Adaptation and survival are the hallmarks of the Gunkers, a people who are as colorful and diverse as they are successful at navigating the sludge-drenched world around them. Gunkers are the dominant species in the world, and are commonly encountered just about everywhere.
Origin: Gunkers aren’t really overly concerned about how they began or where they came from. What matters is that they are here now, and everything else will fall into place in due time. Those rare few who have bothered to speculate claim that Gunkers have evolved from small, furry and resilient mammals with a penchant for surviving one cataclysmic disaster after another. Throughout numerous generations and various mutations, the Gunkers of today were born. The truth, however, is anyone’s guess.
Appearance: Gunkers come in many shapes and sizes, standing somewhere between five and six feet tall most commonly, with skin tones and hair colors that can come in any and all shades of color. Each Gunker has a mutation that aids in their survival, and many of these features lend the Gunker unique appearances. Warts are a common feature among these industrious sorts.
Personality: Most Gunkers are pragmatic and friendly, prefering to do things the tried and true way instead of wasting time with styles, trends, fads, frivolities and conveniences. To a Gunker, functionality is vastly superior to appearance in just about all things. Your average Gunker is good natured, simple, and straight forward in their lifestyles. Their adaptive, self-sufficient natures lead others to believe that they aren’t the most introspective sorts, but Gunkers concern themselves with the needs of the present moment rather than sifting through the mysteries of existence.
Birthrights
Limited Stat (Smarts): While Gunkers aren’t stupid per se, they don’t really make intellectual pursuits a priority.
-Improving a Gunker’s Smarts stat beyond 2 costs twice the points at Character Creation or with Experience Points.
Survival Instincts: Gunkers are incredibly adaptive and have a knack for getting by in harsh conditions. There’s no such thing as ‘roughing it’ to these rugged individuals.
-All Gunkers begin play with the Survival and Primal skills at Novice rank for free at Character Creation.
Mutation: Each and every Gunker has some sort of Mutation that aids in their daily life. While the following list is far from exhaustive, these six mutations are some of the best suited for player characters. Gunkers choose one Mutation from the following list.
-Glow: Your skin pulses with a faint radioactive green glow. You can increase or decrease the intensity of this glow at will, and it sheds a glow equal to that of a torch in a 60 foot radius around you. While this means that you always have a light source, your glow can also give away your location in complete darkness. You can completely nullify your Glow for up to one hour by spending a point of Luck if you really need to. Beyond acting as a light source, your Glow also helps protect you against the harmful properties of Radiation. Whenever you gain a point of Radiation for any reason, roll a d6. On a roll of 5 or 6, ignore that point of Radiation.
-Buddy: You have a friend! A Buddy is a face that is growing somewhere on your body. Most Gunkers with buddies have them sprout on their palm, but other places have been recorded. A Buddy is an entity with its own personality and goals and motivations, but they are (mostly) friendly to the person they share a body with. Your buddy often can give advice, pep talks, or just lend their company so that you never get lonesome again! Buddies are mostly beneficial, but can also get you in trouble from time to time with unwanted outbursts. Every once in a while, your Buddy grants you keen insights or valuable tips during your adventures.
-Extra Limb: Many Gunkers have prehensile limbs that can function just as another arm or hand could. Some Gunkers have tails, a spare tentacle here or there, or even prehensile tongues that can be used to hold and manipulate small objects. Before you ask, Extra limbs are not strong enough to attack, so you cannot have a giant whip-arm that decapitates all your enemies. An extra limb is about the length of a normal arm.
-Third Eye: You benefit from (or are cursed by) a third eye right in the middle of your forehead. This gives you at least one premonition each and every day that comes in the form of a brief, cryptic vision that predicts the future accurately in some fashion. Keep in mind that while these visions are always accurate, they are very rarely clear, and come in the signs of odd dreams and strange portents that often only make sense AFTER an event has transpired. This Mutation also gives you the Perception skill at Novice rank for free at character creation.
-Fish Friend: Most people with this Mutation were born near large bodies of water, and can breathe and function underwater normally, holding their breath for, well, as long as they need to. Webbed fingers and toes all come with the territory of this mutation, as well, and you can act (and fight) underwater with no penalty. You gain the Athletics skill at Novice for free, since you’re such a good swimmer. Lastly, this ability allows you to speak and communicate effortlessly with seagulls and natural aquatic animals. Aquatic animals will not attack you unless you initiate the violence.
-Wild Child: You have a bit of beast in you, and can communicate with natural animals (not monsters). Natural beasts will not attack you unless you initiate the violence, and such beings are naturally drawn to you and consider you kin. Lastly, you gain immunity to any and all natural poisons (scorpion stings, snake bites, etc). You are still susceptible to unnatural poisons like cyanide or other man made toxins, but any rolls you get to resist such toxins gain Advantage due to your resistance.
Opinions of Others
Klackers: “You ever get to feelin’ that they are trying a bit too hard?”
Strangers: “Can’t understand half what they say and none of what they do…”
Tubers: “Now these types give me a chill.”
Bubblers: “I really gotta remind you not to trust a slimeball?”
Social and cordial to a fault, Klackers are a people obsessed with the trappings of civility and want, more than anything, to be accepted by society as equals. These walking, talking bugs are filled with curiosity about the folks around them, and take to each day with renewed vigor and excitement.
Origin: Chittox was the first bug to ever be gifted with speech and intelligence. She was kind and sweet and caring, taking interest in everything going on around her in the world. She had a Brother named Buzztor, who was the exact opposite: a mean, bad-tempered fella with a heavy fist and bad intentions. Chittox first taught her brother how to taught, reason and think, and then went about enlightening other vermin-kind, trying to instill the lessons of civility and kindness in her students. Buzztor, however, had other plans, and did not want to become equals with non-bugs, but wanted to enslave and rule them, getting vengeance for eons of being stepped on and smashed by the “Fleshies” that tormented his people. In a fit of rage and jealousy, Buzztor killed and ate his sister, and fractured his insectoid kin forever after into two distinct philosophies. Those vermin-kind who follow the teachings of Chittox became known as Klackers, and those angry militants who followed Buzztor became known as Hivers, seeking to enslave and eradicate all non-bugfolk.
Appearance: Klackers are walking, talking insectoids and have similar features. Most have very large eyes, antennae, and physical features that are derived from their particular breed of insect ancestry. Due to their obsession with being civilized, Klackers often overdress, having a fondness for formal attire like suits, complicated dresses, and antiquated social customs.
Personality: Klackers are oftentimes very curious about people and places and things. For a great many eons, they were oblivious to the world around them, but once Chittox taught them the gift of speech and thought, they took to interacting with the world around them with renewed gusto and inspired fervor. Klackers are fond of social interactions and their cities are some of the most polite and urbane places in all of creation. While not every Klacker is good-natured, the vast majority are quite civil, some obnoxiously so! Many believe that Klackers harbor a deep shamefulness for being related to long-reviled vermin, and seek to overcompensate by being a tad bit too friendly. Those claims may not be too far off the mark.
Birthrights
Schism: There are two distinct factions of bug-folk: Klackers and Hivers. Klackers seek to integrate themselves with normal society and contribute to it, following the kind-hearted teachings of the first Klacker, Chittox. Hivers are the disciples of the dreadful King Buzztor, who believes that Bug-kind are superior to all other beings, and that it is now the Insectoids’ time to rule the planet.
-In short, Klackers are considered traitors by all Hivers, and are de facto enemies to King Buzztor. Klackers that are caught by Hivers are oftentimes treated with far more derision than even the warm blooded Fleshies that the Hivers hate so vehemently…
Darkvision: As you might expect, darkness doesn’t bother Klackers all that much.
-Klackers can see just fine in complete darkness up to 60 feet away. They lose the ability to differentiate colors during this time, however.
Insect Heritage: Klackers each descend from a particular kind of bug, and gain a heritage trait that is fitting to their ancestry. While the following list is far from exhaustive, they are some of the most fitting heritages that Klacker player characters can have. Klacker can communicate at will with all normal insects by speaking in a language of chirps and chittering. In addition to this, each Klacker chooses one heritage from the list below.
-Ant: You gain the Athletics skill at Novice for free at character creation. You gain advantage on all Vigor (Athletics) rolls made when your potent strength might be of benefit (lifting things, leaping across chasms, etc). You must have a Vigor score of at least 3 to choose this heritage.
-Fly: You have a set of wings that grant you sporadic bursts of flight. By spending a point of luck, you can fly for about one minute per point of Vigor that you have. Your wings can elevate you about ten feet off the ground.
-Spider: You can climb up walls for up to one minute by spending a point of Luck. Also, you’re probably particularly good at knitting…
-Beetle: You benefit from a particularly sturdy carapace. You gain a natural Armor Rating of 3. You must have a Vigor score of at least 3 to purchase this heritage. Once per Long Rest, whenever you take damage, you may choose to roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, reduce the damage done to you to 0.
-Termite: You have a wicked set of pincers that can be used to deliver a hellacious bite attack. Increase your unarmed damage by +1 and you are never considered unarmed. Beyond this, you can also spend a point of Luck to devour enough wood to gnaw your way through a door of average thickness in about d6 turns.
-Cricket: You are a natural performer and gain the Entertain skill at Novice for free at Character Creation. Due to your musical heritage, each level in the Entertain skill you have allows you to choose 2 Mediums instead of 1.
Opinions of Others
Hivers: “Run.”
Gunkers: “Salt of the earth, those Gunkers. I, however, prefer sugar.”
Strangers: “What infectious enthusiasm!”
Tubers: “Oh, to peer into the machinations ticking away behind those blank and white eyes…”
Bubblers: “I’d simply love to know more, but they never stick around long enough to have a proper chat.”
Their bulbous heads hold equally hefty brains, and these ingenious little aliens dart about the world excitedly, often creating wondrous contraptions and smoldering ruins in their excitable wake.
Origin: When the sun exploded and doomed the world to its current toxic state, an unfortunate mothership full of Martian explorers was zipping by the world of Xeriad. The intensity of the explosion knocked the ship off course and forced it to make a crash landing on the surface, where the survivors were forced to continue on in a strange and foreign world. Unfortunately for them, their precious Mothership was damaged beyond repair, and communication with their home planet remains impossible. Nicknamed Strangers (due to their not exactly being from around here), the large community of Martians quickly bred like rabbits, and the Strangers of today are the descendants of that initial crew. With hope of ever going back to their home planet long gone, the Strangers have integrated themselves fully into society, making it far more interesting as a result!
Appearance: Strangers stand about 4 feet in height on average, and they have bulbous bald heads, large ears, and wide, expressive eyes. Their features are best described as delicate, and their skin comes in any tone of red, with females having decidedly pinkish shades of skin color.
Personality: Your average Stranger is cerebral and energetic, doing about six things at the same time and seemingly never stopping to catch a breath. They talk fast and are rarely at rest, always wrapped up in one experiment or all-consuming task. Others call them flighty, but to a Stranger, there’s never enough time to get everything done. Intellectual pursuits are highly prized by Strangers, and they are fascinated by gizmos and gadgetry. Their endless curiosity gets them in seemingly constant trouble.
Birthrights
Limited Stat (Vigor): Small and demure, Strangers aren’t really built for manual labor, much preferring to work smarter instead of harder.
-Raising a Stranger’s Vigor score above 2 costs double at Character Creation or via Experience Point expenditure.
Brilliance: What they lack in physical prowess, a Stranger more than makes up for with a towering intellect.
-You must have a Smarts score of at least 3 in order to play a member of this Species.
-Strangers begin play with the Bookworm and Technology skills at Novice for free at character creation.
-Strangers have photographic memories, and can immediately recall anything they have seen, heard, or read at a moment’s notice.
Alien Technology: As you might expect, Strangers have some pretty nifty technology at their disposal that only they can understand how to properly operate.
-Strangers are the only species that can use Martian weapons and armor (see the Gear Section). Non-Strangers who attempt to use such devices are merely baffled by the complexity of these weapons of war and cannot make heads or tails of them, and will probably shoot their eye out.
Opinions of Others
Gunkers: “To simply survive without expanding the mind defeats its own purpose, no?”
Klackers: “Even the vermin on this planet are cordial. How interesting!”
Tubers: “Whoever engineered these mysterious beings has technology to rival our own. That in itself is worrying.”
Bubblers: “You can’t even threaten them with dissection–I don’t think they have organs.”
These unnaturally created beings were engineered in a lab by a highly advanced, unknowable and ancient civilization. Locked away in deep stasis for who-knows how long, Tubers have recently awoken with no knowledge of their purpose or creators, and are blank slates in a confusing world.
Origin: Deep underground in a secret laboratory, an ancient race created their own distinct species of detached, unknowable beings. Nicknamed Tubers because of the process of “growing” these curious life forms in long tubes filled with yellow-green goop, the installation holding these beings randomly released the Tubers to the surface with no record of their purpose, who created them, or where their mysterious creators vanished off to. Their origins are swathed in a mystery so thick that even the Tubers themselves don’t know their own purpose.
Appearance: Tubers all have pale green synthetic skin and brown hair with at least one silver streak going through it. Their eyes are blank white and their expressions are emotionless and even. Hairstyles and facial features differ enough to tell them apart, but all Male Tubers stand at six feet even in height, and females all stand about a half foot shorter. All Tubers have moderate, average builds, no matter what their actual physical attributes might be. Bar codes are commonly tattooed somewhere on a Tuber’s body, with the location varying depending on the individual. Tubers have no eyebrows and dress in grey and white jumpsuit outfits that gives them all a rather uniform appearance.
Personality: Tubers are a bit of an…odd bunch. While all Tubers do have feelings and emotions, they are designed to not express them in normal ways. Many are absolutely creeped out in the presence of a Tuber, for they never outwardly show emotion, always speaking in the same reserved, detached manner no matter what they may be inwardly feeling. Many Tubers suffer from mental quirks and odd behaviors due to their synthetic upbringing. These defects are normally slight and merely odd, such as some expression of obsessive-compulsive tendencies or hyper-focus on a particular topic. Some Tubers have very serious mental defects like obsession or psychopathy, which are particularly hard to spot due to their eerily calm, icy demeanors.
Birthrights
Limited Stat (Presence): Tubers are not an expressive people, and have tremendous difficulty expressing emotion. This can make them quite monotone and eerie to interact with, despite the best attempts to remain cordial and polite.
-Raising a Tuber’s Presence score above 2 costs double the normal amount at character creation or via Experience Point expenditure.
Regeneration: Miraculously, Tubers can regenerate from grievous injury with minimal effort.
-A Tuber can take a Half Action to immediately regain d6 points of Energy. By taking a Full Action, a Tuber may use this ability twice. This ability can even regrow lost limbs at the cost of Experience Points. Regrowing a lost finger or toe costs 1 Experience point. Regrowing a hand or foot costs 3 Experience Points, and regrowing a lost arm or leg costs 5 Experience Points. Regrowing any Limb takes about d6 hours to completely reform as the synthetic skin and tissue knits itself back together again. Because of this, Tubers are immune to scarring.
Self-Sustaining: Due to their status as synthetic beings, Tubers have various benefits that other living beings do not, as listed below.
-Tubers do not need to breathe, eat, or drink. They are not required to consume Rations for any reason, though many Tubers do find the act of eating and drinking to be enjoyable. They can indulge in these things, but can survive just fine without doing so.
-Tubers do not physically age, and mature in their Tube-pods looking anywhere between 20-40, retaining this appearance and not aging a single physical day. Tubers have a lifespan of 99 years, and are immune to disease and poisons (unless the condition specifically targets Tubers).
-Tubers are completely and totally immune to the effects of Radiation.
Opinions of Others
Gunkers: “They live for the moment. In a way, I envy them.”
Klackers: “To have evolved from common vermin is an admirable feat, indeed.”
Strangers: “Perhaps they are familiar with our creators? I must question one when time permits.”
Bubblers: “They hail from sludge and act accordingly. Can you claim surprise?”
Beings composed entirely of rubbery sludge, Bubblers are famed as wanderers, drifters, and troublemakers incarnate. Hey, it isn’t their fault that their lives are so dang interested, yaknow?
Origin: Somewhere deep beneath the surface, a primordial, ancient and sacred river of multi-colored goop flows. This sentient spawning pool mass of gooey strangeness is known only as Mother Sludge, and every now and again, she churns forth a sentient Bubbler who makes their way to the surface to mix things up and see what’s going on. Bubblers often refer to each other as “Brother” or “Sister” because it’s pretty much true, since all Bubblers spawn from the same conscious being. It’s all pretty gross and complicated to explain, really, and most just shrug their shoulders and let Bubblers be Bubblers.
Appearance: Bubblers come in all shapes and sizes, but most stand between five and six feet in height and can come in any and all colors. Bubblers move with a boneless grace (because they ain’t got no bones) that can be hypnotic to behold. Contrary to popular belief, Bubblers do have actual skin that feels quite rubbery to the touch. Due to their lack of bone structure, Bubblers can contort their bodies in a myriad of clever (and disturbing) ways. Bubblers have eyes that constantly swirl in a hypnotic pattern, only adding to their odd appearance.
Personality: Since all Bubblers spawn from the same sentient being, they share a strange kind of hive-mind with other Bubblers which affects how they behave socially. This odd sense of community means that Bubblers don’t see why other people get so mad when they “borrow” their things. To a Bubbler, it isn’t really stealing if you need something that belongs to somebody else. I mean, you’ll give it right back when you’re done with it, right? Bubblers despise boredom and thrive on excitement and action, and always seem to be wrapped up in some kind of dramatic event. Others oftentimes find them troublesome and derelict, with some being so bold as to accuse them of being incurable criminals and thrill-seeking troublemakers. This isn’t entirely true, but it isn’t entirely wrong, either. To a Bubbler, stagnation is death, and like any pile of goo, they wanna keep things stirred up so that nothing gets crusty. Because of this, most Bubblers have an insatiable wanderlust that drives them to neve spend too much time in the same place. As you might expect, this does not help their reputation as listless drifters.
Birthrights
Bad Reputation: Universally looked upon with suspicion, Bubblers need to work twice as hard to prove themselves to a new community before they can be trusted. Even if a Bubbler is good natured and friendly, trouble seems to follow them everywhere, and most people have enough drama in their lives fighting off radioactive monsters and simply trying to survive.
-Bubblers can expect to pay higher prices for gear or services, and are given a very short leash by those unfamiliar to them until they prove themselves a well-meaning member of society. This can take quite a long time.
Sticky Fingers: Bubblers are rather guileful and just as flexible morally as they are physically.
-You must have an Agility score of at least 3 to play a Bubbler.
-Bubblers begin play with the Stealth and Thievery skills at Novice for free at Character Creation.
Gooify: Every now and again, a Bubbler can revert back to their original goo form, allowing them to slither under doors or seep through small cracks.
-Use of this ability costs a Luck point and lasts for 1 minute per point of Agility the Bubbler has. A Bubbler can only use this ability if they are unobserved, and it takes about 3 turns for the change to complete itself. Keep in mind that only the Bubbler’s body turns into goop, not any clothing or gear on their person. While transformed, a Bubbler can slither up and along walls as well, but at half the normal speed they can travel on the ground.
Opinions of Others
Gunkers: “Congratulations, you survived another day eating rice cakes and rainwater. What bores.”
Klackers: “They always think the best of everyone. Not naive in the slightest. Nope.”
Strangers: “They have lots of stuff worth borrowing…if you can even figure out how to use any of it, that is.”
Tubers: “Waaaaaah, I don’t know who made me! Take it from me, buddy, knowing where you came from is highly overrated. Total creeps."
