Star Tweakers


Roll 3d6 in order for stats: TUF, DEX, INT, WIS, CHA.

Roll 1d20 under each of your stats to determine your backstory.

Roll TUF and DEX to see how well you are holding up under the stresses of prolonged space travel. For each failure, you've got one of the following symptoms caused by:
  1. Zero G
    • Muscle atrophy
    • Bone loss
    • Lymph node malformations
  2. High G
    • "Accelerated ageing"
    • Heart weakness
    • Arterial hardening
  3. Radiation
    • Cancers, primarily skin and lung
    • Adhesions from cancer-removal surgery
    • Infertility
  4. Cryo-sleep
    • Memory loss
    • Personality drift
    • Free-radical cellular destruction
  5. Wormholes, jump-drives, assorted exotic energies etc.
    • Officially, no illnesses or disorders are caused by any of the above. However, Chronic Extraplanetary Syndrome has every single symptom, so make of that what you will.
  6. Nanobots
    • Used to treat brain tumours and other finicky illnesses
    • Immuno-suppressant drugs are required as part of standard procedures
    • Malformed nanobot activity can have life-threatening complications, and are usually treated using... nanobots

You've got 1d20 credits, but if you rolled under your INT, get x10 as many credits. (1c is about $10)

Roll WIS to see if you've got an official record. On a fail, you've had a traffic ticket, lesser fine, mediated complaint etc. and are In The System.

You've got a number of net-friends and acquaintances equal to CHA/2. You've also got one Interesting Contact. Decide who they are, then roll CHA to see if they owe you a favour, or if you owe them (you can choose to do this at any time during the game).


A "Tweak" is any alteration to a human body performed after gestation. They come in a weird variety of forms. You have two (2) Tweaks, each with one of the following effects:
  • Increase a stat to 18, or
  • Increase two stats to 15 and get a related Useful Ability, or
  • Get a Major Ability

The two most common types of Tweaks are genehacks and mods.

Genehacks are changes made directly to the users DNA, usually mediated by altered viruses. "Installing" a genehack causes a five-day fever, and it takes a few months until it fully activates. Multiple genehacks sometimes conflict with each other, every hack after the first has a chance of causing dangerous complications.

Mods include implants, brain chips, and prostheses. They're sometimes done under local anaesthetic, and after just a few hours of fine-tuning, you've got Robot Arms or Laser Eyes or whatever. They show up on Xray, an EMP can knock it out, some require regular upkeep, and others need special licences to be brought into secure facilities, but are much faster than genehacks.

Optional: For more heroic, space-operatic characters, choose Tweaks before rolling the Backstory checks.

Example Genehacks
  1. 18 TUF - Testosterone production goes through the roof, muscle fibres have become threaded polyfilaments, great bulging engines of destruction
  2. 18 DEX - Additional neural clusters along the spine and each limb allow for insane reaction speeds and extremely effective unconscious actions
  3. 18 INT - Brain has become divided into four tetartospheres, each allowing multiple points of view and predictions. Sub-personalities act as thought routers and opinion buffers
  4. 18 WIS - All other senses are modified and routed through the visual cortex, allowing a sort of Sixth Sense
  5. 18 CHA - Subtle personality adjustments and incredible empathetic skills. In-person, you unconsciously secrete an assortment of delightful pheromones
  6. 15 TUF+DEX - Powerful metabolic pathways allows the digestion of ultra-concentrated nutrients and explosive bursts of speed and power
  7. 15 TUF+CHA - Adonis figure, perfect symmetry from head to toe. You heal incredibly neatly without a single scar, and grow new teeth with alarming regularity
  8. Hunter Seeker - For ordinary humans, eye-contact with you is mesmerising and/or terrifying, your ability to interpret micro-expressions is uncanny
  9. Acid Spitting
  10. Sonic Lungs - Can pop unprotected eardrums, resonance allows you to shatter glass. You are an excellent singer and public speaker
  11. Extra Limbs, grow more as needed
  12. Wings, second set of pectoral muscles
  13. Bones are capable of moving independently, and locking into stronger configurations as required
  14. Bonded Predator - A loyal companion, permanently mindmelded, a bizarre creature that can (2x1d6): 1. Teleport short distances, 2. Change colour, 3. Bite through steel, 4. Read emotions, 5. Spit acid, 6. Survive in space
  15. Occult Pineal Gland - Nobody knows quite what this does, but it is definitely magical
  16. Tooth Gun - Cysts of pressurised gas cause your teeth to shoot out at lethal speed (d8). Reloading requires a trip to the dentist
  17. Chemospectrum Nose - As good as a dogs

Example Mods
  1. 18 TUF - Robot Limbs
  2. 18 DEX - Fibre-optic Reflexes
  3. 18 INT - Brain replaced with a computer, original personality occasionally tries to interject
  4. 18 WIS - Sensors on the back of your head, hands, and among a discreet swarm of drones
  5. 18 CHA - Directly hooked into a widespread social network cultivator, you always know exactly the right thing to say
  6. 15 DEX+INT - Body regulation microcomputer sitting behind the pituitary gland, keeping you calm, cool, and collected at all times
  7. Laser Eyes - You can't see for a little while after each use
  8. Cyber Vision - Allows you to see the entire spectrum, from radio up to gamma. Transmissions from devices flow all around
  9. Bio-Reactor Guts - You can digest almost anything, ferment alcohol, and create strange fluids
  10. Inteneral Force-field Generator
  11. Multitool Fingers - Each finger contains a different type of tool, including scalpels and syringes, splitting out into multiple graspers and manipulators
  12. Prosthetic Weapon - One of your arms is replaced with a (1d4): 1. Chainsaw, 2. Flamethrower, 3. Grenade launcher, 4. Plasma cannon
  13. Smart Blood - Blood replaced with oxygenated motile gel. Wounds seal up immediately, can be used as tiny manipulators
  14. Capacitor Node - Absorb and redirect electricity away from your vital organs and out any of your limbs
  15. Rocket Hands

Chargen Summary:
  1. Roll stats.
  2. Run backstory check.
  3. Choose Tweaks, edit character sheet.
  4. Optionally, spend credits on random useful (?) items.



No comments:

Post a Comment