WARNING: This is a WORK IN PROGRESS. For more information see the main article and the enclosing directory
Below are the sapient species in the Confederation Space setting, converted into Faster Than Light: Nomad terms.
Class 0
This species is always available as a player character. As per the FTL: Nomad rules (p 14):
- Your character stats with 5 Skill points to allocate among skills, with no more than 3 in any one skill.
- You may choose an Archetype.
- You may start with one Talent.
- Your Stamina is 14 + Physical×3
- Your Encumbrance limit is 10 + Physical.
Human
Humans are by far the most common species in Confederation Space. Most have skin in shades of pink or brown and hair ranging from silver to reddish-brown to black, but some bloodlines have bluish or greenish coloration, or something even more unusual. Despite skin and hair color, though, only the most backward provincial would consider them not human.
Humans are credited with most of the major interstellar organizations and inventions of known history. Some even claim the Ancients were human, despite the lack of any holos or representations of the Ancients, only their subject species (Humans, Reptilians, Grays, and others).
Humans mostly speak one or another dialect of Tradespeak, a descendant of the now archaic High Confederation language. Citizens of the Kante Empire speak Kante, and residents of the Etanoi Republic speak Etanoi, in addition to the nigh-universal Tradespeak.
Class I
“Class I” species are available as player characters, with some restrictions as noted in FTL: Nomad p 14:
- You gain the specific abilities (and inabilities) noted for the species.
- Your character stats with 4 Skill points to allocate among skills, with no more than 3 in any one skill.
- You may choose an Archetype.
- You may not start with a Talent.
- Your Stamina is 14 + Physical×3
- Your Encumbrance limit is 10 + Physical.
Each listing below provides a physical description, some cultural tendencies, and finally the specific abilities (and disabilities) members of the species exhibit.
Insectoid
Insectoids, despite the name, possess lungs, hearts, and other organs like all higher sapient species. Only their outer carapace and their large eyes earn them the name “insectoid”.
Their resistance to poison and disease has often stereotyped Insectoids as scavengers and waste disposal experts, but they possess an appreciation for the finer things in life. The courtship rituals between the hunter/gatherer males and the flying, aloof females can become quite complex, sometimes to the frustration of both parties.
While unaltered Insectoids speak one of a hundred clicking, whirring languages, most have had the surgery to speak human languages like Tradespeak.
Insectoid Rules
Insectoids are exactly as described in the FTLN core book, p. 15.
Gekkonid
The nocturnal, wall-climbing Gekkonids have smoother skin and narrower bodies than their distant Reptilian cousins. Most stand a little shorter than the average human, but tall and thin Gekkonids exist.
Originally found on a few Late Primitive worlds, the Gekkonids took to interstellar society like a waterfowl to water. They can be found at any spaceport in Confederation Space, usually looking for work or struggling to hang onto their hard-earned credits.
All but the most provincial Gekkonids speak Tradespeak. They prefer to speak human languages over the sibilant tongues of uncivilized tribes.
Gekkonid Rules
Gekkonids are exactly as described in the FTLN core book, p. 15.
Grey
Greys stand between 1.25 and 1.5 meters tall; they have pale gray skin, large black eyes with black sclera, small mouths, small slits instead of noses, scrawny bodies, and spindly limbs. Most wear form-fitting clothing, usually space suits, but they have no nudity taboo … nor any external genitalia to show. Despite their vaguely human-like appearance, they’re biologically more closely related to reptiles or avians.
The Greys are an old and occasionally disreputable species that has spread across Confederation Space. Part of that ill repute comes from their innate talent for psionics, but there have been Grey civilizations in the past that have pursued scientific curiosity beyond the bounds of ethics.
Alone among all the “xeno” species the Greys have kept their own language more or less intact for untold centuries. Scholars, especially of the psionic arts, consider knowledge of the Grey language a mark of dedication, as few human translators have tackled the many technical works in Archaic Gray.
Grey Rules
Greys are exactly as described in the FTLN core book, p. 15.
Heavy-Worlder
“Heavy-worlder” refers to one of many humanoid species who adapted to worlds with high gravity. They are short and squat with thick limbs, strong muscles, and very little body fat.
On their own worlds Heavy-Worlders practice almost any occupation as any other humanoid, but in the wider galaxy they’re most in demand in tasks requiring heavy labor, like mining.
Most Heavy-Worlders speak Tradespeak or a local planetary language.
Heavy-Worlder Rules
Heavy-worlders gain Advantage on tasks requiring strength and endurance, They may move freely (if carefully) on a world with up to double Earth’s gravity.
Reptilian
Several related “Reptilian” species frequent the space lanes. Except for differences in coloration and skull shape they fit the same description: scales, claws, wide mouths with pointed teeth.
Despite their fearsome appearance most Reptilians are just working stiffs trying to get through the day. But it doesn’t hurt to be polite.
Most Reptilians speak Tradespeak with an undeniably sibilant accent, but a few have hung onto ancestral languages.
Reptilian Rules
Reptilians are exactly as described in the FTLN core book, p. 15.
Class II
“Class II” species require special rules or considerations.
Humanoid
Humanoids are human-like beings with slight differences from baseline humanity.
While humanoids may have different coloration, body shapes, forehead ridges, etc. most humanoids are funtionally equivalent to humans. Counter-examples include the Heavy-Worlders.
Humanoid Rules
If the new species is functionally equivalent to a human in every way, simply create characters of that species exactly like humans.
Otherwise, work with the Referee to determine what makes your humanoid species different from standard humans. Generally this involves specifying a situation in which members of the species have Advantage, but it may involve other perks. If the situation is too broad, the Referee may impose Disadvantage or other limitations on members of the species.
Robot
While some believe Artificial Intelligences should have the same rights as sapient organics, few planets in the Confederation recognize those rights. Most worlds consider them property of their manufacturer or licensed owner. A very few regard them as wards of the state.
Robot Rules
Build a Robot rules of pp 124-132 of FTL: Nomad. To qualify as player characters they must take the Low Artificial Intelligence or High Artificial Intelligence options.
Synthoid
Synthoids are genetically engineered humans with altered, animal, or occasionally alien DNA introduced into their genome. They usually manifest some unusual, physiologically-based ability, as well as significant cosmetic differences from baseline humans.
Synthoids have different statuses under different Confederation worlds. Some worlds regard them as property, others as indentured servants, still others as wards of their guardian. Few provide a path to full citizenship. The Kante Empire bans Synthoids outright; the Etanoi Republic regards them as permanently indentured servants.
Synthoid Rules
Create a Synthoid using the supplement Synthoids.
Class III
Class III aliens are not available as player characters due body shape, life support requirement, psychology, culture, base Technology Age, etc. We list them here for completeness.
First One
(a.k.a. The First, Elder Ones)
Technology Age: Cosmic
On Confederation Space’s trailing edge lies the Domain of the First, a vast region of space claimed by the oldest species in the universe, at least according to them. These star-headed beings claim, through spokes-synthoids, that they started life on earth and that they visited every planet in the galaxy. Evidence for these claims is spotty at best.
Sighting one of their ships usually means one has gone too far and one should head spinward at all deliberate speed. Their reaction to other species is unpredictable: the unwary space traveler might suffer through an evening (or week or month) of boasting about their impressive achievements, or find themselves sent to an unknown sector of space, or simply be blasted into atoms. Above all, a traveler should remain respectful and make no agressive moves.
Transhuman
Technology Age: Late Galactic
Verduran
Technology Age: No Technology? Late Primitive? Late Galactic?
Verdurans are sapient photosynthetic plants of variable form. Some resemble alien trees that bend to catch the sun, others assume roughly humanoid forms to interact with humanity. The most notable of these humanoid forms is the so-called “nymph”, which looks and talks like a green-skinned human woman with leaves for hair.
Colonies of Verdurans center around a “Heartwood” like insects around a queen, communicating through the Heartwood and each other continuously through scent. Each Heartwood on a planet, in turn, connects to each other through root systems, forming a vast alien hive mind. While some consider the Verdurans an invasive species, they terraform every planet they dominate into an agricultural utopia. They are willing to share their bounty with other planets … for a price. Usually that price is enough credits to hire mercenaries to patrol their solar systems, since most Verdurans refuse to leave their planets. How they spread to so many worlds is an enduring mystery.
Determining the Technology Age of Verdurans is but another mystery. They seem to possess no technology beyond the Late Primitive era, yet the way they customise their own people for specific tasks speaks of sophisticated genetic engineering … without evidence of other technology, including space travel.
Despite their lack of spaceships, the Verdurans play a major role in Confederation politics. In a universe full of barren rockballs and frozen iceballs, those planets that control the food supply control life. Those who try to take that food by force find themselves fighting not just in a jungle, but fighting the jungle itself.
Ylem Wraith
Technology Age: Beyond Cosmic
On Confederation Space’s spinward edge lies a region haunted by the Ylem Wraiths. Resembling tall, cloaked figures over two meters tall whose forms shift in and out of tangibility, these beings apparently mean no harm. In fact, they find humans “interesting”, which is why they use their vast powers over space and dimension to poke their metaphorical noses into human affairs.
Those who have encountered their “ships” describe a sphere expanding from an infinitesimal point to a three-meter sphere, then dissolving like fog. In the middle of a human ship’s bridge. Travelers near their domain are warned to be polite but wary.