. Communicants are highly regarded in the Thousand Stars and can command sizeable fees for their services, but operate under a few strict rules.

Shi'tar Sorcery - This elemental mysticism is primarily taught in the Wakamori Empire, but the potential for it can crop up anywhere in any species. Most sorcerers master only one of the five elements, even though all five are related in one way or another. A Wilder may choose only one element.

Air - Air sorcery involves enhancing and/or confusing the senses. Air sorcerers always seem to know more than they should about everything, but cannot read minds.

Earth - Earth sorcery involves matter and motion. Earth masters can make cloth stronger than diamonds or throw a needle with accuracy measured in hundredths of an inch.

Fire - Fire sorcery is particularly dangerous, as it involves raw energy. It is usually destructive rather than creative, but a Fire master can stop a dreadnought's power core cold with only a stare - or bring it back to life a moment later.

Void - The most difficult and undefinable of the elements, Void sorcery goes beyond the other four to explore the workings of time, space, and destiny. Void masters are both incredibly rare and incredibly frightening, for they can transform a pauper into an emperor or turn a mighty civilization into a sad footnote in history.

Water - Water sorcery focuses on the body, to heal it, enhance it, or destroy it. A Water master cannot raise the dead, but nothing short of death can stop them or those they choose to aid.

Other - Communication and Shi'tar are not the only mysterious powers in the Thousand Stars, simply the best-understood. You may negotiate other options with the gamemaster.

Character Profiles

Characters should be submitted to Ron Stratton in the following format:

Name:

Primary: / Specialization:

Secondary:

Homeworld

Race: - if a race is not available for character use, it will be noted in the race description. See the Races page for further information.

Age: - Most human cultures abide by the Mile standard of thirteen months of twenty-eight days each.

Description: Include a physical description of your character.

Personal History: Include your character's history, whether simple or complex.

Character Traits: Any notes on personality, habits, or racial traits you wish to mention.

All characters are subject to gamemaster approval, but he's a nice guy and prefers to work with his players rather than bludgeon them with heavy objects. Or both.

Author: Ron Stratton