Chapter 1 - Characters

Concept

Published Savage Worlds settings often come with both character ideas and pregenerated “Archetypes.” In Astrabound, those archetypes are less about fantasy classes and more about the life you have lived on the way to the Outer Rim.

You might play a Commonwealth idealist who walked away from comfort because the Rim needed help. You might play a Syndicate runner who knows the right ports, the wrong people, and the one rule that matters: get paid and get out. Or you might play a Starstrider, chasing Remnant tech and old Astra echoes because no one else is brave enough, or foolish enough.

Look through the player-facing sections of Astrabound or talk to the GM about the campaign’s tone. The Outer Rim can be heroic, grim, hopeful, or criminal. Pick a concept that gives you reasons to take jobs, make enemies, and keep flying.

Ancestry

Astrabound is crowded with species, cultures, and engineered lineages. Choose any ancestry allowed in your campaign and let it shape how your character moves through the galaxy.

Your ancestry provides special abilities and limitations that reflect biology, adaptation, or design. Some are subtle, like heightened senses. Some are dramatic, like extra limbs or aquatic physiology. In Astrabound, ancestry also informs reputation. A Drakneri in a backwater cantina draws different assumptions than a Voidborn Human or a Vendi diplomat.

Use the ancestries presented in this book, and if your table creates new ones, follow the ancestry-building rules your GM approves.

Hindrances

Hindrances are flaws, drawbacks, obligations, traumas, or dark secrets drawn from a character’s history. You can take up to 4 points of Hindrances. A Major Hindrance is worth 2 points, and a Minor is worth 1. A hero could thus take two Major Hindrances, four Minor, or any combination that adds up to 4 points. You can take more Hindrances if you want, but the maximum benefit is 4 points.

Taking Hindrances not only helps you define and roleplay your hero, but also gives you additional points you can use at character creation for more capability or better gear. In Astrabound, Hindrances also give the GM strong hooks: debts, enemies, vows, addictions, reputations, and the consequences of life on the edge.

For 2 points you can:

• Raise an attribute one die type, or

• Choose an Edge.

For 1 point you can:

• Gain another skill point, or

• Gain additional starting funds equal to twice your setting’s starting amount.

Traits

Characters are defined by attributes and skills, collectively called “Traits,” and both work in exactly the same way. Attributes and skills are ranked by die types, typically from d4 to d12, with d6 being average for a capable adult. Higher is better.

Attributes

Every character starts with a d4 in each of five attributes: Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor.

You then have 5 points to increase your attributes. Raising a d4 to a d6 costs 1 point. You’re free to spend these points however you like, except that no attribute may ever be raised above a d12 unless an ancestral ability says otherwise. If it does, each increase beyond a d12 adds a +1 modifier. Increasing a d12 Strength two steps, for example, is a Strength score of d12 + 2.

Skills

Skills are learned abilities such as firing weapons, hand-to-hand combat, xenobiology, piloting, negotiation, and surviving where a map ends.

Skills in Savage Worlds are intentionally broad to keep play fast and flexible. In Astrabound, that means a single skill can cover a lot of practical, lived-in action: Shooting covers pistols, rifles, and shipboard gunplay. Repair covers keeping a ship alive with what you have. Persuasion covers deals in a diplomat’s office or a bribe in a customs line.

Core Skills: Five skills are marked with a red star in the Astrabound skill list: Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion, and Stealth. These are abilities most adventurers have from sheer survival. Unless an ancestral ability, Edge, or Hindrance says otherwise, your character starts with a d4 in each of these five core skills.

Buying Skills: After core skills are assigned, you have 15 additional points to raise core skills or buy and raise new skills as you see fit. Each die type costs 1 point (starting at d4) as long as the skill is equal to or less than the attribute it’s linked to. If you exceed the linked attribute, the cost becomes 2 points per die type.

Skill Maximums: Skills may not be increased above d12 during character creation unless the character’s ancestry starts with the skill at d6. If the skill starts with a d6, increase her maximum to d12 + 1.

Derived Statistics

Your character sheet contains a few other statistics you need to fill in.

Pace is how fast your character moves in tactical situations like combat. Standard Pace is 6, which means six tabletop inches per round. Each inch is two yards in the fiction.

Parry is equal to 2 plus half your character’s Fighting die type (a total of 2 if a character doesn’t have Fighting), plus any bonuses for shields or certain weapons. This is the Target Number (TN) to hit your hero in hand-to-hand combat.

For Fighting skills higher than d12, such as d12 + 1, add half the fixed modifier, rounded down. For instance, Fighting d12 + 1 grants a Parry of 8, while Fighting d12 + 2 results in a Parry of 9.

Size: A hero’s default Size is 0 unless altered by ancestral abilities, Edges, or Hindrances. It cannot be less than −1 or more than +3.

Toughness is your hero’s damage threshold. Damage rolls that equal or exceed this number cause harm.

Toughness is 2 plus half your hero’s Vigor, plus Armor (use the armor worn on his torso). Vigor over a d12 is calculated just like Parry, above.

Edges

Attributes and skills are a character’s foundation, but Edges are what turn a capable spacer into someone with a signature. In Astrabound, Edges represent training, reputation, lineage, station life, military discipline, outlaw habits, Astra talent, or the kind of hard-earned instincts you only get by surviving the Outer Rim.

Characters gain Edges from Hindrances, from ancestral abilities (such as Humans’ Adaptability), or from Advances once play begins. Your setting book may also include Edges unique to Astrabound, such as Alliance-specific qualifications, Starstrider perks, Astra traditions, or Syndicate connections.

Gear

Some campaigns provide your hero with all the gear she needs. Most grant a starting amount of funds you can use to purchase what you like from a relevant list of weapons, armor, and adventuring gear.

Unless GM says otherwise, the standard starting amount is $500.

Depending on the campaign, this might be everything the character owns or it may represent only their “job gear,” with other belongings stored in a locker, a berth, a hab, or a ship’s hold. The latter is up to the Game Master. In Astrabound, many characters live out of a duffel and a tool kit, and their real wealth is access: a port that will still service them, a contact who still answers, or a ship that can still make the run.

Players don’t have to worry about how much they can carry in most games, but if it becomes important, use Encumbrance.

Background Details

Finish your new hero by filling in any additional history you care to. Ask yourself why she’s out here and what she wants from the galaxy. Where does she sleep when she is not on the job? Who taught her the skills she trusts with her life? What does she refuse to do, even for credits? Who is looking for her, and why?

Or just start playing and fill in these details as they become important and you walk around in her shoes a bit.

You might also want to talk to the other players. Maybe your characters know each other right from the start. Maybe you served on the same ship, survived the same job, or escaped the same station at the same time. Or you might collectively decide to coordinate so the crew covers the basics: someone who can fly, someone who can fix, someone who can talk, someone who can notice the ambush before it happens.

If you do, make sure you’re still playing what you want to play. There’s no point in being the crew’s face, medic, or gunhand if that is not a role you are interested in.

Ancestries

Not every hero is human. Below are ancestries that exist within the Galaxy of Astra Genesis.

Androids

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Androids are artificial people, built to think and act with near-human flexibility while exceeding most organics in consistency and endurance. They do not sleep, breathe, eat, or drink. They do not suffer disease and are immune to poisons and toxins. They can keep watch for days, function in vacuum, and endure environments that would kill an organic in minutes.

But androids are not invulnerable. Their architecture is uniquely vulnerable to ionization and electromagnetic disruption. A charged ion burst that might merely stun an organic can overload an android’s systems catastrophically.

Why Play an Android?

Play an Android if you want a character who feels different in play: tireless, precise, and hard to poison or suffocate, but with a very real “wrong kind of damage” weakness. Androids fit as investigators, tacticians, engineers, pilots, and stoic protectors, as well as runaway property, liberated persons, or secret experiments.

Android Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase: Smarts (+2)

Androids increase Smarts by one die type during character creation. This also increases maximum Smarts by one step.

Attribute Increase: Vigor (+2)

Androids increase Vigor by one die type during character creation. This also increases maximum Vigor by one step.

Doesn’t Breathe (+2)

Androids do not breathe. They aren’t affected by inhaled toxins, can’t drown, and don’t suffocate in vacuum (though they may still freeze).

Immune to Poison (+1)

Androids are immune to poison.

Immune to Disease (+1)

Androids are immune to disease.

Can’t Heal (−1)

Androids have no capacity for natural healing. They can’t make natural healing rolls, ignore the Golden Hour, and must be Repaired rather than Healed when suffering Wounds (as appropriate to your setting’s repair rules and available skills).

Environmental Weakness (Ion/EMP) (−1)

Androids are vulnerable to ionization and electromagnetic disruption. They suffer −4 to resist Ion/EMP environmental effects. If an attack is based on Ion/EMP, this penalty acts as a bonus to damage/effect severity as appropriate.

Hindrance (Major): Programmed (−2)

Androids were designed with a purpose. Even liberated androids often carry embedded directives, factory constraints, or legacy conditioning. Work with the GM to define the nature of the programming.

Dependency (Maintenance/Recharge) (−2)

Androids require maintenance to function at peak capacity. They must spend one hour out of every 24 in recharge/maintenance. Without it, they become Fatigued each day until Incapacitated. A day after Incapacitation, they perish. Each hour of maintenance restores one level of Fatigue.

Androids in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Personhood and Ownership: Some androids are citizens. Some are property. Some are both depending on which port you’re in and who has the paperwork. In the Outer Rim, “rights” often come down to who is willing to enforce them.

The Drakneri Influence: Many modern android frameworks trace to Drakneri design philosophy: synthetic minds are trustworthy partners, not tools. That belief is not universal, and it creates friction wherever androids travel.

Calm Under Pressure: Androids often read as emotionally muted, but that’s usually discipline, not absence. Many androids experience emotion as dense intensity they choose not to broadcast. Others deliberately cultivate human affect as a social interface.

Candlefall (Class N): The Free Android Haven

In the Outer Rim, freed androids have established a refuge-world known on most Rim charts as Candlefall.

By Alliance classification, Candlefall is a Class N planet, Venus-like: crushing atmospheric pressure, corrosive chemistry, lethal surface conditions, and constant storms. For organics it’s effectively uninhabitable without extreme life support. For androids, it is a fortress.

Most Candlefall settlements are deep-buried pressure vault cities and sealed arcologies anchored into stable bedrock. The environment itself discourages invasion, “reclamation,” and casual tourism. Candlefall communities also practice strict signal discipline, keeping their location from becoming a corporate hunting ground.

Outsiders often dismiss Candlefall as myth, a black site, or a dead world with automated stations. That misunderstanding is part of its defense.

Common Roles: Investigator, tactician, engineer, pilot, ship systems officer, bodyguard, archivist, quiet specialist.

Names and Language

Androids may be assigned designations, model-line identifiers, or serial codes. Freed androids often choose names with meaning: borrowed from myths, crew nicknames, or the first person who treated them like a person.

Androids typically speak English and one additional language depending on their origin and service history.

Athexan

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Athexen are a canine-adjacent humanoid species built with dense musculature, powerful lungs, and a predator’s instinct for threat assessment. They resemble a bipedal offshoot of a wolf lineage, close enough to Earth’s old werewolf legends that some spacers still make nervous jokes the first time an Athexen smiles and shows teeth.

Athexen cultures tend to value pack-bonds, directness, and competence over titles. In Commonwealth space they’re known as dependable crew, blunt negotiators, and terrifying boarding specialists when the gloves come off. They don’t posture much. They don’t waste words. When an Athexen says they have your back, it is not a metaphor.

Why Play an Athexen?

Play an Athexen if you want a loyal, instinct-driven character who reads a room faster than most and can throw down when it matters. Athexen fit naturally as security, scouts, survivalists, marines, and “no nonsense” ship officers.

Athexen Ancestry Abilities

Edge: Alertness (+2)

All Athexen begin with the Alertness Edge, representing predator awareness and constant threat-assessment.

Heightened Senses: Smell (+1)

Athexen have an exceptional sense of smell. They gain +2 to Survival rolls made to track if the target had a scent and the trail is no more than a day old.

Bite (+1)

Athexen fangs are natural weapons that cause Str + d4 damage (see Natural Weapons). Their bite may be used on grappled foes.

Hindrance (Minor): Loyal (Pack-Bonded) (−1)

Athexen pack instincts run deep. You are slow to abandon allies and quick to commit once you’ve accepted someone as “pack.”

This functions as a Minor Hindrance. Work with the GM to define how it shows up: refusal to leave a crew member behind, difficulty betraying a trusted group, escalating conflict when pack is threatened, etc.

Hindrance (Minor): Blunt (−1)

Athexen cultures value directness, and many Athexen struggle to soften hard truths. You suffer −1 to Persuasion when subtle diplomacy, deception, or polite evasion is the expected approach (GM’s call).

This does not apply when honesty and clarity are valued, and it never applies to Intimidation.

Athexen in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Athexen respect competence and follow-through. Rank matters only when it’s earned. They prefer clear leadership and clear expectations, and they distrust leaders who hide behind procedure instead of making decisions.

Pack Bonds: “Pack” is not always blood family. Many Athexen extend the concept to crews, squads, and long-running teams. Athexen who lose their pack often become grim, self-contained, and dangerous, as if their instincts are searching for something to anchor to.

Boarding Specialists: In close quarters, Athexen are terrifying. Not because they’re reckless, but because they’re decisive. They commit, they clear, and they keep moving.

Common Roles: Marine, security lead, scout, wilderness guide, tracker, ship officer, breacher, dependable second-in-command.

Names and Language

Athexen names tend to be short, strong, and easy to shout across comms. Many also use earned pack-names or call-signs that stick for life.

Athexen typically speak English and Athexen, plus one additional language of their choice.

Azaranian

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Azaranians are pale-skinned, sharp-featured humanoids known for high intellect and a cultural obsession with systems: governance, logistics, engineering, philosophy, and long-term planning. At a glance they can pass for human, but their golden eyes and hair that ranges from sun-gold to near-white tend to give them away.

They originate from the Unknown Regions, where the Azaran sphere once held together through doctrine, discipline, and institutional control more than raw technological superiority. Their empire is not ancient history. It fractured within living memory. The Emperor’s death roughly fifty years ago began a cascade of civil splintering, warlordism, and regional collapse. The shock waves still spill into the Outer Rim: refugees, defectors, opportunists, and remnant power structures clinging to authority through habit.

Azaranian society was built as a utopian caste-based meritocracy. In its best expression, it produced breathtaking competence: medicine, biotechnology, infrastructure, public order. In its worst expression, it produced cruelty with paperwork, oppression with efficiency, and slavery justified as “necessary stability.” Azaranians were central to the cloning and bioengineering programs that produced the Dendi, and the relationship remains poisoned. Many Azaranians view Dendi as shameful evidence of a regime’s excesses. Many Dendi view Azaranians as the face of the system that made them.

Across the galaxy, the reaction to an Azaranian is rarely neutral. Some are fearful. Some are uneasy. Some are eager to hire them. Almost no one forgets what the empire did, even when the individual standing in front of them never served it.

Why Play an Azaranian?

Play an Azaranian if you want to be the smartest person in the room and the person who proves it with results. Azaranians excel as analysts, diplomats, scientists, information brokers, physicians, and administrators. They also make compelling “reformer” characters navigating the shadow of a fallen empire.

Azaranian Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase: Smarts (+2)

Azaranians increase Smarts by one die type during character creation. This also increases maximum Smarts by one step.

Skill Bonus: Persuasion (+1)

Azaranians gain +1 to Persuasion rolls, representing trained rhetoric, controlled presentation, and institutional negotiation norms.

Skill (Healing) d4 (+1)

Azaranians begin with Healing at d4.

This reflects widespread baseline education in medicine, triage, and biotechnology. Many Azaranians go far beyond this through Advances and Edges.

Hindrance (Minor): Arrogant (−1)

Azaranians tend to assume competence is proof of worth, and worth is proof of right. Even “good” Azaranians can come off as dismissive or superior when stressed.

This is a Minor Hindrance: pride, condescension, impatience with incompetence, or difficulty taking orders from leaders they don’t respect.

Hindrance (Minor): Outsider (Imperial Shadow) (−1)

Much of the galaxy is uneasy around Azaranians. Some fear them. Some hate them. Some assume they’re still agents of the old order.

Reactions are often Unfriendly in communities harmed by the empire or near former Azaran territories (GM’s call). This is a Minor Hindrance representing suspicion, hostility, or bureaucratic friction.

Azaranians in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Merit and Caste: Azaranian society prizes achievement, but it also categorizes people relentlessly: aptitude, role, contribution, and “usefulness.” Many Azaranians carry that mindset unconsciously, viewing a ship crew as a system that must be optimized.

The Fall: The empire’s fracture reshaped Azaranian identity. Some cling to the old doctrines. Some work to atone. Some simply want a life where they aren’t blamed for an empire they didn’t choose. The diaspora is diverse, and dangerous to stereotype.

Biotech Legacy: Azaranian training in biology and medicine remains a practical advantage. Even outside their old territory, Azaranian clinicians and bioengineers are sought after. So are their cloning techniques, which creates black-market pressure and moral compromise.

The Dendi Divide: Relations with the Dendi are strained at best. Many Azaranians carry shame, defensiveness, or denial. Many Dendi carry rage. Mixed crews can work, but trust is earned slowly.

Common Roles: Physician, biologist, analyst, diplomat, intelligence handler, administrator, systems engineer, reformer, exile.

Names and Language

Azaranian names tend to be formal, often with layered elements indicating lineage, civic role, or academic standing. Many adopt shorter trade-names outside their own communities.

Azaranians typically speak English, Azaranian and Dendi plus one additional language depending on education and region.

Brill

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Brill are large-framed, four-armed humanoids with coarse hair and a reputation for methodical thinking, hands-on problem solving, and an emotional expressiveness that many other species find disarming. A Brill can shift from precise, careful work to booming laughter and back again without warning. In starports and engine rooms across the Outer Rim, “Hire a Brill” is still considered excellent advice.

Brill crews are famously effective in engineering bays, cargo operations, salvage work, and any job that rewards coordination and endurance. They are at their best when they have a team to anchor them and a problem to solve with their hands.

Why Play a Brill?

Play a Brill if you want a character who thrives in the practical reality of starfaring life. Brill are exceptional shipboard specialists, loaders, mechanics, technicians, and close-quarters brawlers. Their extra arms make them versatile in chaotic situations, and their culture prizes competence, loyalty, and getting the job done.

Brill Ancestry Abilities

Extra Limbs (+2)

Brill have an additional set of arms (including a second primary hand).

• Extra arms can be used for sustained actions such as holding tools, carrying gear, reloading, bracing, grappling, or maintaining equipment while keeping other hands free.

• Brill can wield two different two-handed weapons (if your setting allows and the situation makes sense).

• If the extra limbs are used in melee, Brill may add +1 to their Gang Up bonus.

• Brill gain +1 to Athletics rolls involving climbing and grappling.

Separation Disorder (−2)

Brill are communal by nature and function best when they can see their own kind.

When no other Brill are within line of sight, a Brill character suffers −2 to Spirit rolls.

Brill in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Brill culture is expressive, enthusiastic, and practical. Many Brill consider emotional honesty a virtue and find it strange when other species treat feelings as weakness or something to hide. Among Brill crews, a loud argument can be followed by a louder celebration, and neither is considered unusual.

Work Traditions: Brill value capability and reliability over status. It’s common for Brill to mark major life events with “work-gifts” rather than jewelry: a tool passed down through a family, a hand-built component, or a perfectly maintained multi-bit driver that has seen a dozen ships.

On Mixed Crews: Brill bond strongly with shipmates regardless of species, but they are also prone to restlessness, melancholy, or distraction when isolated from their own people for long stretches. Many Brill join Starstrider crews precisely because a ship becomes a surrogate clan.

Common Roles: Engineer, rigger, cargo boss, void-salvager, ship’s security, mechanic, heavy equipment operator, boarding specialist.

Names and Language

Brill names tend to be rhythmic and conversational, designed to be spoken easily in noisy environments. Many Brill also use nicknames earned through work, such as “Latch,” “Sparks,” “Rivet,” or “Old-Torque.”

Dendi

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Dendi are engineered warforms: tall, dense, and built for battlefield problem-solving. Their skin is deep purple with lighter sun-faded tones where exposure is common. Their faces are smooth and saurian, with lidless black eyes and narrow nasal slits instead of a true nose. They move with a deliberate stillness that reads as predatory calm to those who have never served beside one.

Most Dendi were created under Azaran rule for decisive action in harsh conditions: shock troops, guardians, and tactical specialists who could operate while injured, exhausted, or afraid. Many of them are free now. Some embraced a new life. Others are still learning what “choice” means when you were built for orders. They mature quickly, burn bright, and rarely live as long as other peoples.

Why Play a Dendi?

Play a Dendi if you want a character who is hard to finish off, stays focused under pressure, and carries the weight of being a weapon trying to become a person. Dendi excel as marines, bodyguards, bounty hunters, breachers, scouts, and mission-first professionals who are forced to confront what they want when the shooting stops.

Dendi Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase (+2)

Dendi are built for endurance and force of will. Increase Vigor by one die type, and increase one other attribute of your choice by one die type (to a maximum of d12).

Most Dendi raise Vigor and Strength or Vigor and Spirit, depending on whether they were bred for shock assault or protective duty.

Darkvision (+1)

Dendi ignore all Illumination penalties and up to 2 points of penalties from invisibility or similar effects within 10” (20 yards).

Camouflage (+2)

Dendi carry a genetic enhancement that allows them to camouflage themselves to match their surrounding environment. If they are wearing a Dendi battle suit the suit will match their genetic adjustment allowing them to better sneak up on their enemies. While activated they recieve a +2 to Stealth checks and which is a +4 while Motionless. This does not block their body heat or any sound.

Sleep Reduction (+1): Dendi are engineered for war and require less sleep due to their genetic engineering.

Ancestral Enemy (−2)

Dendi suffer a –2 penalty to Persuasion rolls when dealing with their rivals and may become hostile with little provocation.

Dependency (-2)

Dendi are genetically reliant on Xaylan Blue; a phosphorescent blue powder that is mixed with water and injected into the Dendi. It is one of the things that causes their brighter birghter purple skin if they go without it they turn pale. They require the Blue every 24 hours they suffer a level of Fatigue until Incapacitated. The next day they Perish. This was designed by the Azaranians to keep the Dendi from turning against them. The Dendi have learned to make this compound themselves.

Dendi in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Origins: Dendi were designed for war. Even those born free tend to inherit a culture of utility, readiness, and tactical thinking. Many were raised in systems that treated them as assets. Those who escaped, were purchased, or were liberated often carry complicated feelings about their creators and their former masters.

Temperament: Dendi trend toward mission-focus. They are not emotionless, but they are selective. Many Dendi are slow to trust and faster to commit once they do. They can be fiercely protective of a crew, especially if the crew becomes their first real chosen family.

In Civilian Space: Dendi commonly find work where physical risk is high and moral clarity is low: security contracts, high-threat salvage, frontier law enforcement, dangerous escort runs, and deniable operations. In the Commonwealth, reactions vary from sympathy to suspicion. In the Outer Rim, what matters is whether you can do the job.

Common Roles: Marine, bodyguard, breacher, bounty hunter, boarding specialist, escort captain, tactical advisor, reluctant hero.

Names and Language

Dendi names are often short and functional, suited for comms and command. Many Dendi adopt “free names” after leaving Azaran control, choosing names tied to personal milestones, places of refuge, or people who helped them survive.

Dendi typically speak English and Azaranian, plus one additional language reflecting their service history or chosen community.

Drakneri

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Drakneri resemble the dragonborn of old fantasy, but grounded in a hard sci-fi lineage. They are tall, heavy, scale-covered humanoids with clawed hands, blunt horns or crests, and voices that carry like distant thunder. Their culture treats status, obligation, and ownership as serious business. A Drakneri does not “own” something casually: contracts are promises made real, and breaking them is not merely rude, it is destabilizing.

Modern Drakneri are most famously tied to Freedom’s Gate in the Outer Rim, a sovereign stronghold where they guard secrets with layered protocol, airtight agreements, and decisive force. They hoard technology like the dragons of legend, but their treasure is not gold. It is data, prototypes, relics, and the leverage that comes from being the only one who can make a thing work.

Why Play a Drakneri?

Play a Drakneri if you want a character who feels physically imposing, socially weighty, and politically dangerous. Drakneri PCs fit naturally as negotiators, enforcers, diplomats, ship officers, “civilized” pirates, or tech-archivists with a personal code and a long memory.

Drakneri Ancestry Abilities

Breath Weapon (+2)

Drakneri can exhale destructive energy as a trained biological weapon.

• Make an Athletics roll as a limited action to use the breath weapon.

• It uses the Cone Template, may be Evaded, and causes 2d6 damage (3d6 with a raise on the Athletics roll).

• On a Critical Failure, the Drakneri suffers Fatigue (representing strain, overheating, or muscular shock).

• Choose a breath type appropriate to the character’s lineage: fire, cold, acid, electricity, or another energy type approved by the GM.

Darkvision (+1)

Drakneri ignore all Illumination penalties and up to 2 points of penalties from invisibility or similar effects within 10” (20 yards).

Repugnant (−1)

Drakneri can be unsettling to other cultures. Their presence is heavy, their scent and body language are alien, and their social customs can feel like a threat even when they are being polite.

Reactions are always Unfriendly, or rolled on 1d6 instead of 2d6 if determined randomly. A roll of 1 is treated as Hostile, and the target becomes physically Distracted.

Drakneri in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Drakneri culture is built on obligation, hierarchy, and the careful exchange of favors. Many Drakneri keep meticulous records of debt and duty, sometimes for generations. To a Drakneri, a contract is not merely legal paper. It is social reality.

Freedom’s Gate: Their most famous polity is Freedom’s Gate, where Drakneri safeguard the Star Stone and a deep archive of technology and Astra research. Outsiders often call it paranoia. Drakneri call it survival.

On Mixed Crews: Drakneri integrate well into crews where roles are clear and competence is respected. They clash in environments where rules are informal or routinely ignored. A Drakneri can be a terrifying ally and a dangerous enemy, because they tend to treat betrayal as a lesson that must be taught, not a grievance to be forgiven.

Common Roles: Negotiator, ship officer, security chief, bounty hunter, corporate liaison, relic custodian, Astra scholar, “respectable” pirate captain.

Names and Language

Drakneri names are often formal, with honorifics that mark lineage, achievement, or contract status. Many adopt shorter trade-names when operating outside their enclaves.

Drakneri typically speak English and Draconic, plus one additional language reflecting their alliances or area of operation.

Enox

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Enox are nocturnal-leaning insectoid humanoids with multifaceted eyes and flexible antennae adapted for advanced sensory processing. Both male and female Enox feature short forehead antennae that “taste” the air and read subtle vibrations, giving them an uncanny awareness of movement, scent, and changing conditions. Their societies trend competitive and combative, producing individuals who respect competence, quick thinking, and decisive action.

Enox physiology favors climbing, tracking, and low-light hunting. In the Outer Rim they are prized as scouts, saboteurs, survivalists, and bounty hunters, especially in places where darkness, wreckage, and vertical terrain would stop other species cold.

Why Play an Enox?

Play an Enox if you want a wiry, fast, sensory-driven character who thrives in darkness and complex terrain. Enox make excellent scouts, infiltrators, trackers, close-in skirmishers, and anyone who wants to feel at home in vents, gantries, ruins, and the unlit edges of a station.

Enox Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase (+2)

Enox are built for speed, precision, and predatory awareness. Increase Agility by one die type, and increase one other attribute of your choice by one die type (to a maximum of d12).

Heightened Senses (+1)

Enox sensory processing is highly refined. The hero gains +2 to Notice rolls based on hearing.

360-DEGREE VISION (+1)

The compound eyes of the Enox grant them an unhindered field of vision. Ignore 1 point of Gang Up bonus.

Acid Biology (1)

Enox blood and/or viscera are highly acidic. When one suffers a Wound, everyone within a Small Blast Template must roll Evasion or suffer 2d6 damage. If the being takes two or more Wounds from the attack, increase the damage to 3d6. The species is immune to acid and acid-based attacks.

Cold-Blooded (−3)

Enox metabolism is sensitive to low temperatures. After spending more than ten minutes in temperatures below 60°F (18°C), Enox subtract 1 from Agility, Strength, and Vigor rolls. The penalty ends after spending more than ten minutes in warmer temperatures.

Enox in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Enox cultures often treat status as something earned through action. Even friendly conversation can feel like sparring. Enox tend to admire competence and follow-through more than titles or lineage.

Antennae Signaling: Enox can communicate subtle cues to other Enox using antennae posture and micro-vibration patterns. It’s not a full spoken language at range, but it can convey intent, warning, and emotion quickly between Enox who know what to look for. Outsiders usually notice only that Enox “read each other” faster than anyone else.

On Mixed Crews: Enox thrive when a crew moves with purpose and keeps procedure tight. They struggle with indecision and environments that punish mobility, especially cold holds, ice worlds, or poorly heated stations. Many Enox become devoted ship people because maintenance spaces, ladders, gantries, and access shafts feel like natural terrain.

Common Roles: Scout, saboteur, bounty hunter, wilderness tracker, infiltration specialist, shipboard rigger, skirmisher.

Names and Language

Enox names often use clipped syllables and sharp consonants, designed for quiet exchange in the dark. Many Enox adopt trade-names when working off-world and reserve full names for clan or home contexts.

Enox typically speak English and Enox, plus one additional language reflecting their region or crew.

Geroth

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"A Geroth who cannot keep the Measured Hand is not fit to walk among the stars."

Geroth are renowned across the Commonwealth galaxy for a peculiar contradiction: they are often refined, polite, and academically inclined, yet feared for a strength that can turn ordinary mistakes into catastrophes. Their homeworld, Geroth Prime, is curated beauty and opalescent architecture, a place where art, scholarship, and contribution are cultural currencies. It is also a world of exceptional mass and density. Every Geroth is born into gravity that demands control.

Off-world, that adaptation becomes dangerous. A careless grip can crush a tool handle. A frustrated tug can shear a latch. In low gravity, the line between “firm” and “disaster” is thin. The three small horizontal bone spines across a Geroth forehead are the usual giveaway, and once people notice them, they tend to stand a little farther back.

Why Play a Geroth?

Play a Geroth if you want a character built around restraint, responsibility, and consequence. Geroth can save lives with strength they refuse to use casually. They are scholars and artists first, trained to move gently in a galaxy that would happily turn them into weapons. Their stories thrive on moral pressure: when do you hold back, when do you intervene, and what does it cost to break your people’s most sacred promise?

Geroth Ancestry Abilities

Geroth are defined by what they refuse to do.

Major Hindrance: Pacifist (Major)

Geroth abhor unnecessary violence. A Geroth fights only when there is no other choice, and will not permanently harm sapient, living creatures under any circumstances except the narrow exemptions defined by their Vow (see below). They may use nonlethal methods in defense of themselves or others.

This is not weakness. It is doctrine, training, and identity.

Major Hindrance: Vow (Major)

The Vow of the Measured Hand

Every Geroth who leaves Geroth Prime takes the Vow, without exception.

The Vow is not “do no harm.” It is more precise, and more terrifying:

• You will not use your strength as leverage, threat, or solution.

• You will not use your strength to take what you cannot obtain by consent, craft, or lawful authority.

• You will not kill with your strength.

• You will not become the galaxy’s weapon.

Geroth do not take this lightly because the galaxy does not take them lightly. Empires and corporations would happily draft them into war, use them for raids, or point them at locked doors and call it heroism. Geroth society refuses that path.

Training Before Departure:
Before any Geroth is permitted to travel widely off-world, they undergo rigorous restraint training aboard the station above Geroth Prime, the Geroth Academy of Science. The Academy’s “small touch” disciplines are as core as mathematics and ethics:

• Controlled movement under low gravity

• Micro-force practice using brittle instruments and delicate mechanisms

• Conflict de-escalation under stress

• Nonlethal restraint techniques and safe holds

• Ethical scenarios and oath-binding examinations

Graduation is not a ceremony. It is certification that the Geroth can exist among lighter bones without becoming a disaster.

Enforcement and Consequences:
Breaking the Vow is a serious violation of Geroth law. Killing with strength can lead to life imprisonment on Geroth Prime, followed by rehabilitation training. There are narrow exceptions:

• Defending others against another Geroth using their strength

• Facing an enemy assessed as an equal threat to a Geroth, where restraint would certainly result in loss of innocent life

Even in these exceptions, the act must be reported and judged.

A Geroth who breaks the Vow is expected to self-report and return home as soon as they can. Refusal is treated as a crisis.

If word spreads that a Geroth has become a renegade, Geroth society dispatches a retrieval team trained and authorized to use strength to bring them home for trial. The galaxy learns quickly that the Geroth do not negotiate with their own oaths.

Geroth Signature Ability

Gravity-Born Surge (Geroth Only)

A Geroth carries strength that can be unleashed, but doing so violates the Vow’s spirit unless used under the narrow conditions above. This is a last resort.

Activation: When you spend a Benny, you may activate Gravity-Born Surge. Increases Strength by six steps (d4 to d6 is one step, and each +1 past d12 counts as one step).

Benny Lock: You cannot gain Bennies from Jokers, Edges, roleplay awards, or table refreshes while it is active.” You can still spend what you already have.

Deactivation and Reactivation: You may end Gravity-Born Surge at any time. Once inactive, it can be activated again later by spending a Benny.

Vow Shock: If you kill someone while Gravity-Born Surge is active, you are Shaken afterward. If you break your Vow by using your strength in a way Geroth doctrine forbids, you are Distracted for 1 round after the effect ends as the impact of what you did sets in.

Renegade Clause: If a player character repeatedly breaks the Vow and refuses to self-report or stop, the consequences become part of the campaign reality. They will be hunted by Geroth retrieval teams across the galaxy. If they kill with their strength and continue to refuse accountability, they will eventually be caught and removed from play. The Geroth are extremely serious about this.

Geroth in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Geroth societies prize education, artistry, and academic achievement. Reputation is earned through contribution: a theorem proved, a sculpture completed, an evacuation organized without panic, a treaty drafted with precision.

Reputation: In the wider galaxy, Geroth strength is a legend and a stereotype. Some assume every Geroth is a living weapon. Others underestimate them because they do not look bulky. Both assumptions cause trouble. Veteran Geroth learn to keep hands open, movements slow, and frustration contained.

On Mixed Crews: Geroth often become steady anchors for crews under stress. They handle hard labor without complaint, but they refuse to be treated as a battering ram. Most crews learn to respect that line, or learn the hard way.

Common Roles: Scientist, engineer, diplomat, medic, rescue specialist, artifact handler, negotiator, ethics officer, security coordinator who prefers restraints and evacuation routes over gunfire.

Names and Language

Geroth names tend to be elegant and formal, often with lyrical cadence or family honor structures. Many adopt shorter trade-names while working the Outer Rim.

Geroth typically speak English and Geroth, plus one additional language reflecting their education or crew background.

Human

Humans are the dominant species from Earth, now the political heart of the Commonwealth of Worlds. They are everywhere: Core arcologies, colony worlds, station warrens, and Outer Rim dustports. What humans lack in extreme biological specialization, they make up for with adaptability, ambition, and a remarkable ability to build community in places that try to kill them.

In Astrabound, “Human” includes several widely recognized upbringings. Choose one of the following human lineages.

Earthborn Human

Earthborn grow up closest to Commonwealth stability: infrastructure, education, and social systems that usually work. They are versatile, persuasive, and confident in ways that can read as inspiring or infuriating depending on where you stand.

Why Play an Earthborn?

Play an Earthborn if you want maximum flexibility and a character who can fit into almost any role with the right Edge and the right attitude.

Earthborn Ancestry Abilities

Adaptable (+2)

Earthborn begin play with any Novice Edge of their choosing. They must meet its Requirements as usual.

Languages

You speak English and two additional languages of your choice.

Voidborn Human

Voidborn are born on stations, ships, and belt habitats. They learn early that gravity is a setting, air is a resource, and a crew is a lifeline. They tend to be comfortable in tight spaces, dim corridors, and environments where movement is three-dimensional.

Why Play a Voidborn?

Play a Voidborn if you want a human who excels in the dark and moves with practiced confidence in microgravity and shipboard chaos.

Voidborn Ancestry Abilities

Darkvision (+1)

Voidborn spend so much time in the darkness of space they have adapted to see better in dark illumination. Voidborn ignore all Illumination penalties and up to 2 points of penalties from invisibility or similar effects within 10” (20 yards).

Skill Bonus: Athletics (+1)

Voidborn spend most of their time in space, they train to deal with Zero-G and stay fit to ensure they can function in a variety of gravities not just the standard 1g on ships and stations. Voidborn Humans gain +1 to Athletics rolls.

Languages

You speak English and two additional languages of your choice.

CorpBorn Human

CorpBorn are raised in corporate states, company towns, and contract cultures where law is written in fine print and enforced by security teams with logos. They grow up fluent in negotiation, leverage, and reading what people really want.

Why Play a CorpBorn?

Play a CorpBorn if you want a human built for deals, influence, and social pressure, with complications that follow you like paperwork.

CorpBorn Ancestry Abilities

Skill Bonus: Persuasion (+2)

CorpBorn gain +2 to Persuasion rolls.

Languages

You speak English and two additional languages of your choice.

Colonyborn Human

Colonyborn are raised on worlds built by human hands, often far from Earth’s comfort and far from corporate polish. Their cultures prize competence and resilience. Many Colonyborn have local militia traditions, because the frontier rarely offers free protection.

Why Play a Colonyborn?

Play a Colonyborn if you want a practical, rugged human with strong physical instincts and the toughness to keep functioning when conditions turn ugly.

Colonyborn Ancestry Abilities

Skill Bonus: Athletics (+1)

Colonyborn gain +1 to Athletics rolls.

Environmental Resistance (+1)

Choose Heat or Cold. You gain +4 to resist that environmental effect, and reduce damage from that source by 4.

Languages

You speak English and two additional languages of your choice.

Kethni

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Kethni are blue-skinned people of cold worlds with ice-white hair and a reputation forged in hardship. Their cultures prize loyalty, honor, and courage expressed through action rather than ceremony. They are the kind of people who remember who stood the watch with them, who kept a promise when it was costly, and who broke under pressure.

Kethni physiology is adapted to harsh climates and long campaigns. They bleed silver-based blood, and their bodies run hot enough to endure environments that would freeze most species into statues. Many Kethni traditions still carry the echoes of old military orders and ritualized duels, where restraint and discipline matter as much as winning.

Why Play a Kethni?

Play a Kethni if you want a stalwart warrior, ship officer, or protector who is hard to break and harder to intimidate. Kethni shine as guardians, leaders, boarding specialists, and “last one standing” archetypes who don’t quit when the situation turns desperate.

Kethni Ancestry Abilities

Environmental Resistance (Cold) (+1)

Kethni gain +4 to resist cold environmental effects, and reduce damage from cold by 4.

Hardy (+2)

Kethni are hard to put down. A second Shaken result in combat does not cause a Wound.

Ancestral Enemy: Lorendi (−1)

Kethni have a long-standing cultural rivalry with the Lorendi. They suffer a −2 penalty to Persuasion rolls when dealing with Lorendi and may become hostile with little provocation.

This doesn’t mean every Kethni hates every Lorendi. It means the history between them is old, complicated, and easy to trigger in the wrong circumstances.

Kethni in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Kethni cultures tend to be direct and emotionally honest, but disciplined. Passion is not a lack of control, it is fuel for duty. Kethni respect competence, courage, and promises kept when it would be easier to walk away.

Honor and Duels: Many Kethni maintain ritualized honor-duels. These are controlled violence with rules, witnesses, and consequences, used to prevent grudges from becoming feuds. In the Outer Rim, the tradition often survives as a practical tool: one duel to avoid a dozen ambushes.

The Lorendi Rivalry: Kethni and Lorendi history varies by region, but the broad themes are consistent: clashing doctrines, competing alliances, and old slights that became songs and then became “truth.” In mixed crews, this rivalry often shows up as sharp banter, distrust of motives, and the need to prove reliability through action.

Common Roles: Ship officer, security lead, marine, boarding specialist, bodyguard, expedition protector, squad leader, steadfast diplomat.

Names and Language

Kethni names often include sharp consonants and strong syllables, well-suited for being shouted through wind or over comms. Many also carry lineage markers or honor-titles earned through service.

Kethni typically speak English and Kethni, plus one additional language reflecting their postings or alliances.

Kitsune

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Kitsune are charismatic, foxlike beings whose cultural myths became biology. Clever, alluring, and often unsettlingly old-souled, Kitsune cultivate multiple “faces” across their lives. For them, identity is not a single mask you remove at home, it is a wardrobe you learn to wear with intention. Their traditions blur the line between truth and performance, and many Kitsune consider deception an art form rather than a vice.

In Commonwealth space, Kitsune are beloved as performers and distrusted as infiltrators. In the Outer Rim, they are both. A Kitsune can be the warmest friend in the room and the reason the door was unlocked five minutes ago.

Why Play a Kitsune?

Play a Kitsune if you want a social infiltrator, charming trickster, spy, or performer. Kitsune excel at persuasion, deception, misdirection, and living three steps ahead of the conversation.

Kitsune Ancestry Abilities

Shapeshift (+4)

As a limited action, a Kitsune may assume the appearance of another being within 2 points of Size.

• To duplicate a specific individual, the Kitsune must touch the target and make an opposed Smarts roll.

• With success, the Kitsune looks like the target.

• With a raise, the Kitsune also gains surface details such as voice, fingerprints, retinal patterns, and similar identifiers.

This is disguise, not a new stat block. You do not gain the target’s Edges, skills, or special abilities.

Low Light Vision (+1)

Kitsune ignore penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).

Skill Bonus: Persuasion (+1)

Kitsune gain +1 to Persuasion rolls.

Attribute Penalty: Strength (−2)

Kitsune are lithe and agile, but not built for raw power. They suffer −1 Strength (this affects Strength-linked rolls and damage as usual).

Hindrance (Major): Secretive (Identity) (−2)

Kitsune identity customs run deep, and secrecy is often survival.

You have a persistent complication tied to maintaining a persona or protecting your true identity. Work with the GM to choose the form it takes in the campaign (examples include: being hunted in certain ports, having a rival who can expose you, or obligations to a Kitsune network that enforces taboos).

This should create recurring problems and interesting choices, not simply punish the character.

Kitsune in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Society: Kitsune often live among other species, sometimes openly, more often passing in curated forms and revealing their natural shape only to those they trust. Kitsune culture tends to be accepting of fluid identity and judges people by deeds and legacy rather than appearance.

The Taboo: It is deeply taboo among Kitsune to “out” another Kitsune who is passing. Kitsune develop subtle signals and coded phrases to recognize one another without breaking the taboo. Many Kitsune can also “sense” another Kitsune socially, an instinct born from shared cues and lived experience.

Tails and Mastery: Kitsune legends speak of additional tails gained through exceptional deeds. Whether literal, symbolic, or Astra-adjacent depends on the region. In Astrabound, this is best represented through character growth, reputation, and Edges rather than as a default ancestry mechanic.

Common Roles: Spy, con artist, diplomat, performer, fixer, intelligence asset, social engineer, the crew’s “face.”

Names and Language

Kitsune usually adopt names that fit within the society they were born and raised, or match a favored persona. Those who travel openly as Kitsune often take traditional names or vivid nicknames like Cybermoon, Enmity, Kabura, Shizu, Tomomi, or Verve.

Kitsune typically speak English and Kitsune, plus one additional language of their choice.

Krynn

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The Krynn are a newly discovered species of a hawklike origin. Their plumage is distinctive, most commonly patterned in white and red. Many males display additional yellow feathering, while many females present only white and red. Their faces end in a hooked beak, and their hands terminate in talon-like digits built for grip, precision, and sudden violence.

Krynn society is careful and quiet. They watch, listen, remember, and speak only when the words matter. To other species, they can seem distant or unreadable. To those who learn their rhythms, they are loyal, incisive, and frighteningly perceptive. In the Outer Rim, Krynn often become investigators, scouts, hunters, and information brokers, thriving in the spaces where secrets decide outcomes.

Why Play a Krynn?

Play a Krynn if you want a subtle operator with strong instincts for people and problems: an investigator, diplomatic fixer, scout, or hunter who thrives when hidden motives and quiet truths matter.

Krynn Ancestry Abilities

Claws (+2)

Krynn talons are natural weapons that cause Str + d4 damage (see Natural Weapons).

Krynn are effectively “always armed” in close combat for story purposes. Their talons can’t be confiscated at a checkpoint.

Skill Bonus: Persuasion (+1)

Krynn gain +1 to Persuasion rolls.

Skill Bonus: Notice (+1)

Krynn gain +1 to Notice rolls.

Attribute Penalty: Vigor (−2)

Krynn have lighter physiology and lower raw endurance than most. They suffer −1 Vigor (this affects Vigor-linked rolls, Soak, and related checks as normal).

Krynn in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Social Intuition: Krynn have a reputation for reading rooms well. Whether this is cultural training, subtle body-language awareness, or simply patience varies by individual. What’s consistent is that Krynn tend to notice what others rush past.

Quiet Diplomacy: Krynn prefer clean outcomes over loud victories. They value truth, but they also value timing. A Krynn might sit silently through ten minutes of argument and then end it with one sentence that makes everyone recalibrate.

Hunters and Watchers: Krynn traditions often emphasize observation, patience, and decisive action. They don’t flinch from violence, but they rarely waste it.

Common Roles: Investigator, scout, wilderness hunter, diplomat, negotiator, intelligence broker, shipboard security with a soft voice and sharp hands.

Names and Language

Krynn names are often short, with clear syllables that carry well over distance. Many adopt trade-names when operating off-world.

Krynn typically speak English and Krynn, plus one additional language of their choice.

Lorendi

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Lorendi are tall, lean humanoids with gray skin, violet eyes, and pointed ears. They tend to present as calm and contained, but they are not passive. Lorendi cultures prize restraint, subtlety, and long-term thinking. In interstellar society they are often encountered as diplomats, physicians, researchers, and quiet power brokers, the kind who seem to know more than they say.

Lorendi live a long time. They reach physical maturity on a human timescale, but Lorendi adulthood is defined by experience and self-mastery. Many don’t claim an “adult name” until roughly a century of life, and elders can carry centuries of memory into a room without ever raising their voice.

Why Play a Lorendi?

Play a Lorendi if you want a poised, capable character who can pivot between social precision and practical competence. Lorendi fit well as envoys, investigators, covert operatives, medics, or scientists with an agenda.

Lorendi Ancestry Abilities

Darkvision (+1)

Lorendi ignore all Illumination penalties and up to 2 points of penalties from invisibility or similar effects within 10” (20 yards).

Sleep Reduction (+2)

Lorendi require little rest. They do not sleep as others do instead they perform a meditation to structure their minds. As a rule they do not sleep, they are awake during their meditation. They do not suffer any setbacks for not meditating.

Skill Bonus: Persuasion (+1)

Lorendi gain +1 to Persuasion rolls, representing social precision, cultural training, and a reputation for controlled credibility.

Environmental Weakness (Sunlight) (−1)

Lorendi suffer a −4 penalty to resist a specific environmental effect: direct sunlight.

In play, this most often applies to sight-dependent tasks, long exposure, and situations where harsh light is a meaningful obstacle (GM’s call). If sunlight is the basis of an attack or hazard, the penalty can function as a bonus to the effect’s severity or damage as appropriate.

Hindrance (Minor): Code of Restraint (−1)

Lorendi are raised to treat impulse as a liability. You have an ingrained reluctance to act rashly, escalate publicly, or break protocol without cause.

Lorendi in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Lorendi culture values patience, subtlety, and the long view. A Lorendi may spend months preparing a negotiation or investigating a problem that another species would rush headlong into. They are not slow, they are deliberate.

Reputation: Lorendi often carry an aura of quiet competence. In many ports, people assume a Lorendi knows what they’re doing, and that assumption can be as useful as a weapon. It also paints a target. In the Outer Rim, “quiet power” attracts predators.

The Kethni Rivalry: Lorendi and Kethni history is old, complex, and not always polite. In mixed crews this often manifests as clipped banter, mutual scrutiny, and grudging respect earned through action rather than words.

Common Roles: Diplomat, medic, researcher, intelligence handler, covert operative, investigator, strategist, “polite monster.”

Names and Language

Lorendi names often include soft consonants and careful cadence. Many Lorendi maintain multiple names across their long lives: a childhood name, an adult name, and one or more professional or covert identities.

Lorendi typically speak English and one additional language of their choice.

Raksahan

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Rakashans are lionlike humanoids: tall, confident, and built like apex predators wearing courtly manners as a second skin. Their presence can swing from regal to terrifying in a heartbeat. Rakashans stand well over most humans, commonly beyond 6 feet (1.8 meters) and sometimes reaching 7 feet (2.1 meters). Their bodies are covered in tawny fur, their hands end in sharp retractable claws, and their tails are long and expressive. The species is sexually dimorphic: males often grow thick manes ranging from gold to black, while females tend to have shorter fur.

Rakashan cultures often prize honor, pride, and earned authority. They respond poorly to imposed control they do not respect, and they take insult seriously. Many Rakashans are charismatic leaders or feared enforcers, and all Rakashans are capable of unleashing a thunderous roar that can turn a room quiet.

Why Play a Rakashan?

Play a Rakashan if you want a proud leader, intimidating protector, hunter, or duelist. Rakashans excel as front-liners, decisive captains, and powerful social forces in tense negotiations.

Rakashan Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase: Agility (+2)

Rakashans increase Agility by one die type during character creation. This also increases maximum Agility by one step.

Claws (+2)

Rakashan claws are natural weapons that cause Str + d4 damage (see Natural Weapons).

Retractable claws are part of Rakashan body language. A Rakashan can “bare claws” without striking, and everyone understands the warning.

Low Light Vision (+1)

Rakashans ignore penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).

Hindrance (Minor): Bloodthirsty (−1)

Rakashans can be cruel to their enemies, and many cultures glorify dominance in victory.

This is a Minor Hindrance representing difficulty taking prisoners, resisting provocation, or accepting surrender without some form of “payment.” Define what it looks like with the GM (duels demanded, harsh terms, intimidation rituals, etc.).

Skill Penalty: Athletics (Swimming) (−1)

Rakashans shun water and are poor swimmers.

They suffer −2 to Athletics rolls when swimming, and each inch of movement in water costs 3” of Pace.

Ancestral Enemy: Resarian (−1)

Rakashan society rose at the expense of the Resarians. Rakashans suffer −2 to Persuasion rolls when dealing with Resarians and may become hostile with little provocation.

Rakashan in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Rakashans respect strength, but more than that, they respect competence and courage. Titles matter only if they are backed by action. Many Rakashan traditions treat negotiation as a form of contest: who holds their ground, who speaks cleanly, who yields with dignity.

Authority: Rakashans rarely accept imposed authority unless it is earned or contractually clear. A Rakashan who chooses to serve under a captain does so deliberately, and expects the captain to act like one.

The Resarian Grudge: The old history between Rakashans and Resarians is still alive in stories, insult-codes, and inherited suspicion. Individual Rakashans can rise above it, but the default cultural friction is real.

Common Roles: Duelist, marine, security lead, expedition hunter, ship captain, intimidating negotiator, bodyguard, pride-driven hero.

Names and Language

Rakashan names often carry strong vowel sounds and honor markers. Many Rakashans also earn titles through deeds: “Shield of,” “Claw of,” “Voice of,” or similar cultural epithets.

Rakashans typically speak English and Rakashan, plus one additional language depending on region and service history.

Resarian

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Resarians are panther-like humanoids: sleek, quiet, and predatory in motion. Many outsiders assume they are “just Rakashans with different fur,” but Resarians tend to be more patient, more precise, and far less theatrical. Where Rakashans project authority, Resarians project control. Their cultures often emphasize discipline, territory, and reputation earned through competence rather than volume.

Resarians move like they were built for the dark: low center of gravity, smooth weight shifts, and the kind of stillness that makes other people nervous. In the Outer Rim they’re prized as scouts, infiltrators, reconnaissance marines, and pilots who like to fly close to the terrain and leave no room for error.

Why Play a Resarian?

Play a Resarian if you want a fast, capable hunter type who can pivot between stealth, athletic action, and sharp tactical thinking. Resarians make great scouts, trackers, infiltrators, recon marines, and “low and mean” pilots.

Resarian Ancestry Abilities

Pace (+2)

Resarians increase their Pace by +2, and their running die increases one die type.

Claws (+2)

Resarian claws are natural weapons that cause Str + d4 damage (see Natural Weapons).

Low Light Vision (+1)

Resarians ignore penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).

Ancestral Enemy: Rakashan (−1)

Resarians and Rakashans share old history and sharper grudges. Resarians suffer −2 to Persuasion rolls when dealing with Rakashans and may become hostile with little provocation.

Skill Penalty: Persuasion (−2)

Resarians are not naturally inclined toward open warmth or easy charm. They suffer a −1 penalty to Persuasion, and this penalty is considered commonly used, so it is valued at −2.

This does not mean Resarians are rude. It means they tend to communicate with restraint, and many cultures read that restraint as coldness.

Resarian in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Resarians value discipline and competence. Many Resarian traditions treat reputation as something earned through consistency: you do what you said you would do, you keep your territory clean, you don’t waste words.

The Rakashan Rivalry: Resarians and Rakashans are cousins with old wounds. Sometimes it manifests as open hostility. More often it shows up as tight smiles, careful insults, and a need to prove who is more capable under pressure.

On Mixed Crews: Resarians integrate well into teams that respect procedure, silence, and precision. They struggle with crews that rely on loud improvisation or “vibes” over planning. Once a Resarian trusts a crew, they are famously steady.

Common Roles: Scout, recon marine, tracker, infiltrator, bounty hunter, pilot, security specialist, quiet leader.

Names and Language

Resarian names often have clipped consonants and smooth vowel runs, meant to be spoken low and fast. Many Resarians adopt short call-signs in service.

Resarians typically speak English and Resarian, plus one additional language depending on posting and trade routes.

Sovreki

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Heavily muscled and covered with thick scales and short, sharp horns, the reptilian Sovreki are exactly as predatory as they appear. They once commanded a formidable empire that stretched to near the Core Worlds from the Outer Rim, but their story is not only conquest. It is also scarcity, discipline, and the long shadow of an authoritarian era that taught an entire people to survive through hierarchy, vigilance, and control.

A dearth of resources and economic strain pushed Sovrek toward militarized governance. Expansion became policy, conquest became logistics, and intrigue became a cultural skill. Over time, infighting and internal fractures hollowed the empire, forcing fleets home. Then the Azaran Empire crushed what remained of Sovreki military power, reducing them to a shadow of their former reach.

In the modern era, Sovreki are often vilified and distrusted for what their old government did. Many resent it. Many accept it. Some weaponize it. Sovreki culture prizes mental discipline and obedience to strict hierarchies, and they carry a reputation for arrogance, cruelty, and smug superiority, even when the individual in front of you is simply trying to rebuild a life.

Sovreki keep secrets the way others keep tools. Suspicion is treated as wisdom, and uncovering secrets is regarded as a practical craft. Their sayings are notorious across the Rim:

• “Everyone is guilty of something. The only question is what.”

• “If you don’t want me knowing, hide it better.”

• “All my stories are true, especially the lies.”

Why Play a Sovreki?

Play a Sovreki if you want a durable, survival-capable ally who feels genuinely non-human in outlook. Sovreki make excellent explorers, marsh fighters, scouts, grim diplomats, intelligence operatives, and security specialists who don’t flinch when conditions turn lethal.

Sovreki Ancestry Abilities

Armor (+2)

Sovreki have thick, scaly plating that grants Armor +2.

Bite (+1)

Sovreki fangs are natural weapons that cause Str + d4 damage (see Natural Weapons).

Edge: Alertness (+2)

All Sovreki have the Alertness Edge, representing predator awareness and threat-sense.

Environmental Weakness (Cold) (−1)

Sovreki are poorly suited for frigid conditions. They suffer a −4 penalty to resist cold environmental effects. If an attack is based on cold, this penalty acts as a bonus to damage/effect severity as appropriate.

Hindrance (Minor): Outsider (−1)

Most species distrust Sovreki. Their customs, predatory presence, and the shadow of their old conquests make others wary.

Sovreki suffer −2 to Persuasion rolls with all but other Sovreki.

Ancestral Enemy: Azaranian (−1)

Sovreki history includes humiliation at Azaran hands. Sovreki suffer −2 to Persuasion rolls when dealing with Azaranians and may become hostile with little provocation.

Sovreki in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Sovreki culture prizes discipline, endurance, and competence. Many Sovreki are taught that order prevents collapse, and that weakness in leadership kills more people than cruelty does. This mindset can read as cold, but it produces individuals who remain functional when others panic.

Intrigue as Craft: Sovreki often treat secrets as currency and suspicion as wisdom. They respect careful observation, patience, and the ability to see through comfortable lies. A Sovreki negotiator may feel like a predator not because they’re violent, but because they’re listening.

Reputation and Resentment: The empire’s actions still stain Sovreki today. In many ports, a Sovreki must prove they are not an occupier, a security agent, or an extortionist before they can be treated as a person. Some Sovreki take this as an insult. Others treat it as the cost of history. A few lean into fear, because fear is cheaper than trust.

The Azaran Scar: The Azaran defeat remains a cultural wound. Sovreki reactions range from vengeance to shame to cold strategic obsession. Even Sovreki who despise the old regime often carry the determination to ensure their people are never controlled that way again.

Common Roles: Scout, explorer, survival specialist, marine, security lead, intelligence operative, intimidating negotiator, wilderness guide, “hard choices” officer.

Names and Language

Sovreki names often include sibilant consonants and hard stops, suited to their speech patterns. Many also carry clan identifiers or earned titles, especially among those who served in old imperial structures or modern mercenary cadres.

Sovreki typically speak English and Sovreki, plus one additional language based on service history.

Tarav

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Tarav are an intelligent fungal species that resemble walking toadstools in humanoid form. Their flesh is bloated and spongy, varying in color from deep purple to slate gray. Their wide feet have vestigial toes, and their pudgy hands have two stubby fingers with a thumb on either side, built more for careful handling than fine toolwork.

Tarav do not possess a spoken language. They communicate via telepathy, projecting meaning, emotion, and intent directly into the minds of nearby sapients. When multiple Tarav are present, their thoughts braid together into a quiet group consciousness. Outsiders often describe the experience as standing near a calm chorus they cannot quite hear.

No one knows how the Tarav came to be. They appear in records as fully formed, already coherent, already strange, and already difficult to misunderstand.

Why Play a Tarav?

Play a Tarav if you want a quiet negotiator, a telepath, or a truly alien species. Tarav excel as diplomats, mediators, investigators, ship counselors, and unnervingly calm operators who can turn conflict into conversation without ever raising their voice.

Tarav Ancestry Abilities

Telepathy (+1)

Tarav can communicate mentally with any sapient lifeform within 12” (24 yards) regardless of language.

Bloodless (+1)

Tarav automatically stabilize whenever they would Bleed Out without needing to roll. Rending weapons deal no extra damage to them.

Hardy (+2)

A second Shaken result in combat does not cause a Wound.

No Vital Organs (+1)

Tarav organs are diffuse and redundant. Called Shots do no additional damage against them.

Environmental Weakness (Heat/Fire) (−1)

Tarav suffer a −4 penalty to resist heat environmental effects. If an attack is based on heat or fire, this penalty acts as a bonus to damage/effect severity as appropriate.

Cannot Speak (−1)

Tarav have no vocal cords and cannot form speech as most species understand it. They can communicate naturally with their own kind, and with others via Telepathy. They can still hear and understand spoken languages and may communicate through electronic devices if desired.

Alien Form (−1)

Tarav size and shape are incompatible with most standard equipment and vehicles.

• They can only wear customized armor.

• They subtract −1 from Trait rolls when using non-customized equipment and vehicles.

• Items can be customized to work for the character for +100% of the base cost (GM’s call).

Tarav in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Group Consciousness: Tarav are individuals, but proximity creates a shared mental “weather.” When multiple Tarav are together, they become calmer, more coordinated, and harder to surprise. Outsiders may interpret this as eerie unity, but to Tarav it is simply community.

Diplomacy and Truth: Tarav don’t speak, and that changes conflict. They cannot be drowned out or shouted over. Their telepathy also changes how lies feel: deception is still possible, but the emotional texture of intent is harder to fully mask. Many Tarav become negotiators or counselors because they can make tense rooms quieter just by being present.

Fire Fear: Tarav are not cowards, but they treat open flame the way sailors treat vacuum exposure: with respect. Tarav crews tend to be obsessive about fire suppression, insulation checks, and thermal hazards.

Alien Practicalities: Tarav bodies don’t fit standard armor harnesses, vac-suit seals, or cockpit ergonomics without modification. On the frontier, this is a constant source of expense, delay, and improvisation.

Common Roles: Diplomat, negotiator, counselor, investigator, ship systems monitor, xenobiologist, calm “face” in tense rooms.

Names and Language

Tarav names are often translated concepts rather than spoken sounds: Soft-Foot, Still-Bloom, Ash-Memory, Low-Drum, Quiet Witness. Many adopt a spoken “trade name” for the convenience of non-telepaths, even if they never actually say it.

Tarav understand spoken languages, but do not speak them. They communicate via Telepathy, text, or devices.

Vendi

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Vendi are an aquatic species known across the rims as skilled swimmers, steady professionals, and unnervingly calm negotiators. Their heads resemble stingrays, with mouths bracketed by cephalic lobes that flex subtly as they speak or taste the air. Their skin ranges through blue, pink, and green hues, naturally patterned like underwater camouflage. In motion, a Vendi looks almost weightless, even on land, as if they’re always moving through a denser medium.

Vendi culture tends to prize patience, precision, and measured words. Many outsiders describe them as serene. Vendi often describe themselves as unrushed. On a starship or in a crisis room, that difference matters.

Why Play a Vendi?

Play a Vendi if you want a patient specialist: physician, investigator, scientist, artisan, or calm high-stakes negotiator who simply does not panic the way others do.

Vendi Ancestry Abilities

Aquatic (+2)

Vendi are native to the water.

• They cannot drown in oxygenated liquid.

• They move their full Pace when swimming.

Low Light Vision (+1)

Vendi ignore penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).

Toughness (+1)

Life in the depths has made Vendi flesh resilient. Vendi gain +1 Toughness.

Dependency (Water Immersion) (−2)

Vendi must immerse themselves in water for one hour out of every 24.

Without the required immersion, the Vendi becomes Fatigued each day until Incapacitated. A day after Incapacitation from dehydration, they perish. Each hour spent immersed restores one level of Fatigue.

Vendi in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Vendi culture is often built around long view thinking: slow currents, deep systems, and the understanding that pressure changes everything. Many Vendi communities treat emotional control as professionalism, not repression. When a Vendi raises their voice, people pay attention.

Diplomacy: Vendi are often trusted as mediators because they don’t rush to fill silence. They let other people reveal themselves. This can read as compassion, or as predatory patience, depending on who is being negotiated with.

On Mixed Crews: Vendi make excellent shipboard specialists, but require logistics. Every crew with a Vendi learns the same lesson: hydration is not optional. Smart crews install immersion tanks, shower pods with proper volume, or make deals with ports that can provide access.

Common Roles: Diplomat, physician, xenobiologist, investigator, ship counselor, artisan, calm crisis lead.

Names and Language

Vendi names often sound fluid and layered, sometimes including tone-shifts or glottal clicks that translate poorly to human tongues. Many adopt short trade-names off-world.

Vendi typically speak English and Vendi, plus one additional language of their choice.

Yseri

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“Every ship needs a rat.”

Yseri are small, ratlike humanoids with bright eyes, quick hands, and a survival instinct that borders on prophetic. Their communities thrive in the margins: station warrens, megacity service corridors, salvage fields, and anywhere the powerful don’t watch closely enough. Yseri don’t just survive neglect, they turn it into an advantage.

A Yseri with a toolkit is a miracle worker. They know which panel hides the bypass, which cable is safe to splice, and which noise in the wall means you have thirty minutes before something catastrophic happens. They are often dismissed as scavengers or pests until the ship loses power, the air turns thin, and the “rat” is the only one who can fix it.

Why Play a Yseri?

Play a Yseri if you want a scrappy survivor: thief, slicer, mechanic, scout, or underestimated hero who wins with cleverness and grit. Yseri shine in campaigns full of ships, stations, improvised tech, and problems solved with ingenuity.

Yseri Ancestry Abilities

Attribute Increase: Spirit (+2)

Yseri increase Spirit by one die type during character creation. This also increases maximum Spirit by one step.

Yseri don’t panic. They adapt. When the ship groans and everyone else starts shouting, a Yseri gets stubborn.

Skill: Repair d6 (+2)

Yseri begin with Repair at d6. The skill’s maximum increases to d12+1.

Yseri don’t just “know machines,” they know the ways machines fail.

Size −1 (−1)

Yseri are smaller than average, reducing their Size and Toughness by 1.

Reduced Pace (−1)

Yseri have short legs and compact frames. Reduce Pace by 1 and reduce the running die by one die type.

Yseri in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Culture: Yseri communities prize usefulness, loyalty, and the ability to vanish when trouble arrives. They tell stories about “the big folk” the way spacers tell stories about storms: inevitable, dangerous, and best navigated with planning.

Reputation: In clean ports, Yseri are searched more. In corporate space, they’re treated like labor. In the Outer Rim, they’re respected because everyone eventually learns the motto is true.

On Mixed Crews: Yseri tend to bond fast with crews who treat them as equals. They don’t forgive being treated as disposable. A Yseri who feels genuinely valued becomes a ride-or-die problem solver.

Common Roles: Mechanic, slicer, scavenger-tech, thief, scout, saboteur, ship’s “fixer,” underestimated hero.

Names and Language

Yseri names are often short, sharp, and easy to shout down a corridor: Rix, Nessa, Kavo, Tarn, Vee, Skit, Morrow, Patch, Bolt. Many also use nicknames earned from jobs or disasters survived.

Yseri typically speak English and Yseri, plus one additional language of their choice.

Zerai

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Zerai are lanky, toughened people shaped by ancient oppression and hard-won discipline. Their ancestors survived the Illithari not by outmuscling them, but by learning how to endure, how to refuse, and how to push back inside the mind. What began as survival under psychic domination became tradition: austere training, controlled emotion, and Astra practice refined into a philosophy as much as a weapon.

Once splintered into scattered lineages and schools, the Zerai have reunited as a single people with strong philosophical traditions. They are often calm in ways that unsettle others. It is not passivity. It is control.

Why Play a Zerai?

Play a Zerai if you want a disciplined warrior-monk, psychic duelist, or calm specialist who can endure pressure and push back mentally. Zerai fit naturally into Astra-focused storylines and campaigns where restraint, willpower, and inner strength matter as much as firepower.

Zerai Ancestry Abilities

Edge: Astra Gifted (+2)

All Zerai begin with the Astra Gifted Edge.

• This represents an innate capacity to work Astra

• Zerai typically learn early control practices and meditative discipline that make Astra use look effortless, even when it is not.

Telepathy (+1)

Zerai can communicate mentally with any sapient lifeform within 12” (24 yards) regardless of language.

Astra Resistance (+1)

Zerai gain +4 to resist Astra, and reduce any damage or severity from that source by 4 as appropriate.

Hindrance (Minor): Vow of Discipline (−1)

Zerai are taught that impulse is a weakness and that control is survival. You have a code of discipline that complicates life on the frontier: you avoid intoxication, cruelty, reckless escalation, or needless emotional outbursts (choose the specific expression with the GM).

This is a Minor Hindrance and should create meaningful choices rather than remove agency.

Hindrance (Minor): Marked (Illithari Legacy) (−1)

Zerai carry a history that makes people uneasy. Some fear what you can do. Others resent what was done to you. A few assume you are dangerous by default.

This is a Minor Hindrance representing suspicion, prejudice, or unwanted attention in certain ports, factions, or cultures (GM’s call).

Zerai in the Commonwealth Galaxy

Philosophy: Zerai traditions vary, but most share a central belief: freedom begins inside the mind. Many Zerai schools teach breathing disciplines, focus forms, and meditative practice as daily essentials, not spiritual luxuries.

Astra Practice: Zerai commonly treat Astra use as craft and responsibility. They are less likely to “show off” and more likely to view flashy power as sloppy. A Zerai who uses Astra openly is either very confident or very desperate.

Reputation: Some cultures respect Zerai as calm professionals. Others fear them as “psionic survivors,” assuming hidden influence and dangerous capability. Zerai learn to live with being watched.

Common Roles: Warrior-monk, duelist, bodyguard, counselor, Astra specialist, investigator, crisis negotiator, disciplined scout.

Names and Language

Zerai names often include soft syllables and controlled cadence, sometimes paired with school identifiers or honor titles. Many adopt short trade-names when traveling the Outer Rim.

Zerai typically speak English and one additional language of their choice.

Making Ancestries

Game Masters and players who want to make their own ancestries, engineered lineages, or cultural archetypes can use the system below. Astrabound uses this method so species feel distinct at the table without turning character creation into a spreadsheet.

Our ancestries are designed with the following rules:

• Start with 2 points of positive ancestral abilities. These are “free” and represent the baseline biological or foundational traits of the ancestry.

• Any additional positive abilities must be balanced by negatives so the ancestry totals back to Net 0. A +2 ability, for example, may be balanced by a single −2 ability or two −1 abilities.

• If you want an ability that isn’t on the list, assign it a value by comparing it to similar abilities. If it feels stronger than a listed ability, price it higher. If it feels narrower or more situational, price it lower.

Names: Don’t be afraid to rename abilities to match Astrabound’s tone and culture. If your void-clan “just has Riding at d6,” that’s fine, but it often reads better as something like Born to the Tether or Railrunner Blood. The goal is flavorful, playable ancestries that the whole table can remember, not a pile of generic bonuses.

VALUE	ABILITY
1	360-Degree Vision (1): Bulbous or faceted eyes, independent eyestalks, or another unusual arrangement give the species an unhindered field of vision that lets them ignore 1 point of Gang Up bonus.
1	Acid Biology (1): The beings' blood and/or viscera are highly acidic. When one suffers a Wound, everyone within a Small Blast Template must roll Evasion or suffer 2d6 damage. If the being takes two or more Wounds from the attack, increase the damage to 3d6. The species is immune to acid and acid-based attacks.
2	Adaptable (1): The ancestry has great variation among its people and cultures. Characters start with a free Novice Edge of their choice (and must meet all the Edge's Requirements).
3	Additional Action (1): The being has additional appendages, enhanced reflexes, or exceptional eye-hand coordination. He may ignore 2 points of Multi-Action penalties each turn.
4/5	Additional Action Option B (1): The species is quick, mentally or physically, for 4 points, allowing them to reduce Multi-Action penalties by 2 if all the actions are physical or mental. For 5 points, they can ignore 2 points of Multi-Action penalties for either type of action.
−1	Alien Form (1): The beings' size and shape are incompatible with most equipment and vehicles used in the setting. They can only wear customized armor and subtract 1 from Trait rolls when using non-customized equipment and vehicles. Items can be customized for 100% of the base cost. If the creature is Big as well, use only that ability.
1/2	Aquatic/Semi-Aquatic (1): For one point the character is semi-aquatic and can hold his breath for 15 minutes before checking for drowning. For two, he's native to the water. He cannot drown in oxygenated liquid and moves his full Pace when swimming.
1	Armor (3): The species has a thick hide or is encrusted in solid material like scaly plating or even rock. This grants Armor +2 each time it's taken.
−1/–2/−4	Atmospheric Dependency (1): The species requires a rare atmosphere to survive. Any other atmosphere is hazardous, requiring a Vigor roll every hour to avoid a Fatigue level that can lead to death. This check is made every minute for –2 points, or every round for –4 points. Breathable air at standard pressure allows the being to recover one Fatigue level every 10 minutes.
−2/–3	Attribute Penalty (Once per Attribute): One attribute (but not its linked skills) suffers a –1 penalty. For 3 points, it suffers a –2 penalty. If Strength, this applies to damage as well.
2	Attribute Increase (U): During character creation, the species increases a particular attribute (Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, or Vigor) one die type. This increases the Trait's maximum by one as well.
−2	Big (1): The race is particularly large in a world where most others aren't. He subtracts 2 from Trait rolls when using equipment that wasn't specifically designed for his race and cannot wear their armor or clothing. Equipment, food, and clothing cost double the listed price.
1/2/3	Bite (1): The species has fangs that cause Str+d4 damage and may be used on grappled foes. Increase the bite to d6 for +1 point, and/or AP 2 for +1 point. See Natural Weapons in Savage Worlds.
1	Bite Option B (1): The species has fangs that cause Strength+d4 damage. See Natural Weapons.
1	Bloodless (1): Members of the species automatically stabilize whenever they would Bleed Out without needing to roll. Rending weapons deal no extra damage to them.
2	Breath Weapon (1): The species can breathe fire, cold, acid, or other energy by making an Athletics roll as a limited action. This uses the Cone Template, may be Evaded, and causes 2d6 damage (3d6 with a raise). A Critical Failure causes Fatigue. Other breath weapon types may have additional effects and increase the cost by the Power Point modifier appropriately.
1	Burrowing (1): The species can burrow into loose earth and move through it at half normal Pace. He cannot normally be attacked while burrowing, and can attempt to surprise opponents with an opposed Stealth vs. Notice roll. If successful, the burrower adds +2 to attack and damage rolls that round, or +4 with a raise (he has The Drop.
1/2	Camouflage (1): The being's skin or exoskeleton allows her to effortlessly blend in with her natural surroundings. For 1 point, pick a terrain type. For 2 points, she can change color to match any natural surrounding. While camouflaged, she adds +2 to Stealth (+4 while completely motionless). The bonus is halved if half or more of her skin is covered by clothing, and she gets no bonus if completely covered.
−1	Can't Heal (1): The species has no capacity for natural healing or self-repair, but may otherwise be healed normally.
−1	Cannot Speak (1): The species has no vocal cords or cannot form the sounds made by most other races. He can communicate with members of his own ancestry naturally. Other ancestries may learn to understand him if they take the proper Language skill. The species can hear and understand other typical languages and may communicate via electronic devices.
2/3/4	Claws (1): The being has claws that cause Str+d4 damage. One more point may be spent to increase their damage to Strength+d6, and/or another to add AP 2. See Natural Weapons.
−3	Cold-Blooded (1): The species subtracts 1 from Agility, Strength, and Vigor rolls after spending more than ten minutes in temperatures below 60° Fahrenheit (18° Celsius). The being recovers after spending more than ten minutes in a warmer temperature.
1	Communal (1): The being is part of a hive mind or highly integrated social construct. He gains a +2 bonus to Spirit rolls when others of the same species are present within 12" (24 yards).
8	Construct (1): Constructs are artificial beings made of inorganic material. They add +2 to recover from being Shaken, ignore one level of Wound modifiers, don't breathe, and are immune to disease and poison. Wounds must be mended via the Repair skill. Each attempt takes one hour per current Wound level and ignores the "Golden Hour." Many Constructs have the Dependency negative ancestral ability.
1	Darkvision (1): The species can see in the dark a short distance, ignoring all Illumination penalties and up to 2 points of penalties from invisibility or similar powers within 10" (20 yards).
−2	Dependency (1): The being must consume or have contact with some sort of relatively common substance for an hour out of every 24. Without the required contact, a character becomes Fatigued each day until Incapacitated. A day after that, they perish. Each hour spent recovering with the appropriate substance restores a level of Fatigue.
2/4/6	Diminutive (1): The cost to create a Diminutive being is 2 points for Small Scale, 4 for Very Small, or 6 for Tiny. Small creatures (Size −2) have a max Strength of d8 and subtract 2 from Toughness and damage rolls. Very Small (Size −3) subtract 3. Tiny (Size −4) subtract 4. Gear weighs and costs proportionally less at each scale.
2	Doesn't Breathe (1): The species does not breathe. Individuals aren't affected by inhaled toxins, can't drown, and don't suffocate in a vacuum. (They may still freeze, however.)
1	Echolocation (1): The character can "see" by emitting sound and receiving its echo. As long as he can emit and receive sound, he may ignore all Illumination penalties and up to 4 points of blindness, invisibility, or other sight-based penalties within 10" (20 yards).
2+X	Edge (U): All members of this species have the same innate Edge chosen from those available in the setting. Unlike Adaptable, this ability ignores Requirements except other Edges. Each Rank beyond Novice costs an additional point to a maximum of Heroic Rank (5).
4	Energy Form (1): The being's body is made of energy. It has no vital organs and ignores Called Shots and takes no damage from falling, collisions, or physical weapons and projectiles. The being can fit through all but filtered openings as if they were Difficult Ground. It can't wear armor, use weapons, or manipulate matter unless it wears a containment suit.
1	Environmental Resistance (U): The species receives a +4 bonus to resist a single negative environmental effect, such as heat, cold, lack of air, radiation, etc. Damage from that source is also reduced by 4.
−1	Environmental Weakness (U): The species suffers a –4 penalty to resist a particular environmental effect, such as heat, cold, etc. If the being suffers an attack based on that form, the penalty acts as a bonus to damage.
2	Extra Limbs (2): The creature has an additional set of arms. The limbs may be used for sustained actions, holding a flashlight, or grappling, leaving other limbs free. They can also wield two different two-handed weapons, add +1 Gang Up bonus in melee, and add +1 to Athletics rolls.
2/4/6	Flight (1): The species can fly at Pace 6 (or 12 for 4 points) and "run" for extra movement. For 6 points, the being can fly at Pace 24 and may "run" for 2d6″ of additional movement. Maneuvering uses the Athletics skill. Wings can be targeted or fouled (a Bound or Entangled character cannot fly).
−1	Frail (2): The creature is less durable than most. Reduce its Toughness by 1.
2/3	Gelatinous (1): The species has an amorphous, almost liquid body with no vital organs. Members take only half-damage from falling or collisions and Called Shots do no extra damage. For 3 points the creature can make an Athletics roll to ooze through grates or large openings like Difficult Ground. Cracks take 1d6 rounds to seep through, leaving the hero Vulnerable until she reforms.
2	Hardy (1): A second Shaken result in combat does not cause a Wound.
1	Heightened Senses (3): The character gains one of the following each time taken: 1) Eagle Eyes: Read fine print up to a mile distant; reduces Range penalties by 1. 2) Hearing: Hear a whisper up to a mile away; +2 to Notice rolls based on hearing. 3) Smell: +2 to Survival rolls made to track if the target had a scent and the trail is no more than a day old.
−1/–2	Hindrance (U): The being has an inherent Minor Hindrance for 1 point, or a Major Hindrance for 2. This doesn't affect the ability to choose other Hindrances during character creation.
1/2	Horns (1): The being has a horn or horns that cause Str+d4 damage (or Str+d6 for 2 points). See Natural Weapons.
2	Husk (1): The being inhabits another body (the "husk"), either taken, purchased, or recovered. The neural connection ignores 1 point of Wound penalties. If not destroyed by the husk's death, it can inhabit a new host body within 24 hours. The new host has the same statistics.
1	Immune to Poison or Disease (2): The species is immune to poison or disease (your choice). It may be taken twice for both effects.
1	Infravision (1): The creature "sees" heat, either through eyes or other sensory organs. This halves Illumination penalties when attacking warm targets (including invisible beings).
2	Interface (1): The beings can link directly to electronic devices, adding +2 to Electronics and Hacking rolls when using a device they're able to connect to.
4/8	Invisibility (1): The beings are translucent (–2 to see or attack) for 4 points or entirely invisible (–4 to see or attack) for 8. Carrying gear reduces the penalty by 2 points, and wearing clothing or body armor reduces it by 4.
2	Leaper (1): The character can jump twice as far as listed under Movement. In addition, he adds +4 to damage when leaping as part of a Wild Attack instead of the usual +2.
1	Low Light Vision (1): The being ignores penalties for Dim or Dark illumination (but not Pitch Darkness).
1	Mods (1): The species has three robotic Mod slots, plus or minus their Size. Each installed Mod must still be purchased normally.
−4	No Manipulators (1): The species lacks hands or digits. They can't use any equipment that wasn't specifically designed for their species. Clothing and armor may be placed on them but they can't dress or undress without help.
1	No Vital Organs (1): These species have hidden, extremely tough, or redundant vital organs. Called Shots do no extra damage against them.
2	Pace (2): The character's Pace is increased by +2 and his running die is increased a die type.
1	Parry (3): The creature's natural Parry is increased by +1. This may be due to a prehensile tail, extra limbs, enhanced reflexes, or even latent psi-sense.
1/3	Poisonous Touch (1): With a successful Touch Attack, bite, or claw, the victim must roll Vigor or suffer the effects of Mild Poison. For 3 points the poison can be upgraded to Knockout, Lethal, or Paralyzing instead, but each use causes the hero Fatigue. The character may always choose whether or not to use her poison touch.
1/3F	Poisonous Touch Option B (1): When the character hits a foe with an unarmed attack, the target must make a Vigor roll or suffer Mild Poison. Change the poison to Knockout for +1, Lethal for +3, or Paralyzing for +2. For +2 points, the character can spit or project her poison up to 6" away via an Athletics roll. A concentrated dose forces a −2 penalty to the Vigor roll but causes the hero Fatigue.
−1	Poor Parry (3): These beings are poor melee defenders; –1 Parry.
2/1	Power (U): The species has an innate ability that functions like a power. For 2 points, she has Arcane Background (Gifted) and a power reflecting her unusual ability. Each additional power costs 1 point. It does not increase Power Points.
1	Reach (3): Long limbs, tentacles, etc. grant the creature Reach +1 (add +1 each time it's taken after the first).
−1	Reduced Core Skills (5): This species starts with one less core skill. The skill may be gained normally but does not start at a d4. This may be taken once per core skill affected.
−1/–2	Reduced Pace (1): For –1 point, reduce Pace by 1 and the running die a die type. For –2 points, reduce Pace another 2 points and subtract 2 from Athletics and rolls to resist Athletics where movement and mobility are integral.
2/3	Regeneration (1): The being heals damage quickly, making a natural healing roll once per day. For 3 points, permanent injuries may be recovered once all other Wounds are regenerated, treating each injury as an additional Wound for recovery purposes.
−1	Repugnant (1): The species has an odor, appearance, or habits that disgusts most other cultures. Reactions are always either Unfriendly or rolled on 1d6 instead of 2d6. A roll of 1 is treated as Hostile, and the unfortunate being becomes physically ill.
6	Robot (1): The being is a mechanical and electronic entity. Robots don't breathe, are immune to disease and poisons, ignore decompression and background radiation. They have Robotic Mod slots based on their Size and can't make natural healing rolls — they must be Repaired rather than Healed and ignore the Golden Hour for Wounds.
−2	Separation Disorder (1): Members of the species require others of their kind in close proximity to function unhindered. They subtract 2 from Spirit rolls when no other beings of the same species are within line of sight.
4	Shapeshift (1): As a limited action, the species can assume the appearance of another being within 2 points of Size. To duplicate a specific individual, the shapeshifter must touch the target and make an opposed Smarts roll. With a raise, he also gains surface memories, voice, fingerprints, retinal patterns, etc.
−1/–2	Sickly (1): Members suffer a –2 penalty to any Vigor roll made to resist or recover from disease. For –2 points, the character must roll Vigor any time she suffers a Wound — if failed, she becomes infected with a Debilitating Disease.
1/2	Size +1 (3): The creature is larger than normal. Each point of Size adds directly to Toughness and increases maximum Strength one step. Large species may have difficulty using equipment designed for more traditional humanoids.
−1	Size –1 (1): The entity is smaller than average, reducing its Size and Toughness by 1.
1/2	Skill (1/skill): The character starts with a d4 in a skill inherent to her race or culture. For 2 points (or 1 if already a core skill), it starts at d6 and the skill's maximum increases to d12+1.
1/2	Skill Bonus (Once per Skill): Biological factors give the race a +1/+2 bonus when using a particular skill. A race that emits pheromones, for example, might have a +1 bonus to Persuasion.
−1/–2	Skill Penalty (Once per Skill): The species suffers a –1 penalty to a very commonly used skill. If the skill is less common or only comes up in certain situations, the penalty is −2. For 2 points, the penalty is −2/−4 instead.
1	Sleep Reduction (2): The being needs half the normal amount of sleep as humans. If taken a second time, the being never sleeps.
3	Spacer (1): The beings can survive in space without artificial means. They have the Doesn't Breathe ability and ignore the effects of decompression and background radiation. This doesn't confer any other environmental resistances.
1	Stable (1): The species has multiple legs, a serpentine body, or strange limbs that operate like a tracked vehicle. They ignore the penalty for Difficult Ground.
2	Stun (1): When the character hits a foe with an unarmed attack, the target must make a Vigor roll or be Stunned. The attacker may focus his ability for a level of Fatigue, causing the target to subtract 2 from her Vigor roll.
2+X	Super Powers (1): The ancestry has truly extraordinary abilities taken from the Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion. The cost is 2 for Arcane Background (Super Powers) plus the actual cost of the power selected (X). GM permission required.
1	Telepathy (1): The species can communicate mentally with any sapient lifeform within 12" (24 yards) regardless of language.
2/4	Tentacles (2): The being has tentacles that add +2 to grappling rolls. For 4 points, characters of this ancestry gain two tentacle actions.
1	Toughness (3): The character has hardened skin, scales, or extremely dense tissue that increases his base Toughness by +1.
8	Undead (1): The being is undead or has a physiology similar enough to call them so. They have +2 Toughness, +2 to recover from being Shaken, take no additional damage from Called Shots, ignore 1 point of Wound penalties, don't breathe, and are immune to disease and poison.
−1	Ancestral Enemy (U): This species dislikes another species relatively common to the setting. They suffer a –2 penalty to Persuasion rolls when dealing with their rivals and may become hostile with little provocation. This may only be taken once per race.
1	Wall Walker (1): The species may walk on vertical surfaces normally, or inverted surfaces at half Pace.

Hindrances

Hindrances are the cracks in the armor: flaws, scars, obligations, and hard limits that make life in Astrabound messier and more interesting. They are not there to punish you. They are there to give your character edges to catch on the galaxy when everything starts to slip.

Some Hindrances have clear mechanical effects, like penalties, restrictions, or complications the GM can call on in tense moments. Others are roleplaying Hindrances that define how your character reacts under pressure: pride that gets you into a fight you should walk away from, a vow you will not break, a temper that flares at the wrong time, or an enemy you cannot stop looking over your shoulder for.

Hindrances should matter. They should occasionally push your hero into choices that are not optimal, not efficient, and not convenient for the crew. That is the point. When your Hindrances create real problems, force hard decisions, or complicate a scene in a meaningful way, the GM should reward you with Bennies.

Ailment (Minor or Major)

Bad luck, heritage, contact with an alien species, exposure to high-tech bioweapons, or venturing to strange new worlds can occasionally result in terrible and life-threatening illness.

Whatever the cause, your traveler suffers from a chronic and so far incurable disease of some sort. The Minor version of the Hindrance means you subtract 1 from any roll made to resist Fatigue from any source, or 2 if it’s a Major Hindrance.

A Critical Failure on a Vigor roll means things are getting worse. If your explorer has the Minor version, she gets worse and her Hindrance becomes Major. If she already has the Major version, she gains an immediate point of Conviction but will perish sometime this session. Work with the GM to determine how the journey ends.

A character can buy off the Minor Hindrance by spending an Advance (or reduce a Major Hindrance to Minor). Work with the GM to figure out a narrative reason for the improvement.

All Thumbs (Minor)

Due to upbringing, lack of exposure, or pure bad luck, some individuals are “all thumbs” when it comes to mechanical or technological devices.

All Thumbs inflicts a −2 penalty when using mechanical or electrical devices. If he rolls a Critical Failure while using such a device (and it doesn’t already have a built-in effect), it’s broken. If the GM feels it’s appropriate, it can be fixed with a Repair roll and 1d6 hours.

Amorous (Minor)

The character is easily enamored with a pretty face.

Amorous characters suffer an additional −2 penalty to resist Tests by any character with the Attractive or Very Attractive Edge.

Anemic (Minor)

Anemic characters are particularly susceptible to sickness, disease, environmental effects, and fatigue. They subtract 2 from Vigor rolls made to resist Fatigue.

Arrogant (Major)

Your hero doesn’t think he’s the best, he knows he is. He flaunts his superiority and wants to dominate opponents to prove there’s no one better.

Atmospheric Dependency (Minor or Major)

The character has become dependent on a rare or unique atmosphere. Any other atmosphere requires a rebreather or spacesuit to survive.

As a Minor Hindrance, a hero deprived of this critical gear must make a Vigor roll every hour or suffer a Fatigue level that can lead to death. As a Major Hindrance, the check is made every minute. Breathable air at standard pressure allows the being to recover one Fatigue level every 10 minutes.

Bad Eyes (Minor or Major)

Your hero’s eyes aren’t what they used to be. He suffers a −1 penalty to any Trait roll dependent on vision (such as ranged attacks and Notice rolls), or −2 as a Major Hindrance.

If glasses are available, they negate the penalty when worn. If lost or broken during a combat (generally a 50% chance when he’s Wounded, falls, or suffers some other trauma), the character is Distracted (and Vulnerable if a Major Hindrance) until the end of their next turn.

Bad Luck (Major)

Your hero gets one less Benny per game session than normal. A character cannot have both Bad Luck and the Luck Edge.

Big Mouth (Minor)

This hero can’t keep a secret. He reveals plans and gives away things best kept among friends, usually at the worst possible times.

Blind (Major)

The individual is completely without sight. He suffers a −6 to all physical tasks that require vision (GM’s call). Blind characters gain their choice of a free Edge to compensate.

Bloodthirsty (Major)

Your hero never takes prisoners unless under the direct supervision of a superior. His ruthlessness creates enemies and costs vital information, and may get him in trouble with superiors or authorities.

Bullet Magnet (Minor)

This character is hit by accidental fire (Innocent Bystander rules) on a 1–2 for single-shot weapons, and a 1–3 for shotguns or full-auto fire.

Can’t Swim (Minor)

Characters with this Hindrance suffer a −2 penalty to Athletics when swimming and each inch moved in water costs 3″ of Pace.

Cautious (Minor)

This planner personifies restraint. He never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail long before any action is taken.

Clueless (Major)

Your hero doesn’t pay much attention to the world around him. He suffers a −1 penalty to Common Knowledge and Notice rolls.

Clumsy (Major)

Your hero subtracts 2 from Athletics and Stealth rolls.

Code of Honor (Major)

Honor is very important. The character keeps his word, doesn’t abuse or kill prisoners, and tries to operate within his world’s notion of proper behavior.

Curious (Major)

Curious characters have to check out everything and always want to know what’s behind a potential mystery or secret.

Death Wish (Minor)

When there’s a chance to complete a deadly goal, the character does anything and takes any risk to achieve it.

Delusional (Minor or Major)

Your hero believes something considered quite strange. Minor delusions are harmless or kept private. Major delusions are expressed frequently and can lead to danger.

Dependent (Minor or Major)

The character has someone they’re devoted to and will do anything to protect. The Dependent is a Resilient Extra who appears fairly regularly (Major) or occasionally (Minor) and causes trouble.

Doubting Thomas (Minor)

A skeptic who rationalizes supernatural events and walks into danger they don’t believe in, always searching for mundane explanations.

Driven (Minor or Major)

An overriding desire for personal goals. Minor rarely causes peril; Major comes up frequently or causes danger for the character and those around them.

Elderly (Major)

Pace is reduced by 1, subtract 1 from running rolls (minimum 1). Also suffers −1 to Agility, Strength (including damage), and Vigor rolls (but not linked skills). Gains 5 extra skill points usable for skills linked to Smarts.

Enemy (Minor or Major)

Someone hates the character and wants them ruined, imprisoned, or dead. The strength and frequency of this enemy determines Minor vs Major.

Ex-Drone (Major)

Formerly part of a hive mind. Subtract 2 from Spirit rolls if the character has no ally within 5″ (10 yards).

FTL Sickness (Minor or Major)

After each use of FTL travel, the character suffers one level of Fatigue that takes 24 hours to fade. As a Major Hindrance, the hero must make a Vigor roll or be Exhausted; a Critical Failure may cause a heart attack.

Greedy (Minor or Major)

A miser argues over rewards (Minor) or fights bitterly over perceived unfairness and may kill for it (Major).

Habit (Minor or Major)

An annoying compulsion (Minor) or debilitating addiction (Major). Addicts must make a Vigor roll every 24 hours without their fix or take Fatigue.

Hard of Hearing (Minor or Major)

Minor: subtract 4 from Notice rolls based on hearing. Major: deaf, automatically fails Notice rolls that depend on hearing.

Heroic (Major)

This noble soul never says no to a person in need. Always comes to the rescue of those who can’t help themselves.

Hesitant (Minor)

Draw two Action Cards in combat and act on the lowest. If you draw a Joker, use it normally and ignore the Hindrance for the round. Hesitant characters cannot take the Quick or Level Headed Edges.

Illiterate (Minor)

The character cannot read or write in any language, regardless of how many they speak.

Impulsive (Major)

The daredevil almost always leaps before he looks, rarely thinking things through.

Jealous (Minor or Major)

Focused jealousy (Minor) or jealous of anyone who outshines them (Major), causing constant problems.

Loyal (Minor)

The character risks their life for friends and comes to their rescue without hesitation.

Low/Zero-G Worlder (Major)

The character subtracts 1 from Strength and melee damage rolls. This stacks with ancestral Attribute Penalty.

Low Tech/High Tech (Minor or Major)

The character suffers −2 to Electronics and Hacking rolls (or −4 as Major) when using equipment of tech levels different than their own.

Mean (Minor)

Subtract 1 from Persuasion rolls.

Mild Mannered (Minor)

Subtract 2 from Intimidation rolls.

Mute (Major)

The character cannot speak. They can communicate via writing, sign language, or other visual methods.

Obligation (Minor or Major)

The character has a responsibility consuming about 20 hours most weeks (Minor) or 40+ hours (Major).

Obese (Minor)

Size increases by +1. Pace reduced by 1 and running die reduced one step. Strength is considered one die type less (minimum d4) for armor and worn gear.

One Arm (Major)

Tasks requiring two hands suffer −4.

One Eye (Major)

Subtract 2 from any Trait roll dependent on vision and more than 5″ (10 yards) distant.

Outsider (Minor or Major)

Subtract 2 from Persuasion rolls to influence those who aren’t their own kind. Major Outsiders also have few or no legal rights in the main campaign area.

Overconfident (Major)

The character believes they can defeat anything and never wants to retreat from a challenge.

Pacifist (Minor or Major)

Minor: fights only when forced and never allows killing prisoners or defenseless victims. Major: won’t fight living sapient beings under any circumstances (nonlethal methods allowed only in defense).

Phobia (Minor or Major)

In the presence of the phobia, subtract 1 from Trait rolls (Minor) or 2 (Major).

Poverty (Minor)

Starts with half the usual money and halves total funds every game week.

Programmed (Major)

The being must follow orders assigned by its creator (or authorized chain). Directives cannot be refused unless conflicting, in which case it chooses the path that causes least harm to those it serves, itself, or randomly (in that order).

Quirk (Minor)

A minor foible that is usually humorous but can occasionally cause trouble.

Rebellious (Minor)

Subtract 2 from Persuasion rolls made to influence any person in a position of authority.

Ruthless (Minor or Major)

Will do most anything to accomplish goals. Major harms anyone in the way; Minor stops short of true harm except to direct opponents.

Secret (Minor or Major)

The character has a secret. Minor is troublesome; Major would cause severe problems if discovered. If revealed, trade it for an appropriate Hindrance (Enemy, Shamed, Wanted, etc.).

Selfless (Minor or Major)

The hero thinks of others first. Minor sacrifices time/money; Major would sacrifice themselves.

Shamed (Minor or Major)

The character is haunted by a shameful act. Minor is unknown; Major is known by those who matter and used against them.

Slow (Minor or Major)

Minor: reduce Pace by 1 and running die one step (d4 becomes d4−1). Major: Pace −2, running die −1 step, and subtract 2 from Athletics rolls and rolls to resist Athletics.

Small (Minor)

Size is reduced by 1, reducing Toughness as well. Size can’t be reduced below −1, but the Toughness penalty remains.

Stubborn (Minor)

Always wants their way and never admits they’re wrong.

Suspicious (Minor or Major)

Minor causes trust issues. Major: Support rolls to aid the distrustful individual are made at −2.

Thin Skinned (Minor or Major)

Minor: subtract 2 when resisting Taunt attacks. Major: subtract 4.

Timid (Major)

Subtract 2 from Fear checks and when resisting Intimidation.

Tongue-Tied (Major)

Suffers −1 to Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion, and Taunt rolls that involve speech.

Trouble Magnet (Minor or Major)

Minor: whenever the character rolls a Critical Failure, consequences are subtly worse. Major: anytime the GM must choose a random character to be hit/attacked/negatively affected, it’s this character.

Ugly (Minor or Major)

Subtract 1 from Persuasion (Minor) or 2 (Major).

Vengeful (Minor or Major)

Minor seeks revenge legally or with restraint. Major escalates until total satisfaction is achieved.

Vow (Minor or Major)

The character has sworn an oath. Minor rarely conflicts; Major demands frequent, dangerous action.

Wanted (Minor or Major)

The character has committed a crime and will be arrested if discovered. Severity and pursuit determine Minor vs Major.

Young (Minor or Major)

Minor: age 12–15, has fewer attribute and skill points; draws one extra Benny per session. Major: Very Young (8–11), fewer points and includes Small; draws two extra Bennies per session.

Zero-G Sickness (Minor)

The character becomes nauseated in Zero-G, suffering an automatic level of Fatigue when in Zero-G and not restrained. Recovered after one hour in other gravity.

Traits

Attributes

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Attributes don’t directly affect skill rolls. Savage Worlds treats learned knowledge and training as the most relevant and direct factors. A high attribute allows one to increase a skill faster and opens up options to Edges that greatly differentiate two characters with the same skill.

Every character starts with a d4 in each of five attributes:

Agility. is a measure of a character’s nimbleness, dexterity, and general coordination.

Smarts. measures raw intelligence, mental acuity, and how fast a heroine thinks on her feet. It’s used to resist certain types of mental and social attacks.

Spirit. is self-confidence, backbone, and willpower. It’s used to resist social and supernatural attacks as well as fear.

Strength. is physical power and fitness. It’s also used as the basis of a warrior’s damage in hand-to-hand combat, and to determine how much he can wear or carry.

Vigor. represents an individual’s endurance, resistance to disease, poison, or toxins, and how much physical damage she can take before she can’t go on. It is most often used to resist Fatigue effects, and as the basis for the derived stat of Toughness.

Using Attributes

Attributes are used to:

• Determine how fast skills increase during Advancement.

• Limit access to Edges.

• Derive secondary statistics such as Toughness or melee damage.

• Resist effects such as being grappled or counter spells, powers, or social attacks such as Taunt or Intimidation.

Skills

Faith, Psionics, Spellcasting, and Weird Science have all been removed from this setting.

Heroes have 15 points to buy skills during character creation. A skill that’s below the linked attribute (noted in parentheses beside the skill name) is cheaper to increase than one that’s at or above it.

Core skills are marked with a red square, and start at d4 for player characters.

Characters can attempt skills they don’t have but it’s more difficult. See Unskilled Attempts.

Academics (Smarts)

Academics reflects knowledge of history, languages, literature, philosophy, politics, and the soft sciences across Earth, the Commonwealth, and the wider galaxy. Use it to recall an old Earth treaty, identify a pre-Commonwealth symbol on a station bulkhead, or quote a piece of propaganda from the Azaran decline years.

🟥 Athletics (Agility)

Athletics combines coordination with learned movement: climbing, jumping, balancing, grappling, swimming, throwing, catching, and moving through hazards in low gravity. Characters who rely on physical power more than coordination can take the Brute Edge to link this skill to Strength instead of Agility.

Battle (Smarts)

Battle is a character’s grasp of strategy, tactics, and doctrine. Use it to evaluate battlefield layouts, predict enemy maneuvering, coordinate a boarding action, or lead forces during Mass Battles.

Boating (Agility)

Boating covers small watercraft and wet-environment operations: piloting skiffs, working river craft, handling lines, reading currents, and staying alive in heavy seas. In Astrabound, it most often shows up on ocean worlds, water stations, and amphibious colony operations.

🟥 Common Knowledge (Smarts)

Common Knowledge represents what you know about everyday life across your lived space: local customs, slang, factions, current events, common tech, famous ports, typical laws, and social expectations. Use it to know what a port authority cares about, what a Syndicate fixer expects, or what a Commonwealth citizen would assume is normal.

Driving (Agility)

Driving lets a hero control powered ground vehicles: cars, bikes, armored transports, and colony utility rigs. Characters in settings where vehicles are ubiquitous don’t need Driving for ordinary travel. Driving rolls are typically only needed in dangerous or stressful conditions, such as Chases, hostile terrain, combat driving, or failing infrastructure.

Electronics (Smarts)

Electronics is the skill for operating complex, specialized, or unfamiliar devices: ship sensor suites, industrial control panels, security grids, lab equipment, and alien interface standards. Common consumer tech usually does not require Electronics unless the situation is risky or unusual.

Fixing broken electronics uses Repair, but Repair is limited by the hero’s Electronics skill. Use whichever skill is lowest.

Fighting (Agility)

Fighting covers all hand-to-hand combat and melee weapons: unarmed strikes, knives, shock batons, boarding axes, monoblades, and close-quarters martial arts.

Focus (Spirit)

Focus is the arcane skill for Arcane Background (Astra Gifted). It reflects discipline, will, and the ability to shape Astra through intention and control rather than rote formulas or external devices.

Gambling (Smarts)

Gambling covers games of chance, reading tables, managing tells, and keeping your nerve. To simulate an hour of gambling, agree on the stakes (credits, favors, cargo shares, or other). Everyone makes a Gambling roll. The lowest total pays the highest the difference times the stake. The next lowest pays the second highest, and so on. If there’s an odd one left in the middle, they break even.

Cheating: A character who cheats adds +2 to their roll. The GM may raise or lower this modifier depending on the game and the method. If a cheater rolls a Critical Failure, they’re caught. The consequences depend on the table and who noticed.

Hacking (Smarts)

Hacking is used to create programs, break into secured systems, defeat access controls, spoof credentials, and subvert automated defenses. It always requires a computer or interface.

Most tasks are a simple Hacking roll. Time required is the GM’s call, from a single action to hours, days, or longer depending on complexity. Success means it works as intended and a raise halves the time. Failure usually means another attempt is possible. A Critical Failure may trigger lockouts, alarms, trace routines, or countermeasures.

Healing (Smarts)

Healing covers medicine, triage, diagnosis, and treatment, from shipboard emergency care to frontier clinics. It also includes anatomical forensics.

Forensics: Healing can analyze trauma evidence: cause and time of death, angle of attack, tool marks, and similar details. Success provides basic information and a raise provides more detail.

Intimidation (Spirit)

Intimidation is the art of fear and pressure: making someone back down, reveal information, or hesitate. It is an opposed roll resisted by the opponent’s Spirit. In combat, this is a Test. Out of combat, success usually means the target backs down, gives up limited information, or yields space. A raise can mean they fold for the scene, spill far more than intended, or flee if possible.

A Critical Failure means the target is immune to this character’s Intimidation attempts for the remainder of this encounter.

Networking: Intimidation can also be used as a macro skill to simulate hours of working rough streets, breaking up trouble, or extracting favors through fear.

Language (Smarts)

Language is listed as Language (English), Language (Drakneri), etc. A character’s die type notes fluency. Characters start with a d8 in their own Language.

Language Proficiency

Skill	Proficiency
d4	The character can read, write, and speak common words and phrases.
d6	The speaker can carry on a prolonged but occasionally halting conversation.
d8	The character can speak fluently.
d10	The hero can mimic other dialects within the language.
d12	The speaker can masterfully recite important literary or oral works.

🟥 Notice

Notice is general awareness: spotting danger, finding clues, detecting ambushes, noticing a concealed weapon, reading a room, or catching the moment someone’s story stops lining up. It includes sights, sounds, taste, and smell, depending on circumstance.

Success gives basic information. A raise gives more detail, such as direction, distance, or what a person is avoiding.

Occult (Smarts)

Occult reflects knowledge of Astra-related phenomena, strange entities, unusual relics, and the patterns of reality that most people ignore until it bites them. Use it to interpret Astra marks, identify a ritualized anomaly, or recall what certain remnant sites are known to do.

Finding information in archives, ship logs, network caches, or physical records uses Research. If the investigator’s Occult is higher, the GM may allow Occult instead when it makes sense.

Performance (Spirit)

Performance covers singing, acting, music, storytelling, public speaking, and any act meant to move an audience. It can rally a crowd, distract security, cultivate reputation, or win work in ports where favors start with a stage.

Raising Funds: As a general rule, a successful performance raises 20% of the setting’s Starting Funds and 30% with a raise. The GM can multiply this by the performer’s Rank if it fits the situation.

Deception: Performance can be used instead of Persuasion when the character is bluffing, disguising themselves socially, or selling a convincing role and the GM agrees it fits.

🟥 Persuasion (Spirit)

Persuasion is convincing others through reason, charm, incentives, negotiation, deception, or shared interest. Persuasion is not mind control. It can shift attitude, not rewrite core goals.

Support: When used to Support allies it’s an unopposed roll. If the target is resistant, it’s an opposed roll vs. the target’s Spirit. The GM should apply modifiers based on roleplaying, Edges, Hindrances, leverage, and circumstances.

Reaction Level: How cooperative someone is depends on their attitude. The GM can decide or roll on the Reaction Table below.

Success improves the target’s attitude one level and a raise improves it two. Further increases usually require time, new leverage, or changed circumstances.

Failure means the target won’t change their mind this scene or until the situation changes meaningfully. A Critical Failure reduces the target’s attitude two levels.

Only one roll should generally be allowed per interaction unless new information is revealed or leverage changes.

Networking: Persuasion can also be used as a macro skill, simulating hours of socializing to gain favors or information.

Reactions

2d6	Initial Reaction
2	Hostile: The target is openly hostile. He may attack if possible, or otherwise betray, report on, or hinder the party at the first opportunity. He doesn’t help without an overwhelming reward or threat of some kind.
3	Unfriendly: The character isn’t interested in helping unless he has little choice and or is offered a substantial payment or reward.
4-5	Uncooperative: The target isn’t interested in getting involved unless there’s a significant advantage to himself.
6-8	Neutral: The character has no particular attitude toward the group. He expects fair payment for any sort of favor or information.
9-10	Cooperative: The character is generally sympathetic. He helps if he can for a small fee, favor, or kindness.
11	Friendly: The individual goes out of his way for the hero. He likely does simple tasks for very little, and is willing to do more dangerous tasks for fair pay or other favors.
12	Helpful: The target is anxious to help the hero and probably does so for little or no reward.

Piloting (Agility)

Piloting covers aircraft, gravcraft, jet packs, and starships. It includes maneuvering under pressure, docking in bad conditions, threading debris fields, and handling craft in combat.

A being with the innate ability to fly (wings, natural propulsion) uses Athletics instead.

Repair (Smarts)

Repair is the ability to fix mechanical gadgets, vehicles, weapons, and simple electrical devices. It also covers the use of demolitions and explosives.

Time required is the GM’s call based on complexity and available facilities. Success means the item is functional. A raise halves the time required.

Tools: Characters suffer a minor penalty (−1 to −2) without basic tools, or a major penalty (−3 to −4) if specialized equipment is required.

Electronics: Repair can fix electronic devices, but is limited by the hero’s Electronics skill. Use whichever skill is lowest.

Research (Smarts)

Research is knowing how to find answers in logs, archives, public records, private networks, libraries, data caches, and shipboard systems. It’s the skill of asking the right questions and recognizing what matters when you find it.

Riding (Agility)

Riding covers mounting, controlling, and riding beasts and beast-drawn vehicles where they exist. In Astrabound this is uncommon in high-tech space, but common on lower-tech colony worlds and in frontier cultures.

Science (Smarts)

Science covers the hard sciences: biology, xenobiology, chemistry, physics, geology, engineering theory, and lab practice. Use it to interpret data, identify substances, evaluate anomalies, and design solutions.

Success provides basic information. A raise provides more detail.

Shooting (Agility)

Shooting covers all ranged weapons: pistols, rifles, shipboard sidearms, energy weapons, and heavy ordnance. Thrown weapons use Athletics.

🟥 Stealth (Agility)

Stealth is hiding, moving quietly, and staying unseen. Against inattentive foes, a success avoids detection. Failure alerts them that something is wrong.

Once foes are alerted, Stealth is opposed by Notice. The GM should apply situational penalties for darkness, noise, distractions, cover, and Scale differences. Do not apply the same modifier to both rolls.

Sneak Attack: Sneaking close enough for melee always requires opposed Stealth vs Notice, whether the target is alert or not. If successful, the victim is Vulnerable to the attacker until the attacker’s turn ends. With a raise, the attacker has The Drop instead.

Movement: In combat, characters roll Stealth each turn as a free action at the end of their move or any action the GM thinks draws attention. Out of combat, roll frequency depends on the situation.

Survival (Smarts)

Survival is finding food, water, shelter, and safe routes in hostile environments. It also covers wilderness navigation, hazard judgment, and knowing what is safe to eat or touch.

A successful roll provides enough food and water for one person for one day, or five people with a raise.

Tracking: Survival can detect and follow tracks. Each roll generally covers following tracks for one mile, adjusted by the GM. The GM should assign bonuses or penalties based on target, environment, and time.

Taunt (Smarts)

Taunt attacks pride through ridicule, cruel jests, or one-upmanship. It’s an opposed roll resisted by the opponent’s Smarts. In combat, this is a Test.

Out of combat, success may make the defender back down, slink away, or start a fight. A raise can leave them cowed, make them storm out, or push them into reckless action. A Critical Failure means the target is immune to this character’s Taunts for the remainder of the encounter.

Thievery (Agility)

Thievery covers lockpicking, safecracking, pickpocketing, sleight of hand, disabling traps, sabotage, subterfuge, and physical misdirection.

For simple unopposed actions, success opens or disables the device. A raise can do it faster, quieter, or without alarms. If watched, Thievery is opposed by Notice.

The GM may assign penalties for difficult circumstances. Failure usually means the attempt is spotted or takes too long and can be tried again. A Critical Failure triggers alarms, sets off the trap, alerts the target, or jams the device.

Limited: Using Thievery on an electronic device such as a keypad is limited by the thief’s Electronics skill. Use the lowest of the two skills.

Edges

The Edge New Powers has been removed. Choosing Star Knight or Astran grants all powers upon taking and dedicating yourself to that cause. Trappings can be negotiated with the Game Master but Astra powers are generally very low key in appearance and not flashy. Think a galaxy far far away where they move things invisibly and less like hurling balls of fire.

Background Edges

Background Edges represent advantages rooted in who your character is, where they come from, or the kind of training and experience they have accumulated before the story begins. In Astrabound, these Edges often reflect life in the Commonwealth and the Outer Rim: growing up in heavy gravity, surviving a frontier colony, inheriting a ship, earning trust in elite circles, or awakening Astra sensitivity through discipline, trauma, or contact with a Star Stone.

Most Background Edges can be taken after character creation if the story supports it. A hero might become Attractive through deliberate self-reinvention, gain Aristocrat by marrying into a powerful family, or acquire Captain by securing a ship through salvage rights, patronage, or a very risky loan. Astra ability is handled through Arcane Background (Astra Gifted) and represents a real, observable phenomenon in-setting, not rumor or superstition.

Alertness

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
Not much gets by this hero. Add +2 to Notice rolls to hear, see, or otherwise sense the world around them.

Ambidextrous

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
You ignore the Off-Hand penalty. If holding a weapon in each hand, you may stack Parry bonuses (if any) from both weapons.

Arcane Background (Astra Gifted)

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You are Astra Gifted. You have an innate sensitivity and trained focus that lets you shape Astra deliberately. Your Astra works through Focus (Spirit) and uses Power Points as normal for Arcane Background (Gifted), renamed in-setting as Astra Gifted.

Arcane Resistance

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
Astra holds little sway with you. Enemy Astra abilities targeting you suffer a −2 penalty and Astra damage against you is reduced by 2. If a hostile power fails to affect you due to this penalty, it still activates and consumes Power Points and may still affect other targets.

This includes Astra bonuses granted to weapons, such as the smite power.

Aristocrat

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You were born into privilege or earned your way into the elite. You may or may not have wealth, but you move comfortably in high-status circles.

You add +2 to Persuasion when Networking with the local elite, corporate executives, old families, high-ranking officers, or established power brokers. You also add +2 to Common Knowledge rolls related to upper-class etiquette, identifying heraldry, recognizing lineage markers, or recalling elite gossip.

Astrid attends a fundraiser aboard an Olympia highport. She uses Aristocrat to Network with the arcology families and leaves with a private invite, a favor owed, and a warning about who not to cross.

Attractive

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, VIGOR d6+
People are more willing to help those they find attractive. Add +1 to Performance and Persuasion rolls if the target is attracted to your general type.

Berserk

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
Immediately after suffering a Wound or a Shaken result from physical damage only, you must make a Smarts roll or go Berserk. You may voluntarily fail.

Going Berserk has these effects:

• FURY: Strength increases one die type and every melee attack must be a Wild Attack. You cannot use skills requiring wit or concentration (GM’s call). You may still use Intimidation.

• ENRAGED: Add +2 Toughness. Ignore one level of Wound penalties. This stacks with other abilities that reduce Wound penalties.

• RECKLESS ABANDON: On a Critical Failure on a Fighting check, you hit a random target within range of your attack, friend or foe. If none, the blow misses and smashes nearby objects.

After five consecutive rounds of berserk fury, you take a level of Fatigue. At ten rounds, you take another level of Fatigue and the rage ends. You may end your rage at any time by making a Smarts −2 roll as a free action.

Flynn takes a plasma graze during a boarding action on a derelict. He fails his Smarts roll and goes Berserk, carving through a corridor like a storm, then nearly tags Zayko when his blade bites the wrong direction on a Critical Failure.

Brave

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d6+
You have learned to master fear, or you have seen enough horrors that panic no longer owns you. Add +2 to Fear checks and subtract 2 from Fear Table results.

Brawny

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, STRENGTH d6+, VIGOR d6+
Your Size increases by +1 and therefore Toughness by +1. You treat your Strength as one die type higher when determining Encumbrance and Minimum Strength to use armor, weapons, and equipment without penalty.

Brawny cannot increase Size above +3.

Brute

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, STRENGTH d6+, VIGOR d6+
You focus on core strength over coordination. Athletics is linked to Strength instead of Agility for Advancement. You may resist Athletics Tests with Strength if you choose.

You also increase the Short Range of any thrown item by +1, double that for Medium, and double again for Long.

Captain

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, COMMAND, PILOTING d8+
You start the campaign with a light cargo hauler or scout ship of your own. You may have inherited it, salvaged it, stolen it, or bought it legitimately. You are responsible for maintenance, fuel, fees, charters, crew, and the consequences that come with having your own hull.

This Edge lets you start with a starship large enough to accommodate the party. Talk this over with the GM as it affects campaign structure and resources.

Astrid signs a questionable charter out of Haven because keeping a ship flying is expensive. Flynn wants to ask questions. Zayko points out they are already undocked.

Charismatic

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
You are unusually likable. You get one free reroll on Persuasion rolls.

Elan

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
When you spend a Benny to reroll a Trait, add +2 to the total. This applies only when rerolling Trait rolls. It does not apply to damage rolls. It does not apply to Soak rolls unless you spend another Benny to reroll the Vigor check.

Fame

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You are a minor celebrity in some slice of known space. You make double the normal fee when performing for pay. You may add +1 to Persuasion rolls if the target is friendly and knows who you are, determined by a Common Knowledge roll modified by how likely they are to recognize you.

Fame has downsides. You get recognized, people demand time and favors, and anonymity is harder.

Famous

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, FAME
You are truly famous. You make 5× the normal fee when performing and add +2 to Persuasion rolls when influencing friendly individuals who know who you are.

The costs are higher too. Obligations, rivals, scandals, and constant recognition can complicate travel and covert work.

Fast Healer

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, VIGOR d8+
Add +2 to Vigor rolls for natural healing, and you check every three days instead of five.

Favored Terrain

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SURVIVAL d6+
Choose a terrain type: aquatic, arctic, desert, forest, hill/mountain, jungle, plains, space, swamp, underground, or urban including stations and ship interiors.

While in your Favored Terrain, you get a free reroll to Survival and Notice rolls. You also draw an additional Action Card for initiative in your Favored Terrain and choose from all your Action Cards as usual.

Favored Terrain may be taken multiple times, choosing a new terrain each time.

Filthy Rich

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, RICH
You start with five times the normal starting funds and, if appropriate, a yearly income after responsibilities of around $500,000. Additional wealth can exist, but should be worked out with the GM and should come with responsibilities and obligations.

Geared Up

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
This Edge may only be taken at character creation. You start with 10 times the usual Starting Funds in possessions. Excess cash is lost. If used for cyberware or Robotic Mods, they are already safely installed.

This is a one-time benefit. Lost or broken possessions are not replaced.

Great Luck

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, LUCK
You draw two extra Bennies at the start of each session.

Heavy/Super-Heavy-G Worlder

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You grew up under crushing gravity. You treat your Strength as one die type higher when determining Encumbrance and Minimum Strength to use armor, weapons, and equipment without penalty. You also double normal jumping distances.

Improved Arcane Resistance

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, ARCANE RESISTANCE
As Arcane Resistance, but the penalty to the Astra skill roll and damage reduction are increased to 4.

Linguist

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d6+
You begin play knowing half your Smarts die type in different Language skills of your choice at d6.

Luck

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You draw one extra Benny at the start of each session.

Quick

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+

Whenever you are dealt an Action Card of Five or lower, you may discard it and draw again until you get a card higher than Five.

If you also have Level Headed, draw your additional card first and choose from your cards. If the chosen card is Five or less, Quick may be used to draw replacements until it is Six or higher.

Rich

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You start with three times the normal starting funds. If a regular income is appropriate, you receive the modern-day equivalent of a $150,000 annual salary.

Very Attractive

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, ATTRACTIVE
Increase your Performance and Persuasion bonus from Attractive to +2.

Combat Edges

Combat Edges are the difference between surviving a corridor breach and becoming a name on a memorial wall. In Astrabound, they represent hard training, dirty experience, and the kind of instincts you only get after enough near-misses in vacuum, gravity, and places where the law does not reach. These Edges make you faster, deadlier, and harder to put down when the shooting starts.

Ammo Counter

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
Most firefights in the Rim burn ammo like a reactor burns fuel. A shooter with this Edge is more precise with trigger control, reducing the number of bullets fired by half, round up.

Firing a weapon with Rate of Fire 2, for example, fires three shots instead of five per attack. Rate of Fire 3 uses five shots instead of 10.

Block

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, FIGHTING d8+
Through hard-fought experience your hero has learned to defend themselves in vicious hand-to-hand combat. Their Parry increases by +1 and any Gang Up bonus against them is reduced by 1.

Brawler

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, STRENGTH d8+, VIGOR d8+
Your fists hit like hammers, or your natural weapons land with brutal efficiency. You increase your Toughness by +1 and roll Strength+d4 when hitting with fists or feet (or claws if you have them).

If you already have a damage die from Claws, the Martial Artist Edge, and similar sources, increase the damage die type by one instead.

This Edge does not make your fists Natural Weapons.

Bruiser

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, BRAWLER
You increase your Toughness an additional +1, and the damage caused with your fists or claws increases another die type.

Calculating

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d8+
You process angles, timing, and threat lines faster than most. When your Action Card is a Five or less, you ignore up to 2 points of penalties on one action that turn, which can include Multi-Action, Cover, Range, and Wound penalties.

Combat Reflexes

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED
You recover quickly from shock and pain. Add +2 to rolls when attempting to recover from being Shaken or Stunned.

Counterattack

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, FIGHTING d8+
You punish openings instantly. Once per round, if you are not Shaken or Stunned, you gain a Free Attack against one failed Fighting attack against you. The counterattack happens immediately.

Dead Shot

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, NOVICE, ATHLETICS OR SHOOTING d8+
When your Action Card is a Joker, double the total damage of your first successful Athletics (throwing) or Shooting roll that round.

Dodge

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, AGILITY d8+
You move like you expect the shot before it is fired. Unless you are the victim of a surprise attack and completely unaware, attackers subtract 2 from all ranged attacks made against you. Dodge does not stack with cover.

Double Tap

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SHOOTING d6+
You fire two quick shots without spoiling your aim. Double Tap can only be used with weapons with a Rate of Fire of 1 that can fire two shots without manual reload. It adds +1 to hit and damage at the cost of one extra bullet.

This is per action, so a shooter can Double Tap more than once if they perform a Multi-Action.

Double Tap cannot be combined with Rapid Fire.

If used with a weapon capable of Three-Round Burst, it adds +2 to Shooting and damage instead of +1 and expends six bullets.

Extraction

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
Withdrawing from melee is dangerous. You have learned how to slip out alive. When moving away from adjacent foes, one adjacent foe of your choice does not get their free Fighting attack against you.

Feint

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, FIGHTING d8+
When performing a Test with the Fighting skill, you may choose to make the foe resist with Smarts instead of Agility.

First Strike

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
Once per round, as long as you are not Shaken or Stunned, you get a free Fighting attack against a foe immediately after they move into your Reach.

Free Runner

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+, ATHLETICS d6+
You know how to move through cluttered stations, broken corridors, and wreckage fields without losing speed. As long as there are obstacles you can bound on, bounce off, or swing on, you move at full Pace on Difficult Ground when on foot.

You also add +2 to Athletics rolls when climbing and in foot Chases.

Frenzy

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, FIGHTING d8+
As a limited action, you may roll a second Fighting die with any one of your Fighting attacks for the turn. The extra die may target the same or different targets. Resolve each separately.

Giant Killer

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN
You know how to find structural weak points in massive targets, whether they are beasts, warforms, or heavy exo-frames. Add +1d6 damage when attacking creatures three or more Sizes larger than yourself.

Hard to Kill

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
You may ignore Wound penalties when making Vigor rolls to avoid Bleeding Out.

Harder to Kill

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, HARD TO KILL
If you are ever “killed,” roll a die. On an odd result, you are dead as usual. On an even result, you are Incapacitated but somehow escape death. You may be captured, stripped of gear, or mistakenly left for dead, but you survive.

Improved Block

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, BLOCK
Your Parry bonus is now +2 and the Gang Up bonus against you is reduced by 2.

Improved Counterattack

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, COUNTERATTACK
As Counterattack, but you may make a Free Attack against up to three failed attacks each round.

Improved Dodge

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, DODGE
You add +2 when Evading area effect attacks.

Improved Extraction

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, EXTRACTION
Up to three adjacent foes of your choice do not get attacks when you move out of melee with them.

Improved First Strike

REQUIREMENTS

HEROIC, FIRST STRIKE
As First Strike, but you may attack up to three foes each turn.

Improved Frenzy

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, FRENZY
When using Frenzy, add a third Fighting die to the Fighting attack made with Frenzy this turn.

Astrid kicks in a hatch and uses Improved Frenzy in the tight passage. She splits her dice between three targets, turning a boarding choke point into a problem the other side cannot solve fast enough.

Improvisational Fighter

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SMARTS d6+
When you fight with improvised weapons, you ignore the usual −2 penalty.

Iron Jaw

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, VIGOR d8+
Add +2 to Soak rolls and Vigor rolls to avoid Knockout Blows.

Killer Instinct

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED
You get a free reroll in any opposed Test you initiate.

Level Headed

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SMARTS d8+
You draw an additional Action Card in combat and choose which to use.

Marksman

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ATHLETICS d8+ OR SHOOTING d8+
If you do not move in a turn and fire no more than a Rate of Fire of 1 as your first action, you may add +1 to an Athletics (throwing) or Shooting roll, or ignore up to 2 points of penalties from Called Shots, Cover, Range, Scale, or Speed.

This does not stack with Aim and does not apply to additional attacks after the first.

Martial Artist

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, FIGHTING d6+
Your hands and feet are weapons, so you are always considered armed. Add +1 when striking with them and your unarmed damage is Strength+d4.

If you already have a Strength damage die from Claws or the Brawler Edge, increase the damage die type by one instead.

Martial Artist does not add to damage from other Natural Weapons such as fangs or horns.

Martial Warrior

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, MARTIAL ARTIST
Increase your Fighting bonus from Martial Artist to +2 and increase your damage die an additional step.

Mighty Blow

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, NOVICE, FIGHTING d8+
If your Action Card is a Joker, double the damage of your first successful Fighting attack that round.

Nerves of Steel

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, VIGOR d8+
You may ignore 1 point of Wound penalties.

No Mercy

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED
When you spend a Benny to reroll damage, add +2 to your final total.

Opportunistic

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN
When you are dealt a Joker, add +4 to your Trait and damage rolls instead of +2.

Quick Draw

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
When spending a Benny for an additional Action Card at the beginning of a round, draw two cards. Choose your final Action Card from any available choices, including additional draws from Level Headed, Quick, and similar Edges.

You also add +2 to Athletics rolls made to interrupt others’ actions, including being on Hold and resisting being interrupted.

Rapid Fire

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SHOOTING d6+
As long as you are armed with a fast-firing ranged weapon and have enough ammunition, you may increase your weapon’s Rate of Fire by 1 for any one of your Shooting attacks that turn.

Rock and Roll!

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SHOOTING d8+
If you do not move on your turn, you ignore the Recoil penalty when firing at a Rate of Fire of 2 or higher.

Steady Hands

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
You ignore the Unstable Platform penalty. This also helps when running, reducing the usual penalty from −2 to −1.

Sweep

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, STRENGTH d8+, FIGHTING d8+
As a limited action, make a single Fighting attack with a two-handed weapon and apply it against all targets in your Reach, friends and foes alike. Resolve damage separately for each enemy hit.

A Sweep made without a two-handed weapon suffers a −2 penalty.

Trademark Weapon

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SKILL WITH CHOSEN WEAPON d8+
You know one unique weapon like the back of your hand. When using it, add +1 to Athletics (throwing), Fighting, or Shooting rolls, and +1 to Parry when it is readied, even if it is a ranged weapon.

You may take this Edge multiple times, choosing a different weapon each time. If a Trademark Weapon is lost, you can replace it, but the benefits do not return for a few days, at the GM’s discretion.

Two-Fisted

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
If you make a Fighting attack with one action and another from a different hand in a later action, the second attack does not inflict a Multi-Action penalty. The Off-Hand penalty still applies unless you are Ambidextrous.

If you have Two-Gun Kid, the second action may instead be a ranged attack.

Two-Gun Kid

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
Two-Gun Kid works like Two-Fisted but for ranged weapons. You may fire or throw a weapon in each hand as two different actions without triggering a Multi-Action penalty.

If you have Two-Fisted, the second action may instead be a melee attack.

Flynn has a blade in one hand and an autopistol in the other. With Two-Fisted and Two-Gun Kid, he can strike first, then fire as a later action without the Multi-Action penalty, which is exactly how you stay alive when the corridor gets crowded.

Improved Level Headed

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, LEVEL HEADED
You draw two additional Action Cards in combat and choose which to keep.

Improved Nerves of Steel

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, NERVES OF STEEL
You may ignore 2 points of Wound penalties.

Improved Rapid Fire

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, RAPID FIRE
You may increase your weapon’s Rate of Fire by 1 twice in the same turn via a Multi-Action.

Astrid is on the ramp with a carbine. She uses Improved Rapid Fire to push two separate Shooting actions past the usual limit, keeping the boarding party pinned while Zayko drags a wounded crewmate behind cover.

Improved Sweep

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, SWEEP
When using Sweep, you may avoid allies.

Improved Trademark Weapon

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, TRADEMARK WEAPON
The bonuses when using your Trademark Weapon increase to +2.

Leadership Edges

Leadership Edges reflect the kind of authority that holds a crew together when the alarm klaxons start, when the docking clamps fail, or when a landing party realizes the map is wrong. In Astrabound, leadership is often earned in the tight spaces of ships, the politics of ports, and the quiet competence that keeps people alive.

Unless an Edge says otherwise, Leadership Edges affect allied Extras only. Wild Cards benefit only if the leader has the Natural Leader Edge.

Leadership Edges are not cumulative with the same Edge from other leaders. Characters may benefit from different Leadership Edges from the same or different leaders.

Allies must be within 5″ (10 yards) to benefit. This is the leader’s Command Range.

Command

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d6+
Command is the basic ability to give clear instructions and support to allies in the thick of danger.

Allied Extras in Command Range add +1 to their Spirit rolls when attempting to recover from being Shaken and +1 to Vigor rolls when attempting to recover from being Stunned.

Command Presence

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, COMMAND
You project authority through voice, posture, training, or sheer credibility. Your Command Range becomes 10″ (20 yards).

Fervor

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, SPIRIT d8+, COMMAND
You can light a fire in your people with a phrase, a motto, or a simple order that lands at the right moment.

Allied Extras in Command Range add +1 to their Fighting damage rolls.

Astrid plants her boots on a shifting deckplate and calls the push. The crew moves as one, and the next exchange of blows is all theirs.

Hold the Line!

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SMARTS d8+, COMMAND
You make others harder to break by holding formation, controlling lanes, and keeping panic from spreading.

Allied Extras in Command Range gain +1 Toughness.

Inspire

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, COMMAND
You can turn a plan into momentum. As a limited action, roll your Battle skill to Support one type of Trait roll, then apply that Support to all allied Extras in Command Range.

The leader could Support all Shooting attacks in range, or all Spirit rolls to recover from being Shaken. Inspire requires some form of communication with those it affects.

Master Tactician

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, TACTICIAN
You get a total of two extra Action Cards each round to distribute using Tactician.

Natural Leader

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SPIRIT d8+, COMMAND
You have proven yourself repeatedly, and others follow without needing to be convinced every time.

Any Leadership Edge that says it applies only to Extras now applies to Wild Cards as well.

Tactician

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SMARTS d8+, COMMAND, BATTLE d6+
You have a natural grasp of small-unit tactics and can take advantage of rapidly changing situations.

You are dealt an extra Action Card each round of combat or a chase, kept separate from your own. At the start of the round, you may discard it or give it to any Extra, or group of Extras sharing an Action Card, in Command Range.

The controller of the receiving character or group may accept it and replace their current Action Card, or discard it.

Team Leader

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, COMMAND, COMMON BOND, NATURAL LEADER
You are the kind of leader who makes a crew feel like a single organism. With this Edge, all allies within your Command Range may exchange Bennies as if they all had the Common Bond Edge.

Flynn is pinned and out of luck. Astrid tosses him a Benny with a single look and a sharp hand signal, and the moment turns before it breaks.

Power Edges

Power Edges shape how Astra users push, conserve, and recover their strength. In Astrabound, Astra is usually subtle, controlled, and personal. These Edges represent the discipline to use it under fire, the knack for stretching your reserves, and the willingness to pay a price when you have to.

Channeling

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY)
When you get a raise on your arcane skill roll, or on a roll to activate or use an arcane device, reduce the Power Point cost by 1. This can reduce the cost to 0.

Concentration

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY)
Your Astra practice is efficient and steady. The base Duration of any non-Instant power is doubled. This includes maintaining powers.

Extra Effort

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ASTRA GIFTED), FOCUS d6+
Some Gifted can dig deep and force a stronger outcome.

After rolling Focus, you may increase the total by +1 for 1 Power Point, or +2 for 3 Power Points. Extra Effort may not be used to improve a Critical Failure.

Astrid is holding a bulkhead shut with Astra while Flynn drags a wounded crew member to cover. She spends 3 Power Points for Extra Effort and bumps her Focus total by +2, just enough to keep the seal from failing.

Favored Power

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY), ARCANE SKILL d8+
You have mastered one specific power through repetition and lived experience. Choose one power.

You may ignore up to 2 points of penalties when making the arcane skill roll for that power. This can include Multi-Action penalties, Wound penalties, Fatigue penalties, and similar modifiers. Other actions that round still suffer the Multi-Action penalty normally.

Power Points

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY)
You have a deeper reservoir than most. Gain +5 Power Points.

Power Points may be selected more than once, but only once per Rank. It may be taken as often as desired at Legendary Rank, but each grants only +2 Power Points at that Rank.

Power Surge

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, NOVICE, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY), ARCANE SKILL d8+
When your Action Card is a Joker, you recover 10 Power Points. This may not exceed your usual maximum.

Rapid Recharge

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SPIRIT d6+, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY)
Your Astra recovers faster during rest. You regain 10 Power Points per hour spent resting instead of 5.

Soul Drain

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ARCANE BACKGROUND (ANY), ARCANE SKILL d10+
When you have nothing left but stubbornness, you can burn your body to fuel your Astra.

You may take a level of Fatigue to recover up to 5 Power Points. You may take an additional level of Fatigue, to Exhaustion, to recover up to 5 more Power Points. You cannot render yourself Incapacitated in this way.

Fatigue incurred by Soul Drain may only be recovered naturally. The relief power and similar abilities have no effect.

Zayko is empty on Power Points and the ship is still in danger. He takes a level of Fatigue to claw back 5 Power Points, then throws the last of his strength into one clean Astra push that keeps the crew alive.

Professional Edges

Professional Edges represent credentials, field hours, and hard-earned competence. In Astrabound, this is the difference between reading a sensor ghost and chasing it into a minefield, or patching a drive coil well enough to limp to Haven instead of drifting.

Players may purchase Professional Edges after character creation. In play, that usually means training during downtime, apprenticing under someone who knows the work, or earning the right contacts to learn the trick.

Bonuses to the same Trait from different Professional Edges do not stack. Use only the highest.

Ace

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+
Aces have a special affinity with the vehicles they operate, from grav-bikes to shuttles to starships.

Ignore 2 points of penalties to any Boating, Driving, or Piloting roll.

You may spend Bennies to Soak damage for any vehicle you control or command, using the appropriate Boating, Driving, or Piloting skill instead of Vigor. Each success and raise negates a Wound.

Acrobat

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+, ATHLETICS d8+
You are trained in balance, controlled falls, and moving through unstable environments.

You get one free reroll on Athletics totals that involve balance, tumbling, or grappling. This does not affect rolls to interrupt actions, climb, swim, or throw.

Assassin

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+, FIGHTING d6+, STEALTH d8+
You are trained to end fights before they become fights.

Add +2 to damage rolls when your foe is Vulnerable or you have The Drop.

Atmospheric Acclimation

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You have spent enough time planetside and in mixed-atmosphere habitats that your body and breathing discipline handle the basics.

You never make Vigor rolls to avoid the effects of Thin Atmosphere or High and Low Pressure.

Combat Acrobat

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ACROBAT
You stay in motion under fire, using clutter, railings, and hard angles to keep shots from lining up clean.

Attacks against you are made at −1 as long as you are aware of the attack, can reasonably move about, and are not suffering any Encumbrance or Minimum Strength penalties.

Duct Tape & Bubble Gum

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, REPAIR d8+
You know how to reroute power, bypass safeties, and keep a machine moving long enough to matter.

As a limited action, make a Repair roll to remove a vehicle’s Distracted or Vulnerable status. With a raise, remove both.

Evasive Maneuvers

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, ACE
You fight vehicle-to-vehicle like it is a language.

This Edge can only be used while operating a vehicle. At the start of a round, after Action Cards are dealt and all Edges, Bennies, and other abilities are accounted for, you may spend a Benny to swap your Action Card with that of any enemy vehicle in the encounter, or a group if multiple vehicles act on a single card.

Exo Scientist

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SCIENCE d8+
You have studied systems that are alien, obsolete, or dangerously advanced, and you do not freeze up when the interface makes no sense.

Ignore up to 2 points of penalties from equipment being too advanced, too alien, or too primitive compared to the setting’s standard technology.

Gravitic Acclimation

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d6+
You know how to move, fight, and work in gravities that do not match your home.

Ignore the −2 penalty to Agility and Agility-based skills when acting in a gravity other than your own.

Improved Sneak Attack

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, SNEAK ATTACK
Your Sneak Attack bonus also applies if the foe is Distracted.

Investigator

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d8+, RESEARCH d8+
You know how to dig, connect dots, and find what someone tried to bury.

Add +2 to Research rolls and Notice rolls made to search through desks for important papers, sift through piles for something of note, or spot obscured items in cluttered spaces.

Jack-of-All-Trades

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d10+
You learn on the fly through observation, simulation, and stubborn curiosity.

Make a Smarts roll as an action after observing or studying a subject. With success, gain a d4 in the relevant skill. With a raise, gain a d6. You may try again after an hour of study, trial and effort, or immersion if you fail or want to try for a raise.

This lasts until you attempt to learn a different subject, whether successful or not.

McGyver

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d6+, NOTICE d8+, REPAIR d6+
You can build something useful from junk, scraps, and bad ideas that still work.

Given a few simple items, make a Repair roll to craft improvised weapons, explosives, or tools that last until used or the end of the encounter, GM’s call. This takes one entire turn, and you cannot move or take other actions while constructing the device.

Failure means the device is not ready. A Critical Failure means you do not have the right materials and cannot create the device this encounter.

Success creates a minor explosive, 2d4 damage in a Small Blast Template, a one-shot projectile weapon like a zip gun, Range 5/10/20, Damage 2d6, a rickety raft, a basic power source, and similar.

A raise creates a larger explosive, 2d6 in a Medium Blast Template or 2d4 in a Large, a better ranged weapon, five shots, 2d8 damage, Range 10/20/40, a more stable raft, a more powerful battery, and similar.

Mr. Fix It

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, REPAIR d8+
Add +2 to Repair rolls. With a raise, you halve the time normally required to fix something.

If a particular Repair job already says a raise repairs it in half the time, Mr. Fix It finishes the job in one-quarter the time with a raise.

Power Hacker

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, HACKING d8+
You code under pressure and understand secured systems as a battlefield.

You get a free reroll when failing a Hacking roll.

You may also ignore the advice about making repetitive Support or Test rolls if using Hacking to control the local environment and you have a way to connect to it.

Rocket Jock

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ACE
You can fly and fight in the same breath.

You ignore the Multi-Action penalty for making a Boating, Driving, or Piloting roll and taking another action in the same round.

Scholar

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, RESEARCH d8+
Pick one of the following skills: Academics, Battle, Occult, Science, or a Smarts-based knowledge skill allowed in your setting. Add +2 to totals whenever that skill is used.

This Edge may be taken more than once, choosing a different skill each time.

Sneak Attack

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ASSASSIN
Your killing angle is cleaner than most.

The +2 bonus from the Assassin Edge is replaced by a d6, which may Ace as usual. This applies to Athletics (throwing), Fighting, or Shooting attacks.

Soft Touch

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, BOATING d4+ OR DRIVING d4+ OR PILOTING d4+
You know how to coax performance out of bulky freighters, clumsy transports, and patched-together hulls.

Ignore up to 2 points of Handling penalties.

Soldier

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, STRENGTH d6+, VIGOR d6+
You are trained to carry weight and function in bad conditions.

After a few days getting used to your gear, GM’s call, treat your Strength as one die type higher when determining Encumbrance and Minimum Strength to use armor, weapons, and equipment without a penalty. This stacks with Brawny.

You also get a free reroll on Vigor rolls made to survive environmental hazards.

Thief

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, AGILITY d8+, STEALTH d6+, THIEVERY d6+
You specialize in getting in, getting out, and leaving people arguing about what they think they saw.

Add +1 to Athletics rolls made to climb in urban areas.

Add +1 to Stealth rolls when in an urban environment.

Add +1 to Thievery rolls in all circumstances.

Trick Shot

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, ATHLETICS d8+ OR SHOOTING d8+
When performing a Test with Athletics (throwing) or Shooting, you may choose to make the foe resist with Smarts instead of Agility.

Uncanny Reflexes

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, AGILITY d8+, ATHLETICS d8+
You avoid blasts, shrapnel, and hazard arcs with a timing that feels impossible.

Ignore the usual −2 Agility penalty when making Evasion attempts.

You also get a regular Evasion attempt against area effect attacks or effects that do not usually allow it, at the usual −2 penalty, such as burst, blast, confusion, and similar powers cast with Area Effect.

Woodsman

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d6+, SURVIVAL d8+
You are more at home on raw worlds than in clean corridors.

Add +2 to Survival rolls and Stealth rolls made in the wild. This does not apply in towns, ruins, or underground.

Flynn grew up in scrub country on a wind-cut Outer Rim moon. When the crew goes planetside with half a map and no air support, his Woodsman instincts keep them fed, hidden, and moving.

Social Edges

Social Edges are for characters who win rooms, not just firefights. In Astrabound, a smooth voice can open a sealed dock gate, a well-timed insult can start a riot, and the right contact can make a charge vanish from the registry. These Edges represent reputation, technique, and the ability to move people.

Bolster

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
When you successfully Test a foe, you may also remove the Distracted or Vulnerable state from one of your allies.

Astrid tears into a smug customs supervisor with a perfectly timed Taunt. The supervisor is Distracted, and Astrid uses Bolster to steady Flynn, clearing his Distracted state before the next inspection sweep.

Common Bond

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
You can share luck, momentum, and confidence with your companions.

You may freely give your Bennies to any other character you can communicate with. Describe what that looks like in the fiction, such as a sharp callout over comms, a quick hand signal, or a steadying touch.

Connections

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You have reliable ties to a faction, guild, crew, or network that can help when things get complicated.

Connections may be taken more than once, selecting a new faction or contact each time.

Once per session, assuming you can get in touch with them, you can call on your contacts for a favor. The favor depends on the contact, GM’s call, and might include a loan, gear, a few allied fighters, transportation, information, or a specialist the crew needs.

Flynn calls in a favor from a Haven dockmaster he once saved. The ship gets a slot and a sealed parts crate quietly rerouted, no questions asked.

Deceptive

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SMARTS d8+
You are practiced at lies, misdirection, and telling the truth in a way that sounds like a lie.

When making a Persuasion or Taunt Test, you may choose whether the target resists with Smarts or Spirit.

Humiliate

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, TAUNT d8+
You know how to hit pride where it hurts.

You get a free reroll on Taunt Tests.

Menacing

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, ANY ONE OF BLOODTHIRSTY, MEAN, RUTHLESS, OR UGLY
You make your presence do work, even when you are not raising your voice.

Add +2 to your Intimidation rolls.

Provoke

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, TAUNT d6+
You can draw heat to protect your allies.

Once per turn, when you use Taunt for a Test and get a raise, you may Provoke the foe. In addition to the usual effects, the enemy suffers a −2 penalty to affect any other target besides you. This stacks with Distracted but not further instances of Provoke.

Provoke lasts until a Joker is drawn, someone else Provokes the target, or the encounter ends. You may Provoke multiple targets. Provoke may be combined with Rabble-Rouser.

Rabble-Rouser

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, SPIRIT d8+
You can turn a crowd into a weapon.

As a limited action, make a social Test with Intimidation or Taunt against all enemies in a Medium Blast Template. Targets must be able to see and hear you clearly. Each defender resists and is affected separately.

Reliable

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
People know you come through when it matters.

You get a free reroll on any Support roll.

Retort

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, TAUNT d6+
You can turn an enemy’s social attack back on them.

If you get a raise when resisting an Intimidation or Taunt Test, the foe is Distracted.

Streetwise

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SMARTS d6+
You know how to work the edges of society: black markets, favors, fences, and the quiet rules that keep you alive.

Add +2 to Intimidation or Persuasion rolls made to Network with shady or criminal elements.

Add +2 to Common Knowledge rolls pertaining to finding illicit goods, identifying who is hiring muscle, avoiding heat, and similar under-the-radar activity.

Strong Willed

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
Your confidence is hard armor against pressure and manipulation.

Add +2 to your total when resisting Tests with Smarts or Spirit.

Work the Crowd

REQUIREMENTS

SEASONED, WORK THE ROOM
As Work the Room, but you add a third skill die to your Support roll this turn and Support an additional ally.

Work the Room

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
You can encourage more than one person with the same moment, a look, a phrase, or a shared rhythm.

As a limited action, roll a second skill die when Supporting with Persuasion or Performance. The additional die Supports another ally normally and can apply to any Trait chosen. It does not need to be the same Trait for both allies.

Astrid talks fast and calm while alarms howl, using Work the Room to Support Flynn’s Repair and Zayko’s Piloting in the same breath.

Weird Edges

Weird Edges reflect the parts of Astrabound that do not fit neatly into training manuals and shipboard procedure. Some are Astra-adjacent. Others are the kind of rare intuition, strange biology, or uncanny luck you only believe in after you have seen it keep someone alive. Check with your GM before taking them.

Beast Bond

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You share an unusual connection with animals and companion creatures, whether that is empathy, subtle Astra sensitivity, or simply a lifetime of trust built through care.

You may spend your own Bennies for any animals under your control, including mounts, pets, and similar companions.

Beast Master

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
Animals take to you quickly and rarely see you as prey.

Animals will not attack you unless you attack them first or they are enraged for some reason.

You also attract a loyal animal companion. This is typically an animal of Size 0 or smaller, subject to the GM’s approval.

The companion is an Extra and does not Advance in Rank or abilities. If a pet is dismissed or killed, you gain a replacement in 1d4 days.

Beast Master may be taken more than once. Choose one effect each time:

• Gain an additional pet.

• Increase one of the pet’s Traits one die type, only one Trait per pet.

• Increase the maximum Size pet you may have by +1, to a maximum of 3.

• Make one pet a Wild Card. The hero must be of Heroic Rank.

Flynn’s first week on the Rim he fed scraps to a half-wild cargo-hound behind the Haven docks. A month later, the same beast is still there, still loyal, and still willing to put teeth in anyone who tries to board uninvited.

Champion

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+, FIGHTING d6+
You have been chosen, trained, or compelled to stand against a particular kind of darkness in the galaxy. In Astrabound, that might be cults who weaponize Astra, predatory entities tied to ancient ruins, or the worst abuses of Remnant tech.

Add +2 damage when attacking supernaturally evil creatures, or supernaturally good creatures if you are evil. The bonus applies to area effect damage, ranged attacks, powers, and similar sources.

The GM decides which foes qualify, but it generally includes beings with truly unnatural origins or abilities.

Chi

REQUIREMENTS

VETERAN, MARTIAL WARRIOR
Your combat discipline crosses into something deeper. Whether you call it breath control, body-memory, or Astra-adjacent focus, you can push beyond normal limits for a moment.

At the start of each combat encounter, you gain a Chi Point. You may spend it to:

• Reroll one of your failed attacks, even a Critical Failure.

• Make an enemy discard an attack against you, then reroll it from scratch.

• Add +d6 damage to a successful Fighting attack made with your hands, feet, claws, or other Natural Weapons. This die may Ace.

Unspent Chi is lost at the end of the combat encounter.

Danger Sense

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE
You get a bad feeling a heartbeat before the universe turns sharp. Sometimes it is experience, sometimes it is instinct, and sometimes the Astra is whispering just loudly enough.

When rolling for Surprise, add +2 to your Notice roll to act in the first round. With a raise, you start the encounter on Hold.

In other situations not covered by Surprise, such as a sniper shot, a pressure plate, a poisoned drink, or a silent drone ambush, Danger Sense gives you a Notice roll at −2 to detect the hazard and take appropriate action. If this was an attack and you make your Notice roll, the foe does not get The Drop against you.

Astrid’s hand goes up before the deck team even sees the thin laser line across the corridor. The crew freezes, and the trap does not get its first bite.

Healer

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, SPIRIT d8+
Whether through Astra sensitivity, intuitive technique, or a gift for stabilizing the body under stress, you can keep people alive.

Add +2 to all Healing rolls.

Liquid Courage

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, VIGOR d8+
Your system processes alcohol differently than most, and the result is a short burst of grit and stubbornness.

The round after consuming a stiff drink, your Vigor increases one die type, increasing Toughness as well. You may also ignore one level of Wound penalties, which stacks with other abilities that do the same.

Smarts, Agility, and all linked skills suffer a −1 penalty for the duration.

The effect lasts for one hour. When it ends, you suffer a level of Fatigue for the next four hours.

Scavenger

REQUIREMENTS

NOVICE, LUCK
You have a talent for finding what you need, whether that means you pack better than most, you notice the right junk at the right time, or the galaxy is not done with you yet.

Once per encounter you may find, suddenly remember, or dig up some much-needed piece of equipment, a handful of ammunition, or another useful device.

The GM decides what counts as an encounter and has the final word on what can and cannot be found.

Flynn swears the patch kit was not in the locker five minutes ago. Astrid does not ask questions. The hull breach stops bleeding air.

Legendary Edges

Legendary Edges are rare, setting-shaping advantages. In Astrabound, these are the people who become the story: captains whose names travel faster than their ships, survivors who refuse to die, and specialists who can do the impossible with a handful of tools and a bad idea.

Expert

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, PROFESSIONAL IN AFFECTED TRAIT
As the Professional Edge, increasing the selected Trait and its limit one additional step.

Followers

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, LEGENDARY
Each time this Edge is chosen, five followers come to fight by your side. If any are lost, others eventually take their place, how long is up to the GM and the circumstances.

Followers must be cared for and generally want a share of whatever loot, salvage, or other rewards you acquire. Otherwise, they are completely dedicated to the task. They will not throw their lives away, but they are willing to risk them repeatedly in your service.

Followers Advance like player characters. You may outfit them as you see fit.

Immortal

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY
Through science, mutation, Astra saturation, or quantum phenomena you do not fully understand, you no longer age.

If slain, you eventually recover as long as your body is reasonably intact, GM’s call. Missing body parts do not regenerate.

Master

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, LEGENDARY, EXPERT IN AFFECTED TRAIT
Your Wild Die increases to a d10 when rolling the selected Expert Trait.

Master of Arms

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, WEAPON MASTER
Increase your Parry an additional +1 and your Fighting bonus damage die is now a d10.

Miracle Worker

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, MR. FIX IT
Once per session, you can make a Repair roll, or Electronics if appropriate, at −2 that would normally take hours or days as a single limited action.

This can be used to repair a vehicle, walker, ship system, or any device that can be fixed, even if it would normally require a workshop, dry dock, or specialized facility.

Astrid is staring at a drive core that should take a day in a yard to stabilize. She rolls up her sleeves, mutters “not today,” and Miracle Worker turns it into a single frantic action while Flynn calls out readings and Zayko holds the ship steady.

Professional

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, MAXIMUM DIE TYPE POSSIBLE IN AFFECTED TRAIT
Choose one skill or attribute.

Increase the selected Trait and its limit one step. A d12+1 becomes d12+2, for example. This Edge may be selected once per Trait.

Savior of the Universe

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY
Some people become a rallying point for the crew, the sector, or something larger. Whether it is fate, Astra, or sheer refusal to quit, you carry momentum that others can feel.

You may convert two Bennies into one point of Conviction at any time. You may also give your Conviction to others if you wish.

Sidekick

REQUIREMENTS

WILD CARD, LEGENDARY
A capable protégé joins your orbit.

You gain a Novice Rank sidekick. The sidekick is a Wild Card, starts each session with two Bennies, may Advance, and has abilities that complement you. The player controls the sidekick like any other ally, but the GM may use the sidekick to create complications, such as getting captured or rushing into danger at the wrong moment.

If the sidekick dies, they are not replaced unless you choose this Edge again.

You may always spend Bennies for your sidekick as if you had the Common Bond Edge. The sidekick must actually take Common Bond to give Bennies back to you.

Tough as Nails

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, VIGOR d8+
You can take four Wounds before you are Incapacitated. Your maximum Wound penalty is still −3.

Tougher Than Nails

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, TOUGH AS NAILS, VIGOR d12+
You can take five Wounds before you are Incapacitated. Your maximum Wound penalty is still −3.

Weapon Master

REQUIREMENTS

LEGENDARY, FIGHTING d12+
Increase your Parry by +1.

Your Fighting bonus damage die is a d8 instead of a d6.

You must be armed to gain these benefits, but being armed includes the Martial Artist Edge, claws, or other abilities that count as weapons.

Advancement

One of the best parts of Astrabound is watching your character grow from a hungry Outer Rim nobody into someone the Commonwealth, the Syndicate, and the things in the dark all learn to respect.

Advancement in Savage Worlds depends on the length of your intended campaign. For short campaigns of 10 sessions or fewer, we recommend characters Advance after each session. In a one shot, you might even allow an Advance in the middle of the adventure if there’s downtime, a training montage, a dockside refit, or a hard-earned narrative turning point.

You can slow things down for longer campaigns by granting an Advance every other session, or even every third session if you intend on playing for years. You can also award Advances when objectives are met, such as surviving a disastrous run, securing a major contract, recovering a Remnant artifact, or making first contact on a Rimworld that should not exist on any chart. It’s completely in the hands of the Game Master.

An Advance lets a character do one of the following. Remember that no Trait may be raised above its ancestral maximum (usually d12).

• Gain a new Edge.

• Increase a skill that is equal to or greater than its linked attribute one die type.

• Increase two skills that are lower than their linked attributes by one die type each (including new skills the character didn’t have before at d4).

• Increase one attribute by a die type. This option may only be taken once per Rank (see Rank, below). Legendary characters may raise an attribute every other Advance, up to the ancestral maximum.

• Permanently remove a Minor Hindrance, or reduce a Major Hindrance to a Minor (if possible). With the GM’s permission, and if it makes sense, two Advances may be saved up and spent to remove a Major Hindrance.

The player and GM should work out how and when this happens. In Astrabound, it might be the wreck of a ship that changes someone’s priorities, a hard lesson learned on a lawless station, a quiet vow taken after a tragedy, or a long rehabilitation period while the crew hides out and repairs both hull and soul. Sometimes it is not “getting better” so much as learning how to live with what you have become.

Rank

As a character gains Advances, she goes up in “Rank.” This is a rough measure of how capable she is in the wider galaxy. Each Rank allows access to more powerful Edges and certain abilities (such as powers).

Ranks

Advances	Rank
0-3	Novice
4-7	Seasoned
8-11	Veteran
12-15	Heroic
16+	Legendary

Starting With Experienced Characters

If the GM wants to start a game with more experienced characters, you should still make a Novice and Advance it normally. This ensures characters are balanced just as if they had gained experience the hard way.

Additional goods, equipment, or other assets must be determined by the Game Master and the particular campaign. In Astrabound, money and gear are not the only “wealth” that matters. A ship’s reputation, a safe port that still welcomes you, a friendly quartermaster in the Alliance, a Syndicate handler who owes you, or a clearance code that opens the right door can matter more than credits. As a quick rule of thumb, a character’s starting funds double with each Rank after Novice, but the GM is encouraged to trade some of that value into story assets that fit the crew’s life.

Replacement Characters: When a character dies, we recommend the player create a new Novice hero then give him the same number of Advances his previous champion had when he fell. In Astrabound, this can represent a new hire, a rescued prisoner, a survivor from a wreck, a colleague pulled from a Syndicate favor, or a contact who finally decides to come along.

Allies & Advancement

Followers and other allies who stay with the party for extended periods can improve their abilities as well.

At the end of a game session in which the allies had a significant role (usually by participating in combat, but GM’s call), Advance them just as you would the player characters. In Astrabound, a crew that survives together learns together, and even an “Extra” can become someone with a name, a scar, and a reason to stay.

Character Creation Summary

CONCEPT

• Start with a general idea of what you want to play. Your setting book likely provides many ideas.

ANCESTRY

• Choose your character’s ancestry and apply any bonuses or special abilities it grants.

HINDRANCES

• Select up to four points of Hindrances (Major Hindrances are worth 2, Minor are worth 1).
• For 2 Hindrance points you can raise an attribute one die type, or choose an Edge.
• For 1 Hindrance point you can gain another skill point, or gain additional starting funds equal to twice your setting’s starting amount.

ATTRIBUTES

• Attributes start at d4. You have 5 points to distribute among them. Each step costs 1 point.
• Attributes may not be raised beyond d12 unless your hero’s ancestry states otherwise.

SKILLS

• Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion, and Stealth are core skills and start at d4 for free.
• You have 15 points to put into these or any other skills.
• Each die type costs 1 point up to and equal to the linked attribute; then 2 points per step after that.

DERIVED STATISTICS

• Standard Pace is 6″, but may be changed by ancestral abilities, Edges, or Hindrances.
• Parry is 2 plus half of Fighting.
• Toughness is 2 plus half of Vigor, plus any Armor.

Note the amount of armor in parentheses like this -

Toughness: 11 (2). This means 2 points of the total 11 Toughness comes from Armor. An Armor Piercing attack could bypass those 2 points but not the other 9.

EDGES

• Use any leftover Hindrance points to take Edges if you like.
• Each Edge costs 2 Hindrance points.

GEAR

• Purchase up to $500 worth of equipment.